Blogging Change
It's not too late to build a better world
The Galloping Beaver: Banksters, Afghan style
Der Spiegel in July: "Billions of dollars are being secreted out of Kabul to help well-connected Afghans buy luxury villas in Dubai."The Dubai villas are usually registered in the name of those issuing the loans, such as Sherkhan Farnood, deposed chairman of Kabul Bank, who transfered hundreds of millions of dollars from Afghanistan to Dubai in 2009. In July Farnood boasted :"Kabul Bank is so flush that it is building a $30 million headquarters, a cluster of shimmering towers of bulletproof glass."Since yesterday Kabul Bank is more like a clusterfuck of shimmering drovess of Afghans making bank …
[Read More...]
NEW MEDIA AND POLITICS CANADA: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!
It's getting embarrassing to watch Stephen Harper flail at the opposition just before Parliament gets ready to go back to work. Strangely he's in campaign mode even though Canadians seem content to sit tight for a little while longer as things currently stand. Witness his second attack in as many days on the very idea of the opposition parties uniting to gang up on the Tories and maybe govern. Something he pretty much invented this time around out of whole cloth, but it's not as if that's the biggest lie that came from his party this summer. Perhaps he sees it as a way to revive …
[Read More...]
Sister Sage's Musings: Rural NDPs Following Charlie Angus’ Lead?
You all remember Gary Breitkreuz, right? That yahoo who, through the use of a sock puppet, who is now long gone (naturally), basically threatened to beat Iggy black and blue? Oh yes! Gary Breitkreuz, just a “Good ol’ Boy!” But, unlike Waylon Jennings’ theme to “The Dukes of Hazard”, he really does mean harm, just like the rest of those Harpercons. Well, he just got dumped by NDP MP Charlie Angus, who previously supported Mullet-head Hoeppner’s bill.
We all remember Breitkreuz, the brute sending an email ‘proposition’ to the NDP MP of Timmins-James …
[Read More...]
Keeping it Real...: Wow! Retired Four Years … Still in the Top 10!!
I’m flattered! According to the newspaper 24 Hours I’m No. 10 on the list causing grief and discomfort to Vision’s rulers at City Hall.
And according to 24 Hours reporter Bob Mackin (who is a mere No. 12) Vision’s insiders have decided they “need to do something about” the 15 of us on what the newspaper called Vision’s media ”hit list”
Stalin would be [...] …
[Read More...]
The Galloping Beaver: Hurricane Watch for Nova Scotia
As Hurricane Earl advances the Canadian Hurricane Centre has issued a Hurricane Watch for Yarmouth, Queens, Shelburne and Digby Counties in Nova Scotia. The remainder of the province with the exception of Cape Breton Island, is under a Tropical Storm Watch. In New Brunswick, a Tropical Storm Watch has been issued for Gand Manan and Coastal Charlotte County, Saint John and County, and Moncton and Southeast New Brunswick.Earl has weakened slightly and is now proceeding due north at about 16 knots. The conditions of warm, humid air and high sea surface temperatures suggest Earl will make a Canadian …
[Read More...]
The Galloping Beaver: Harper through the looking glass
Harper's election strategy? The big bad boogy "coalition".“The Liberals and the NDP are going to have a lot of explaining to do, why they want to be a coalition partner with a party that thinks things like the national parks are a federalist plot,” Harper said, clearly enjoying himself.Except that the Liberals, NDP and the Bloc aren't even discussing a coalition. In fact, recent events have pushed them about as far away from each other as you can get. It's Harper spinning a fantasy to non-thinkers.So, when is Harper going to start explaining this:As leaders of the opposition parties, we …
[Read More...]
Dawg's Blawg: Local fascism [updated]
The good burghers of Clarington continue their assault on the Jaworski family, complete with a bullying by-law thug. Talk about a shakedown. Read it and weep.[H/t. She spells "Jaworski" wrong.]UPDATE: Some folks missed my reference earlier:"My libertarian friends are probably getting a little upset now but I think that's because they never appreciate the benefits of local fascism." Ann Coulter, MSNBC; February 8, 1997.So far, local fascism isn't working out so well for the Jaworskis. The Gauleiter mayor of Clarington is now suggesting that the Jaworskis "beg for forgiveness" from the by-law thug …
[Read More...]
Sister Sage's Musings: Quebecois Poches de The! Kory Klan Attempts to Indoctrinate Quebec Politics & Dominate Its’ Media
It ain’t a political party…yet! But, when one of the six founders is, get ready…Blogging SupposiTory, the Rancid Dr. Jabba the Roy, hisself! And he’s just all ga ga giddy over it! I guess the Lucides movement was just too Progressive Conservativise-ish/not enough soCon-ish tea-baggy enough, was it? What a circus! Here’s the site if you dare! If Jabba the Roy is involved, as well as the .ca, the Reseau Liberte Quebecois – Quebec Freedom Network. Now don’t that just sound Tea-baggish?
I remember Jean Lapierre telling Andrew Carter quite often on CJAD …
[Read More...]
NEW MEDIA AND POLITICS CANADA: Operation Enduring Presence
Obama declared the end of "Operation Iraqi Freedom," Tuesday night and the beginning of "Operation New Dawn." It is exactly the kind of Orwellian hooey that it reads like. There are as noted everywhere even the MSM 50,000 combat ready troops being left behind, but not being reported as often are the bases that still remain occupied by American forces in the desert and the 7,000 independent contractors ( re: modern-day mercenaries) they are hiring to leave behind at five different bases . Here's a report from Democracy Now on those bases: Seven years later there's still lots to say about this war …
[Read More...]
CEP Union: CEP Local 87M Launches Organizing Drive
At leasts some CEP Locals are organizing the unorganized. Ming Pao employees launch union driveTORONTO, Aug. 23 /CNW/ - Employees at one of Toronto's highest circulation Chinese-language newspapers, launched a union drive today to resolve long-term dissatisfaction with wages, benefits and working conditions. An open organizing committee of four employees, from a broad range of departments at the newspaper, presented management with a letter announcing the drive at the start of business today. The employees are seeking to form a union under Local 87M of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers …
[Read More...]
Dawg's Blawg: Thursday afternoon reading
The Tyee runs a fine takedown of the latest recurrence of the "Obama is a Muslim" meme.Not that it will make any difference to the 20% 24% of Americans who are frankly stark, staring bonkers, their minds poisoned beyond recovery by virulent racism, still in shock that The Other, born in Africa, not America, has somehow become their President.It's good to chase these malicious stories to ground, and Steve Burgess has done so. Enjoy! …
[Read More...]
The Galloping Beaver: Steve gets mad and goes off the page
Then starts making comments which make no sense.Furthermore, he and his band of hillbillies are lying about the ramifications of withdrawing from the future purchase of the F-35 Lightning II. We haven't signed a contract yet and we won't until 2013.Harper's yapping coincides, coincidentally, with a pressurized sales push by Lockheed Martin's F-35 programme general manager, Tom Burbage.Industrial participation by international partners in the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme could be affected if firm commitments to buy the aircraft are delayed or amended, …
[Read More...]
My Blahg: SUCCESS EQUALS FAILURE
Shorter Stephen Harper: We need to give the police more powers to do the job they’ve already done without them.
Lapsed anti-terror provisions — extraordinary measures the Conservative government has been trying to revive — might have been useful in the current effort to round up suspects in an alleged bomb plot, the prime minister hinted Wednesday.
I’d laugh if there weren’t so many people in this country that will nod their head in agreement while swooning over how magnificant a job PMS is doing protecting them from the horde of dusky hued terrorists lurking under their beds. …
[Read More...]
The Galloping Beaver: Keep Your ‘Net Neutral . . . .
Corporate USA is doing their damnedest to mess with your Internet for the benefit of their profit structure. You now have another chance to express your displeasure at this prospect.Via PC World today:September 02, 2010 6:18 AM FCC Takes Net Neutrality to Court of Public Opinion (Again)By Tony Bradley, PC WorldThe FCC has opened the next chapter in the debate over net neutrality with a new Notice of Inquiry seeking public comments and feedback on specific aspects of the proposed rules. Net neutrality advocates, however, are becoming increasingly frustrated with the FCC dragging its feet rather …
[Read More...]
The Galloping Beaver: Psycho grizzly . . .
VANITY FAIR has a fine article by Michael Joseph Gross, "Sarah Palin: The Sound and the Fury", and it's worth the read.Even as Sarah Palin’s public voice grows louder, she has become increasingly secretive, walling herself off from old friends and associates, and attempting to enforce silence from those around her. Following the former Alaska governor’s road show, the author delves into the surreal new world Palin now inhabits—a place of fear, anger, and illusion, which has swallowed up the engaging, small-town hockey mom and her family—and the sadness she has left in her wake.This spring …
[Read More...]
Raw Dawg Buffalo: Why Black Folk Will Always be Broke
In these times of economic turmoil and instability, many are tightening their purse strings across the nation. However, a large segment of the population continues to spend and live above their means — African Americans.The simple fact is that African Americans do not save money and tend to spend before even considering putting a few coins away. The average African American’s savings level is about 1 percent of annual income when compared to other ethnic groups. This represents the percentage of disposable personal income held in retirement plans and liquid financial assets.This is strange …
[Read More...]
Peace, order and good government, eh?: Coming soon to a House of Commons near you
Harper hints at extraordinary terror measures
Lapsed anti-terror provisions -- extraordinary measures the Conservative government has been trying to revive -- might have been useful in the current effort to round up suspects in an alleged bomb plot, the prime minister hinted Wednesday.
...
Asked whether the government planned to bring back exceptional powers to arrest terror suspects, Harper pointed to the bill, which is still at first-reading stage.
"There is some legislation in this regard that we would like to see passed, but obviously as we watch these particular incidents we'll carefully examine …
[Read More...]
CEP Union: Deal Reached CEP Local 40N
Wonder what deal was cut to change the pension. Farmers Dairy workers reach deal Last Updated: Thursday, August 19, 2010.A tentative deal has been reached in the contract dispute at Farmers Dairy.The deal was reached at in the early hours of Thursday morning, said Kim Power, representative with fhe Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada.The union was called to a meeting with company representatives Wednesday afternoon, but it wasn't expected that bargaining would resume, Power said. "It was my understanding that we were going to the meeting to get information from the company, …
[Read More...]
NEW MEDIA AND POLITICS CANADA: Who Could Have Predicted?
So the Tories long hot summer of acting out on all their worst ideological impulses has them in a dead heat with the Liberals in the latest EKOS poll. Who could have predicted... that calling for austerity while spending like Sarah Palin at Saks 5th Avenue with a GOP gift credit card, would hurt you in the polls. Who would have thought that having his surrogates lie about valued Canadian institutions would make voters think less of you? And who could have forecast that two long months of remaining "on message" by hardly speaking to Canadians on any issue at all other than to fear-monger …
[Read More...]
The Galloping Beaver: Hurricane Earl, Tropical Storm Fiona and Tropical Depression Gaston – 021400Z
Hurricane Earl, an intense category 4 cyclone, is now about 300 miles south of Cape Hatteras. The storm is moving north at about 16 knots (30 kmh/18 mph). It is packing sustained winds of 125 knots (232 kmh/144 mph). The centre of Earl is expected to be abeam the North Carolina Outer Banks by tonight. Sometime in the next 8 hours Earl should peak in intensity. The ocean buoy at Diamond Shoals is showing a significant increase in wave height, dropping sea level pressure and increasing ENE winds.The NHC has issued Hurricane Warnings for North Carolina from Bogue Inlet northeastward to the NC/Virginia …
[Read More...]
Dawg's Blawg: Abuse (2)
Via wmtc, this fearful story, putting us in mind of various totalitarian states--but this is Canada, if not a Canada I recognize:Two months after he was pulled over in his car, surrounded by two dozen police officers and arrested for having a crossbow near the G20 zone in downtown Toronto, a 53-year-old man with mental-health issues is still in jail.Gary McCullough was one the first people taken into custody by G20 security personnel, and though they quickly acknowledged he had nothing to do with the summit of world leaders, he is one of the last still in detention.The kicker:The Crown acknowledges …
[Read More...]
The Galloping Beaver: Iggy, PLEASE grow a pair . . .
RABBLE.CA HAS A COUPLE OF REPORTS ON FOX NORTH. You know, the proposed set-up of FOX-type TV news in Canada, organized by Quebecor's Pierre-Karl Peledeau and his chief fart-catcher, the odious Kory Teneckye, Stevie's recently-retired communications director.Linda McQuaig's RABBLE piece, "Harper's Fox News luncheon", outlines how Stevie had a secret lunch with Rupert Murdoch and his major henchman, Fox News president Roger Ailes.Ian Morrison, of the group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, says "all the information I have suggests that Harper has taken a personal interest in this matter."Of course, …
[Read More...]
The Galloping Beaver: And speaking of FOX News…
As a little relief from the doom and gloom and hurricane news, A Bit of Fry & Laurie on how the world could be a better place.... …
[Read More...]
The Galloping Beaver: And speaking of FOX News…
As a little relief from the doom and gloom and hurricane news, A Bit of Fry & Laurie on how the world could be a better place.... …
[Read More...]
Peace, order and good government, eh?: I’ll second that, too
Impolitical applauds a column by Lawrence Martin that encourages Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff to create a Bring Back Democracy platform. Martin suggests a number of specific points designed to reduce the concentration of power in the PMO and make government more open and accountable.
I think Martin overlooks an important one though. We have an electoral system that allows a party with the support of roughly 40% of the electorate to govern as if it has an absolute majority. Surely fixing that should be at the top of the list of Things To Do Today for anyone who wants to make this country more …
[Read More...]
Peace, order and good government, eh?: I’ll second that
Don't hide information, governments advised
Canada's governments, in the interest of gaining public trust and building a "robust democracy," should open their files and provide much more information to Canadians.
This is the message that emerged Wednesday in a joint resolution released by information and privacy commissioners representing the federal, provincial and territorial governments.
That would represent a complete reversal in policy for our current federal government just as it would have for previous Liberal governments. The trend in Canada for years has been towards greater government …
[Read More...]
Facing Autism in New Brunswick: For Michelle Dawson Autism Is Whatever She Says It Is
(Left photo is of the Campbellton Regional Hospital home to some persons with low functioning autism.)
Michelle Dawson gained fame in Canada by intervening as an "autistic" in the Supreme Court of Canada case in Auton where she opposed parents seeking government funded ABA treatment for their own autistic children. Notwithstanding that ABA is, and was at that time, the most evidence based effective intervention known to assist autistic children in overcoming the deficits posed by their autism disorders Ms Dawson opposed ABA, apparently, as far as I can tell, because she …
[Read More...]
Matthias in Marburg (Salut Québec :): Label concerning the G8/G20
Some weeks after the G8/G20 summits in Canada I reactivated the label "G8-Gipfel 2007" I created for posts concerning the G8 summit in Germany back in 2007. I changed the label simply to "G8/G20" and added the ten post I wrote about the latest summits.I hab das alte "G8-Gipfel 2007" Label reaktiviert, um aktuelle Nachrichten über die G8 und G20 fassen zu können. Das Label heißt jetzt einfach "G8/G20". …
[Read More...]
Verbena-19: CAF News Release: Response to Mr. Jason Kenney, M.P.
The following News Release by the Canadian Arab Federation is in response to Immigration Minister, Jason Kenney’s threats to cut funding to newcomer service agencies served by the CAF. By these latest actions, Mr. Kenney shows that his government will use the threat of funding cuts to silence any voices it deems dissenting, especially those [...] …
[Read More...]
Verbena-19: Celebrate Canadian Landmine Action Week: Feb 23-Mar 1!
Canadian Landmine Action Week is fast approaching! It’s that time of year again! The 10th annual Canadian Landmine Action Week (CLAW) will take place from February 23rd-March 1st, 2009. In the past, the participation of our supporters during CLAW has helped reinforce the Canadian public’s and government’s commitment to realizing a world free of landmines and cluster [...] …
[Read More...]
Verbena-19: CBC’s Censure of Media Criticism on Israel/Palestine
The News Release below is from the U.S. media watch group FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting), challenging the CBC’s bias against Palestinians. Press Release FAIR Challenges CBC Ombud’s Report 2/4/09 As the BBC continues to come under fire for refusing to carry an aid appeal for Gaza, the U.S. media watch group FAIR is [...] …
[Read More...]
Verbena-19: McMaster University Tar Sands conference
Faces of Resistance: The Future of the Tar Sands and You Sunday, March 15th, 2009 9:30am-5:30pm Third Floor, McMaster University Student Centre McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario Faces of Resistance is a day-long conference bringing together diverse groups opposed to the Alberta Tar Sands. We are combining the voices of citizens, labourers, environmentalists, indigenous communities, youth, [...] …
[Read More...]
Verbena-19: Creekside: North America Next
The terminology keeps changing. Deep integration is now ‘plug and play interoperability’. But changing the words will not change the odious Security and Prosperity Partnership. Alison over at Creekside has an excellent post about this: A year ago the U.S. Department of Homeland Security gave Arizona State University $15 million to establish a Center of [...] …
[Read More...]
Verbena-19: Tomgram: Nick Turse, Closing Down Main Street
February 22, 2009 Tomgram: Nick Turse, Closing Down Main Street [Note for TomDispatch readers: Last week, I asked you to consider writing friends, colleagues, relatives -- whomever -- to urge them to go to the "sign up" window at the upper right of TD's main screen, put in their email addresses, and receive the mailing [...] …
[Read More...]
Verbena-19: NO NEW NUKES IN ONTARIO TEACH-IN Mar 13-14
NO NEW NUKES IN ONTARIO – A TEACH-IN Mar 13-14, 2009, at the U of T Join us for a teach-in on nuclear energy in Ontario. What are the concerns surrounding nuclear energy, and what are the alternatives? Registration is now live! To register go to http://nuketeachin.eventbrite.com On the evening of Friday March 13 at [...] …
[Read More...]
Verbena-19: Urgent Galloway update!
March 27, 2009 For Immediate Release Urgent Galloway update Minister of Censorship Jason Kenney’s decision to ban British MP George Galloway from speaking in Canada has ignited a firestorm of protest across the country. Kenney’s office and the entire Conservative caucus has been bombarded with thousands of e-mails, phone calls and messages of [...] …
[Read More...]
Verbena-19: Tomgram: Michael Schwartz, Twenty-First-Century Colonialism in Iraq
July 9, 2009 Tomgram: Michael Schwartz, Twenty-First-Century Colonialism in Iraq One of the earliest metaphors President George W. Bush and some of his top officials wielded in their post-invasion salad days in Iraq involved bicycles. The question was: Should we take the “training wheels” off the Iraqi bike (of democracy)? Then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, [...] …
[Read More...]
Verbena-19: Toronto: Mapuche Solidarity Event. Guest Speakers Directly from Six Nations & Kanahus Pelkey, Alaina Tom of NYM
STOLEN LAND!! For the Continental Unity & Sovereignty of Our Indigenous Nations!! With Lemun and Catrileo in Revival with Wisdom and Strength for the Reconstruction of the Mapuche Nation. In Chile, Native Men, Women, & Youth are Killed, Tortured, Raided & Jailed under the Fascist Policies and Set-Ups Conducted by the Michelle Bachelet Government. Night [...] …
[Read More...]
The Galloping Beaver: Ascension Island and the secret of Charles Darwin
I've been to Ascension Island a couple of times. Unfortunately, the business at hand eliminated any chance to explore the place. Had I had a chance to look around I might have noticed that the place had forests mixed with eucalyptus, pine trees, bananas and bamboo. All unlikely plants to find themselves on a volcanic rock in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean.On the other hand, I might not have noticed at all. The fact is, virtually all of the major vegetation on Ascension Island was an experiment conducted by Charles Darwin, Joseph Hooker and the Royal Navy.BBC has the story of a secret experiment …
[Read More...]
Copyright © 2010 | Built on Delicious by StudioPress | WordPress |
| Log in