Sorry if I got a bit grumpy earlier in the week. Times are difficult, you know?
Oh boy, Steve. You really can't win these days, can you? I'd expect
this kind of stuff out of your buddy Rob Ford. Anyhow, the drummer in Stephen Harper's band has been charged with sexual assault. That guy is
going to fast learn the definition of fair weather friend.
Of course everybody is still talking about the farce of an "election reform" bill. I can't not put it in quotations. Also not a fan? The Chief Electoral Officer. He's wondering why he's no longer allowed to encourage people to vote and what his remaining job is. Why didn't he speak up when they didn't consult him about it? He also speculates that up to 100,000 voters could be impacted by the voter ID law, most of them aboriginal. And of course, this is another great opportunity to cap debate on a bill. Gotta ram that shit through, no? Maybe another candidate for a Senate hold-up? Nobody seems to think this bill is good. Except the Vernon Morning Star.
This one is new to me, but this site breaks down the arguments put forward in Parliament. Brad Butt, who is a real Conservative MP and not a made up person, suggests that during his last campaign they just went around and collected discarded voter cards and then went in and voted on behalf of those people using the vouch system. Oh. Sorry. "Some other campaigns" were doing that. My apologies.
Another Conservative MP has settled his dispute with Elections Canada. Funny how most of the disputes between MP's and Elections Canada involve Conservatives and now there's all these laws to take away authority from Elections Canada.
This is not new news, but seems to be new news now that the BC Civil Liberties is on board. Think of just how insane this is. The national
spy apparatus, which is legally prohibited from spying on Canadians, not
only spied on (relatively) law abiding Canadians, but did so at the
behest of a corporation running a publicly reviled project. It's
totally insane.
Sticking with pipelines, a report about an explosion in a TransCanada pipeline was administratively buried. Of course, that was never the intention. I mean, it only showed that their entire inspection program was inadequate.
The new plan for Canadian military procurement is to create some kind of Canadian military-industrial complex. We can't seem to buy even a trash can properly for the military, now we're going to require it to be designed and built in Canada?
Several dozen oil patch workers were laid off and replaced by Croations.
Of course, nobody is responsible. The government has no control over
Imperial Oil. Imperial Oil has no control over its contractors. I'm
surprised any of these people were able to make it in to work today, seeing as they're not responsible for anything.
The Conservatives have decided that they don't need tougher conflict of interest rules for themselves. But public servants certainly do.
Another example of military boostin' Steve not really giving a shit
about the actual soldiers. Veterans are being discharged for medical reasons and don't qualify for benefits. In other news, a story about how the government ignored PTSD in Canadian soldiers.
The Conservatives have decided to target the "political activities" of
charities they deem to be terrorists. Of course It's much easier to be deemed a terrorist when you do something the government doesn't like. I would imagine church groups are still going to be allowed
to do whatever they want politically. And if you can't get 'em that way, subject them to Revenue Canada audits.
Another Conservative attempt to solve a problem that doesn't really exist: reigning in public sector employee sick leave. And then of course all our problems with immigrants. What better way to weed out the riffraff than to make it more expensive for people to become citizens? I wonder how these new rules are going to affect ministerial
personnel who pretend to be new Canadians for photo ops?
This is a sad and scary story. Tyrone Hayes is a scientist who did
research into a chemical sold as a pesticide. He started this research
at the behest of the company that sold it. When they didn't like his
findings, they set about attempting to discredit his research and ruin his reputation. They followed him and purchased advertising based on
search terms related to his name. This needs to be a new type of crime.
Justification for ending Canada Post home delivery doesn't hold up to scrutiny.
Of course, now that a few trains have blown up, the Conservatives never would have considered this plan from the rail industry to cut inspections on trains carrying dangerous goods.
CNRL continues to have a giant bitumen leak that they can't stop.
Job creator Jamie Dimon gets a fat raise after presiding over billions in fines to JP Morgan Chase for illegal activities. As Matt Taibbi points out, the rank and file received pay freezes after the fines were announced.
There were some jobs created in January....for now. See if there's a major correction to the stats a la November.
Monday, February 10, 2014
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
"Election Reform" - Week 144.5 - Feb 3-4
You know what? Fuck these guys. This is some real 1984 bullshit. "Let's take something that we do all the time and people hate (cheat at elections), change the rules in our favour and trumpet it as a really great thing." Fuck these guys.
I actually wrote this morning that the bill seemed positive, but the details needed to be understood before judgement could be passed. Well, like 8 hours later I think we can determine that this bill sucks.
1) More money pumped into elections - The Conservatives would be able to spend all sorts of money on "fundraising" and it wouldn't count towards campaign expenses. Bullshit.
2) Even more money pumped into elections - Not a huge deal, but the personal contribution will be raised by $300. Corporate and Union contributions still need to be hidden as multiple donations from wealthy industrialists relatives.
3) Elections Canada can no longer advertise in order to "Get out the vote" - What the fuck? Can you be more transparent about your intentions to suppress the vote?
4) Voter ID requirements - This is a huge deal in the US as poor people of ethnic persuasion (i.e. Democrats) tend to have less in the way of ID. There is never, ever, ever voter fraud in Canada in the form of people voting when they shouldn't or pretending to be somebody else, so why bother?
5) Elections Canada powers are weakened - Investigations in to voter fraud are removed from Elections Canada and placed with a department that reports to the PMO. Hmmm...Nothing sketchy about that.
And...the imbeciles talked about how they consulted with Elections Canada before making all of these decisions...only to be directly contradicted by Elections Canada. Maybe they were talking about the Israeli Chief Electoral Officer?
This is a big bag of shit. And it's only Tuesday.
In other terrible news.
Hey assholes! Make up your minds! "We didn't spy on Canadians wifi. But if we did it wasn't an operation and we didn't use the information. And if we did use the information, it wasn't in the way you thought we did."
Garth Turner points out that TD Bank just released a report where, under the most positive conditions, Canadian real estate is only 10% over-valued. Worst case? Well, maybe 20%. Or 30% Or 60%. That's not a news story though. CBC uses the best case numbers and I'm sure Global is still pumping "great time to buy" stories.
A study has linked birth defects to natural gas extraction. I'm sure somebody in the Christy Clark government is upset that nobody mentioned all of the great jobs those babies will have when they grow up!
An awesome little article on how the Conservatives are crushing the spirit of twitter, one sanitized tweet at a time.
I love this. In essence, "When we provide a clear cut choice for people, with one of those choices not accurately capturing what our opponent actually said, they overwhelmingly choose our view on the matter." These guys are so out of touch on marijuana.
Corrections Canada just doesn't even bother responding to recommendations made by it's watchdog.
Haven't heard a whole lot about the F-35 lately. This is a pretty in depth article from Vanity Fair. What I take away from it is that you'd have to be a total imbecile to buy into the project at this point and time.
A Conservative Senator has quit the Senate. Fed up of the doings of other Senators? Or afraid of what's potentially coming?
Mac Harb and Patrick Brazeau are going to be formally charged. Interesting to hear the Conservatives talk about Brazeau/Duffy/Wallin. They deny any responsibility and stick to their "former-Conservative Senator" rhetoric. Won't these people take accountability for appointing these assholes in the first place? Yep.
20 Years later, the notes from Chretien's first cabinet meeting outline cuts to cabinet excess, more than anything else.
Hard to read this story and not wonder how we've created such a diabolically awful set of circumstances whereby:
1) Canadians don't get jobs.
2) Foreigners get paid less (if they're lucky) for the same work.
3) Some foreigners get swindled out of their savings by companies preying on their dreams.
As if the Canadian government can't do anything about this. As if.
Mexico. No fan of Canada.
"Why can't they contribute their fair share?" According to Salon, the poorest 50% of America possesses 1.1% of the countries wealth (who's the 1% now). What's most shocking, is that the poorest Americans own less, percentage wise, than the poorest in just about any other location on the planet. The poorest in China have 9.6%!? How is that possible? But make the bums pay their "fair share". Because chipping away 20-30% of 1.1% of the wealth is going to have a huuuuuuuuge impact, no?
A commentary on Real Estate bubbles? The 1%? Who knows. But some of London's most expensive Real Estate sits rotting and empty.
A Slate article on the strange practice of Conservative politicians raffling off AR-15's in the USofA. Maybe a "Free Healthcare for life" raffle to counter this? The scariest thing is the in depth, crazed analysis of technical gun features and semantics that these stories always dredge up.
I actually wrote this morning that the bill seemed positive, but the details needed to be understood before judgement could be passed. Well, like 8 hours later I think we can determine that this bill sucks.
1) More money pumped into elections - The Conservatives would be able to spend all sorts of money on "fundraising" and it wouldn't count towards campaign expenses. Bullshit.
2) Even more money pumped into elections - Not a huge deal, but the personal contribution will be raised by $300. Corporate and Union contributions still need to be hidden as multiple donations from wealthy industrialists relatives.
3) Elections Canada can no longer advertise in order to "Get out the vote" - What the fuck? Can you be more transparent about your intentions to suppress the vote?
4) Voter ID requirements - This is a huge deal in the US as poor people of ethnic persuasion (i.e. Democrats) tend to have less in the way of ID. There is never, ever, ever voter fraud in Canada in the form of people voting when they shouldn't or pretending to be somebody else, so why bother?
5) Elections Canada powers are weakened - Investigations in to voter fraud are removed from Elections Canada and placed with a department that reports to the PMO. Hmmm...Nothing sketchy about that.
And...the imbeciles talked about how they consulted with Elections Canada before making all of these decisions...only to be directly contradicted by Elections Canada. Maybe they were talking about the Israeli Chief Electoral Officer?
This is a big bag of shit. And it's only Tuesday.
In other terrible news.
Hey assholes! Make up your minds! "We didn't spy on Canadians wifi. But if we did it wasn't an operation and we didn't use the information. And if we did use the information, it wasn't in the way you thought we did."
Garth Turner points out that TD Bank just released a report where, under the most positive conditions, Canadian real estate is only 10% over-valued. Worst case? Well, maybe 20%. Or 30% Or 60%. That's not a news story though. CBC uses the best case numbers and I'm sure Global is still pumping "great time to buy" stories.
A study has linked birth defects to natural gas extraction. I'm sure somebody in the Christy Clark government is upset that nobody mentioned all of the great jobs those babies will have when they grow up!
An awesome little article on how the Conservatives are crushing the spirit of twitter, one sanitized tweet at a time.
I love this. In essence, "When we provide a clear cut choice for people, with one of those choices not accurately capturing what our opponent actually said, they overwhelmingly choose our view on the matter." These guys are so out of touch on marijuana.
Corrections Canada just doesn't even bother responding to recommendations made by it's watchdog.
Haven't heard a whole lot about the F-35 lately. This is a pretty in depth article from Vanity Fair. What I take away from it is that you'd have to be a total imbecile to buy into the project at this point and time.
A Conservative Senator has quit the Senate. Fed up of the doings of other Senators? Or afraid of what's potentially coming?
Mac Harb and Patrick Brazeau are going to be formally charged. Interesting to hear the Conservatives talk about Brazeau/Duffy/Wallin. They deny any responsibility and stick to their "former-Conservative Senator" rhetoric. Won't these people take accountability for appointing these assholes in the first place? Yep.
20 Years later, the notes from Chretien's first cabinet meeting outline cuts to cabinet excess, more than anything else.
Hard to read this story and not wonder how we've created such a diabolically awful set of circumstances whereby:
1) Canadians don't get jobs.
2) Foreigners get paid less (if they're lucky) for the same work.
3) Some foreigners get swindled out of their savings by companies preying on their dreams.
As if the Canadian government can't do anything about this. As if.
Mexico. No fan of Canada.
"Why can't they contribute their fair share?" According to Salon, the poorest 50% of America possesses 1.1% of the countries wealth (who's the 1% now). What's most shocking, is that the poorest Americans own less, percentage wise, than the poorest in just about any other location on the planet. The poorest in China have 9.6%!? How is that possible? But make the bums pay their "fair share". Because chipping away 20-30% of 1.1% of the wealth is going to have a huuuuuuuuge impact, no?
A commentary on Real Estate bubbles? The 1%? Who knows. But some of London's most expensive Real Estate sits rotting and empty.
A Slate article on the strange practice of Conservative politicians raffling off AR-15's in the USofA. Maybe a "Free Healthcare for life" raffle to counter this? The scariest thing is the in depth, crazed analysis of technical gun features and semantics that these stories always dredge up.
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 27, 2014
Mandatory Exploding Israeli Train Taxes - Week 143 - Jan 20-27
Stephen Harper has fully, truly, completely gone off the deep end with
his Israel policy. He has officially stated, in front of the Knesset,
that Canada will never criticize Israel in public. Full stop. No ifs,
ands, buts. The hardliner, crazy faction within Israel will thing this
gives them the right to do whatever they want, if they have support like
this. An Arab-Israeli Member of the Knesset explains exactly why Stephen Harper is a short-sighted buffoon. You know you're doing it wrong when Sarah Palin is on your side.
Another judge has decided that mandatory minimum sentencing doesn't work. "Cruel and unusual", even.
Even more library insanity, this time with Health Canada. This story outlines terrible service from the 3rd Party delivery team, rogue unsanctioned libraries and government employees seeking information from industry and universities, all because the Conservatives are breaking the government library system. As well, the Canada Centre for Inland Waters has been losing scientists and facing cuts.
This Tyee article outlines the type of abuse temporary foreign workers face when they come to Canada. Insane fees to recruiting companies. Excessive living allowances. Etc. Seems like it should be pretty easy for government to prevent this - don't grant permits to any person or company found guilty of infractions.
This is how it should work. Government should have independent scientists and Engineers who determine the best, safest way to do things and they then require it from Industry. Hell, Industry should pay the government for those scientists and engineers to do their oversight. Anyhow, the Transportation Safety Board has recommendations for how to haul oil by rail. We'll see what happens now. Because even though these are TSB recommendations, apparently it's not even a done deal on the TSB's side as the Minister has to think about it.
The Globe has a story about ad spending, pointing out that the "Economic Action Plan" ended a few years ago.
The National Post tells the story of Conservative MP Mark Adler scrambling to get closer to the PM for a photo op in Israel. Of course he insists that it was all just a really funny joke on his part.
A breakdown of how delusional and dishonest the Conservatives can be. They raked the NDP over the coals for proposing an "iPod tax", and then introduced one themselves...while insisting it doesn't exist.
Holy shit! I actually agree with part of what Rob Anders said! I agree that "rape" has a more devastating connotation than "sexual assault", and it can make the crime sound less devestating. But perhaps that change in language will further stigmatize victims? That's the only negative I can see. I'm open to hearing the other side of the argument here.
This does not paint a very pretty picture of Afghanistan and Canada's role in it.
When push comes to shove, Chuck Strahl does the right thing...and quits the crappy government job to become a high paid lobbyist. Of course, being the good Conservative that he is he didn't do anything wrong and it's all your fault.
More great copyright news. The Canadian RIAA, or whatever the hell they're calling themselves, want Internet surveillance and control in the name of fighting piracy. Which sounds pretty awesome. Especially when you consider stories such as this one, where a movie theater phones the MPAA who then phones ICE who then comes down to the movie theater and forcefully detains somebody watching a movie wearing Google Glass. Two separate stories, yes. But this is where we are heading when we create laws and use publically funded law enforcement to support an industry (that just sort of makes shit up about things).
What an interesting country. The National Post doesn't really seem to have a problem with bigoted comments or stories. Except when it's bigoted French Canadians. It feels a bit bad to pile on a couple of narrow-minded fools speaking at the hearings on the Quebec Charter of Values, but here we go. I'm actually surprised that these people managed to leave their hometown, let alone travel to predominantly muslim countries.
If you thought the National Post comments section was bad, wowzas! Sun News is like a Conservative infomercial. I wish I could be that passionate about a politician. I guess that's half the problem though, isn't it? Left wingers know things are bad but don't have a pole to rally around. Righties seem to love bending over backwards to cheerlead their dear leader.
The richest 85 humans on the planet own more than the poorest 50% combined.
Another judge has decided that mandatory minimum sentencing doesn't work. "Cruel and unusual", even.
Even more library insanity, this time with Health Canada. This story outlines terrible service from the 3rd Party delivery team, rogue unsanctioned libraries and government employees seeking information from industry and universities, all because the Conservatives are breaking the government library system. As well, the Canada Centre for Inland Waters has been losing scientists and facing cuts.
This Tyee article outlines the type of abuse temporary foreign workers face when they come to Canada. Insane fees to recruiting companies. Excessive living allowances. Etc. Seems like it should be pretty easy for government to prevent this - don't grant permits to any person or company found guilty of infractions.
This is how it should work. Government should have independent scientists and Engineers who determine the best, safest way to do things and they then require it from Industry. Hell, Industry should pay the government for those scientists and engineers to do their oversight. Anyhow, the Transportation Safety Board has recommendations for how to haul oil by rail. We'll see what happens now. Because even though these are TSB recommendations, apparently it's not even a done deal on the TSB's side as the Minister has to think about it.
The Globe has a story about ad spending, pointing out that the "Economic Action Plan" ended a few years ago.
The National Post tells the story of Conservative MP Mark Adler scrambling to get closer to the PM for a photo op in Israel. Of course he insists that it was all just a really funny joke on his part.
A breakdown of how delusional and dishonest the Conservatives can be. They raked the NDP over the coals for proposing an "iPod tax", and then introduced one themselves...while insisting it doesn't exist.
Holy shit! I actually agree with part of what Rob Anders said! I agree that "rape" has a more devastating connotation than "sexual assault", and it can make the crime sound less devestating. But perhaps that change in language will further stigmatize victims? That's the only negative I can see. I'm open to hearing the other side of the argument here.
This does not paint a very pretty picture of Afghanistan and Canada's role in it.
When push comes to shove, Chuck Strahl does the right thing...and quits the crappy government job to become a high paid lobbyist. Of course, being the good Conservative that he is he didn't do anything wrong and it's all your fault.
More great copyright news. The Canadian RIAA, or whatever the hell they're calling themselves, want Internet surveillance and control in the name of fighting piracy. Which sounds pretty awesome. Especially when you consider stories such as this one, where a movie theater phones the MPAA who then phones ICE who then comes down to the movie theater and forcefully detains somebody watching a movie wearing Google Glass. Two separate stories, yes. But this is where we are heading when we create laws and use publically funded law enforcement to support an industry (that just sort of makes shit up about things).
What an interesting country. The National Post doesn't really seem to have a problem with bigoted comments or stories. Except when it's bigoted French Canadians. It feels a bit bad to pile on a couple of narrow-minded fools speaking at the hearings on the Quebec Charter of Values, but here we go. I'm actually surprised that these people managed to leave their hometown, let alone travel to predominantly muslim countries.
If you thought the National Post comments section was bad, wowzas! Sun News is like a Conservative infomercial. I wish I could be that passionate about a politician. I guess that's half the problem though, isn't it? Left wingers know things are bad but don't have a pole to rally around. Righties seem to love bending over backwards to cheerlead their dear leader.
The richest 85 humans on the planet own more than the poorest 50% combined.
Monday, January 20, 2014
The Hierarchy of Voter Apathy
I've been asked several times why I bother to do this blog. And I struggle to find an answer. But I will get around to formulating a response to this question by the bottom of this post, I promise.
As I was heating my lunch up in the microwave I started thinking about the different levels of voter apathy in Canada (and in any democracy, really). Let's dive in.
Level 0 - Is unaware that Canada is a democracy and that we have such things as elections.
Level 1 - Has heard of elections, but views "election day" as nothing more than a minor traffic inconvenience around the neighbourhood school, and perhaps a chance to duck out of work an hour early.
Level 2 - Thought about voting once, but hasn't progressed much beyond that.
Level 3 - Votes from time to time, but it is generally a totally uneducated and ill-informed vote brought about by some contentious, high visibility issue, or a taxpayer funded flyer sent out by their MP.
Level 4 - Votes often or always but has no justification for their vote other than "I always vote that way" or "the other guys are going to take away my guns"
Level 5 - Votes and might even recognize the name of a local candidate if it wasn't on a lawn sign or the ballot. May even watch a debate and gives off the impression that they think about what they're doing. But don't, really.
Level 6 - Now we're talking. Votes almost always. Starting to understand and hold an opinion on most issues. Capable of an informed discussion on politics. (Note - Some conscientious vote objectors might start to work their way in here, but I would argue that anybody who doesn't vote because "they're all bad" really doesn't know what's going on)
Level 7 - An informed citizen with ideas and reasons for their vote. Knows the name of the local candidate and could pick them out of a police line-up if pressed to do so.
Level 8 - Political junkies. Informed, but starting to drink a bit too much of the Kool-aid.
Level 9 - Quite possibly a member of a political party. Often parrots talking points. Beyond help, really.
Level 10 - Under the right circumstances, this person would think about starting a militia or fire-bombing a corporate office.
Level 9 and 10 are probably beyond help. Level 6,7 and 8 probably don't need help in making up their minds on who to vote for. It's everybody below that that is contributing to our problem.
So my idea, and the idea of this blog, is to start kicking the bottom feeders up the hierarchy. If we can start convincing the guy who doesn't vote that there's political decisions that are impacting their lives, or forward a story to an ignorant voter that will blow up their regurgitated opinions...well...we might actually start doing something in this country.
Not voting is our biggest problem. Voting from a position of ignorance is a close second. So, that is the (new) stated goal of this blog; Trying to kick people up a level or two on the hierarchy of voter apathy.
As I was heating my lunch up in the microwave I started thinking about the different levels of voter apathy in Canada (and in any democracy, really). Let's dive in.
Level 0 - Is unaware that Canada is a democracy and that we have such things as elections.
Level 1 - Has heard of elections, but views "election day" as nothing more than a minor traffic inconvenience around the neighbourhood school, and perhaps a chance to duck out of work an hour early.
Level 2 - Thought about voting once, but hasn't progressed much beyond that.
Level 3 - Votes from time to time, but it is generally a totally uneducated and ill-informed vote brought about by some contentious, high visibility issue, or a taxpayer funded flyer sent out by their MP.
Level 4 - Votes often or always but has no justification for their vote other than "I always vote that way" or "the other guys are going to take away my guns"
Level 5 - Votes and might even recognize the name of a local candidate if it wasn't on a lawn sign or the ballot. May even watch a debate and gives off the impression that they think about what they're doing. But don't, really.
Level 6 - Now we're talking. Votes almost always. Starting to understand and hold an opinion on most issues. Capable of an informed discussion on politics. (Note - Some conscientious vote objectors might start to work their way in here, but I would argue that anybody who doesn't vote because "they're all bad" really doesn't know what's going on)
Level 7 - An informed citizen with ideas and reasons for their vote. Knows the name of the local candidate and could pick them out of a police line-up if pressed to do so.
Level 8 - Political junkies. Informed, but starting to drink a bit too much of the Kool-aid.
Level 9 - Quite possibly a member of a political party. Often parrots talking points. Beyond help, really.
Level 10 - Under the right circumstances, this person would think about starting a militia or fire-bombing a corporate office.
Level 9 and 10 are probably beyond help. Level 6,7 and 8 probably don't need help in making up their minds on who to vote for. It's everybody below that that is contributing to our problem.
So my idea, and the idea of this blog, is to start kicking the bottom feeders up the hierarchy. If we can start convincing the guy who doesn't vote that there's political decisions that are impacting their lives, or forward a story to an ignorant voter that will blow up their regurgitated opinions...well...we might actually start doing something in this country.
Not voting is our biggest problem. Voting from a position of ignorance is a close second. So, that is the (new) stated goal of this blog; Trying to kick people up a level or two on the hierarchy of voter apathy.
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 13, 2014
Used it all up - Week 141 - Jan 6-13
Stephen Harper continues his advertising extravaganza. $22 Million to sell the oil sands to the world. Why wouldn't the industry (that makes billions) spend their own money to do this?
There was a Fifth Estate on the Harper war on science. Mainstream media is catching on. Check out the insane list of scientific programs cut by Harper. And on and on it goes.
Can you imagine spending $1.7 Billion on something, and having nothing to show for it? Stephen Harper proves yet again that his government is absolutely terrible at military procurement. Replacement of the Sea King helicopters is a shit show.
Norway's oil riches have grown to serious levels. It's actually hard to wrap your head around.
CSIS/CSEC admits that Canadian citizens have been caught in the crossfire.
Things don't seem to be going much better for Mac Harb.
The Conservative MP for Fort Mac has resigned. Wonder what sort of gravy train he'll step in to?
The Liberals are wondering why Peter McKay hasn't stepped in to, you know, enforce laws, with the Senate scandal.
There was a Fifth Estate on the Harper war on science. Mainstream media is catching on. Check out the insane list of scientific programs cut by Harper. And on and on it goes.
Can you imagine spending $1.7 Billion on something, and having nothing to show for it? Stephen Harper proves yet again that his government is absolutely terrible at military procurement. Replacement of the Sea King helicopters is a shit show.
Norway's oil riches have grown to serious levels. It's actually hard to wrap your head around.
CSIS/CSEC admits that Canadian citizens have been caught in the crossfire.
Things don't seem to be going much better for Mac Harb.
The Conservative MP for Fort Mac has resigned. Wonder what sort of gravy train he'll step in to?
The Liberals are wondering why Peter McKay hasn't stepped in to, you know, enforce laws, with the Senate scandal.
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