For allegedly engaging in an inappropriate intimate relationship with a member of his staff while on duty in Afghanistan.Hmmm. Same guy who forget to switch his weapon to "safe" when boarding a helicopter and ended up with a "negligent discharge", a court martial and a $3,500 fine.I have yet to get to the good part. Wait for it....Michael Yon is laying claim to the "kill".The interesting part is that Yon's claim might just be true. BruceR explains and, if you wish to connect some dots, shows that Yon has been grinding a personal axe for some time.The requested backgrounder is in the comments …
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AP.A BP executive says a relief well is the "end point" of efforts to stop the Gulf oil spill — which suggests there's little chance of plugging the leak until the new well is completed in August.There are toxic plumes of oil floating around undersea like clouds of poison gas. There are massive slicks on the surface. There are hurricanes coming that will churn that up even further.By August, we'll be dealing with dead ocean and poisoned coasts for thousands of miles. It's probably safe to say that the scale of this eco-disaster is beyond our capacity effectively mitigate. This cannot be …
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Matt Simmons seems to think so, believing that the riser leak doesn't account for the observed oil plumes. (h/t Neil H)Others have speculated that BP's early attempts at siphoning oil instead of shutting it down were motivated by a desire to salvage the well for profit reasons.Anytime there's a crisis like this, critics of the official responses come out of the woodwork. Given we're now passing the 40 day mark and the oil is still gushing, perhaps it's time to listen to them. …
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Lorne Gunter writes in the Edmonton Sun today in general support of a Liberal-NDP coalition - provided the Bloc "doesn't hold the hammer." I wish journalists and others would stop denigrating the Bloc. In doing so, they denigrate the people who vote for it. But that's not the point of this post. It's this: What I would object to, strenuously, would be proportional representation foisted on the …
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1000 tote US-Soldaten - so lautet der Titel der jungen Welt vom Samstag. Damit wird darauf hingewiesen, dass in Afghanistan zwar noch deutlich weniger SoldatInnen gestorben sind als die knapp 4400 im Irak "Gefallenen", aber mittlerweile mehr Besatzer in Afghanistan sterben und nun auch dort der vierstellige Bereich erreicht wurde. Fatal ist vor allem, dass Obama den Kriegseinsatz in Afghanistan sogar noch verschärft anstatt endlich die Truppen abzuziehen. Die Folge wird sein, dass unter seiner kurzen Regierungszeit bald mehr US-SoldatInnen im Einsatz gestorben sein werden als während der …
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With just a couple of weeks to go, here are ten reasons to oppose the G8/G20 summits (June 25-27) from a press conference held by the Toronto Community Mobilization Network (TCMN). …
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Proposed agreement reached for Hibernia oil platform workersOTTAWA, May 28 /CNW Telbec/ - Offshore oil workers at the Hibernia platform in Newfoundland have negotiated a proposed new collective agreement.Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union Local 2121 reached the agreement this week on behalf of 420 workers with the Hibernia Platform Employers Organization representing 14 companies on the platform.Details of the proposed agreement are withheld until membership and ratification meetings in June and early July.The proposed agreement is the first fully negotiated collective agreement for …
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This is a post about youth politics, specifically at the university level. While it is divergent from my regular topics this post highlights things that can be broadened to politics in general. I would love to hear your comments at the bottom of the page if you think anything stands out or anything seems rather intriguing. Also, before [...] …
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This week, I have two different posts up about the first anniversary of Dr. Tiller's murder - one here and one at Abortion Gang. Check 'em out.And in other news...It turns out the Cons ignored their own advice on abortion. Here's more news on how the abortion debate is "stalling" the maternal health initiative. Also, people are recommending more money in the initiative, and getting to it already. But what's this? A bunch of academics say abortions must be included!Back at home, a lot of people have opinions about Stephen Harper's relationship with the abortion issue. Oh, and remember that …
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What the f...?Now they're just stalking me. …
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What the f...?Now they're just stalking me. …
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Right. So they're just doing their very darnedest to deal with this completely unexpected environmental tragedy with their miles of boom and their top hats and junk shots and top kills - exactly the same useless shit that didn't work 30 years ago either.Still, they have to tiddle about with something while the media cameras are rolling and Obama frowns on a beach. Meanwhile the real plume is five miles away and spewing oil into the Gulf at the rate of 120,000 barrels a day according to this guy. What they're trying to cap now is just the sideshow. It's like the drunk looking for his carkeys …
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John Elder Robison,  for reasons that are unclear to me,  is both an officer with Autism Speaks AND a critic  of parents who seek cures for their children's autism disorders.  Mr. Robison apparently has an Aspergers diagnosis. He is, according to a biography posted online at Red Room,  an author, very successful businessman, and ... a former rock band member.   He is not a researcher or health care professional and as far as I can tell he has absolutely no personal involvement with Autistic Disorder or those who are severely affected by their Autistic …
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Stephen Harper never had to be evacuated from his house because it was hit by a V1 flying bomb.The difference between co-author Keith Richards and Stephen Harper is that Harper will, without hesitation, tell you all about flying bombs hitting houses. …
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New York Times.In the beginning of May, a few weeks after the rig explosion, the Pew Research Center asked 994 Americans about the oil spill: 55 percent saw it as a major environmental disaster, and 37 percent as a serious problem. But at that time, at least, 51 percent also believed that efforts to prevent the spill from spreading would be successful. Hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil later, federal officials last week released a new estimate of the spill — 12,000 to 19,000 barrels a day — establishing it as the largest in American history. As Richard Feynman, the physicist, once …
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HUMOUR:LOOKING FOR A REASON: …
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INTERNATIONAL LABOUR- FRANCE:FRENCH WORKERS AGAINST PENSION THEFT: Last Thursday, May 27, tens of thousands of workers struck and took to the street in response to a call from the major labour unions to oppose the proposed pension "reforms" that would raise the retirement age in France from 60 to 62 years. While large the demonstrations and the response of workers to the strike call was decidedly smaller than expected by the unions and perhaps suggests disillusionment with the endless rounds of "half-strikes" and street marches that the major unions have relied on in their continued …
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So the top-kill/junk-shot operation failed. Before that, the tried an insertion pipe and, before that, we saw the failures of greater and lesser coffer dams. The next attempt will try to shear off the damaged pipe/riser contraption and install a capping valve. Should that fail, what then? …
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Globe and Mail online poll G8/G20 May 29, 2010Security for the billion-dollar boondoggle is being managed by ex-CSIS director Ward Elcock, who also just spent another billion on the Vancouver Olympics security.Asked why the London G20 expenses clocked in at $30-million last year by comparison, Alcock answered, "Bookkeeping."I wonder if we could possibly get some of that. …
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Go figure! Craig Smith has figured things out yet again. I think he found another Muslim Commie boogie man under his bed this morning. Of course, we’re still waiting for Craig to explain how an overpriced photo op is being blamed on Muslims.  Yes, Muslims decided to somehow hijack billions of dollars from Steve to hold a hootenany soon. More than that, he is displaying that Mark Steyn paranoia of  no more Western society (meaning the decline of the WASPy population). The fact that 95% of Muslims are good people does not excuse Islam for its despicable end game. Time is running out for …
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I'll probably retire that title after this post. I'm way past being surprised by further evidence that much of Barack Obama's campaign rhetoric had as close a relationship with the truth as the average public utterance by Jason Kenney. The latest news comes from Charlie Savage in the New York Times where you can read that the Obama administration has decided to continue holding several detainees at GTMO indefinitely even though "there is no evidence of involvement in any specific terrorist plot." I take that to indicate that even military commissions, where the rules are already written to …
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Globe and Mail online poll G8/G20 May 29, 2010Security for the billion-dollar boondoggle is being managed by ex-CSIS director Ward Elcock, who also just spent another billion on Vancouver Olympics security..Asked why the London G20 expenses clocked in at $30-million last year by comparison, Elcock answered, "Bookkeeping.".I wonder if we could possibly get some of that.. …
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I mean, what are they gonna say, man, when he's gone, huh? When he dies, when IT dies, man; cause when IT dies, HE dies. What are they gonna say about him? What, are they gonna say, he was a kind man? He was a wise man? He had plans? He had wisdom? Bullshit, man! Am I gonna be the one to set them straight? Look at me: wrong!!! --From Apocalypse Now, script credited to John Milius, Francis Ford Coppola and Michael Herr, based on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness... but if you know anything about the making of the movie (which was a whole movie unto itself!), you know that …
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"What the hell is wrong with freedom? That's what it's all about." Dennis Hopper, gone. (h/t Willy) …
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As promised here is AM Fresh video of Liberal MP Scott Brison’s visit to Victoria to MC the BBQ and Bocce Ball tournament.  Esquimalt-Jaun de Fuca MP Keith Martin introduces Scott in the video and then joins Renee Hetherington, Liberal candidate for Saanich Gulf Islands and Christopher Causton, current Oak Bay mayor, and Liberal Candidate for Victoria afterwards for a Bocce Ball tournament against the Victoria Young Liberals. …
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Of course Steve would ignore the Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s assault on Mexican workers’ rights. Not one word could I find on Mexico’s continuing assault on worker rights.  This in spite of a statement on May 21 by CLC President Ken Georgetti urging Stephen Harper to “raise the issue of the continuing violation of fundamental labour rights and the repression of democratic labour unions in Mexico.”   Georgetti’s letter cited violations of ILO conventions including the repression against Mexico’s independent National Mineworkers’ Union, Los Mineros, and the …
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Oh, come on ... when everyone else was celebrating Speaker Peter Milliken's Parliamentary smackdown of the Cons over the Afghan detainees documents, I know I predicted something like this:Opposition balks at Tory loophole in detainee records dealConservative proposal would allow exemptions for some documentsThe Harper government has been trying to insert a loophole in a deal that’s supposed to grant opposition MPs full access to secret records on Afghan detainees – a proposal that could derail negotiations if not resolved.Opposition parties are fighting the attempted exemption that would …
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Oh, come on ... when everyone else was celebrating Speaker Peter Milliken's Parliamentary smackdown of the Cons over the Afghan detainees documents, I know I predicted something like this:Opposition balks at Tory loophole in detainee records dealConservative proposal would allow exemptions for some documentsThe Harper government has been trying to insert a loophole in a deal that’s supposed to grant opposition MPs full access to secret records on Afghan detainees – a proposal that could derail negotiations if not resolved.Opposition parties are fighting the attempted exemption that would …
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Energy union achieves “leadership” settlement05/01/2010TORONTO -- Energy workers from more than 50 oil, gas and petrochemical operations across Canada have ratified a pattern collective agreement that will see wage increases totalling almost 9% over a 3-year term.Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union delegates from Local bargaining units participating in the union's National Energy and Chemical Bargaining Conference in Toronto this weekend, have voted overwhelmingly in favour of the agreement which sets a wage pattern for the oil, gas and petrochemical industries.“This is a …
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[Updated] I've written before that I support the HST, so it should come as no surprise to anyone that I didn't sign the anti-HST petition. I do NOT and have never supported the machinations by the BC Liberals to ram the HST down British Columbians' throats without ever uttering a word about it during the May 2009 election. I've also written, extensively, about my support for democratic reform. …
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Yessiree. I have just hit 100 posts with this one post right here. Maybe Capital Noteboook will finally find it within himself to link to me now that I’ve hit 100. [...] …
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Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us This lively RSA Animate, adapted from Dan Pink’s talk at the RSA, illustrates the hidden truths behind what really motivates us at home and in the workplace. www.theRSA.org [...] …
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Things that fly under the radar. Canada's highest paid bureaucrat is quitting at Canada Post and going for an even higher paying job at... The Royal Mail.Royal Mail has named Moya Greene as its new chief executive, the first female to be appointed to the role. Ms Greene, who is currently chief executive of Canada Post, will take up the position at the beginning of July.Hmmm.... there was probably no need to highlight gender, but that seems to excite the BBC.Moya Greene, as the highest paid public sector employee in Canada, was constantly at loggerheads with the unions at Canada …
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Last week we were visiting my family in the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia with a side trip to Black Rock for some beautiful scenery and some pictures. The trip went very well and Conor enjoyed himself.  He did miss his usual routines though including his Saturday morning trail walk with Mom and Dad. He was happy to get back on the trail this morning and we capped it off with a trip to McDonald's.  We also had some company along the way. …
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Too much debt in Canwest deal: CEPOTTAWA, May 26 /CNW Telbec/ - The sale of Canwest's newspapers, approved in principle last week by a bankruptcy judge in Toronto, to an ad hoc committee of bondholders, mostly based in the USA, does little to reassure 1,700 members of Canada's largest media union who work for the chain."In fact this proposed sale under the creditor protection process may be no solution at all to the debt woes that got Canwest into bankruptcy protection in the first place," says Peter Murdoch, Vice-President, Media, of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of …
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Indeed. You and your people claim the good folks of Simcoe-Grey want you to continue representing their interests in Ottawa.  Andy Beaudoin, the riding association’s riding secretary appears to be confidant of that. Ok, then, how  does CTV (Remember, the C stands for Conservative) get all kinds of video footage showing folks wanting to run you and your hubby out of town? I had read articles from your riding saying that folks were tired of you and your hubby’s antics. Plus, your not wanted in Harpercon caucus; clearly. Didn’t your mother teach you not to go where …
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Apparently, we have a new right-wing talking point:Critics point out that Britain pegged its costs for hosting a one-day G20 meeting in London last year at $30-million – a relative pittance, but an amount some U.K. newspapers still decried as spendthrift.How to account for the Canada-U.K. discrepancy? Bookkeeping, according to [security czar Ward] Elcock.“You’re assuming, and I frankly don’t, that the public numbers out there are correct,” he said. “If you could actually compare apples to apples, the costs are going to be fairly comparable.“We have been much more transparent …
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Apparently, we have a new right-wing talking point:Critics point out that Britain pegged its costs for hosting a one-day G20 meeting in London last year at $30-million – a relative pittance, but an amount some U.K. newspapers still decried as spendthrift.How to account for the Canada-U.K. discrepancy? Bookkeeping, according to [security czar Ward] Elcock.“You’re assuming, and I frankly don’t, that the public numbers out there are correct,” he said. “If you could actually compare apples to apples, the costs are going to be fairly comparable.“We have been much more transparent …
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"At the end of the day, [Ethics Committee Chair]Paul Szabo and this kangaroo court have no credibility and no one takes their summons seriously."So said Con MP Pierre Poilievre in August two years ago when he was only an associate member of the Ethics Committee.Since becoming fully-fledged, and also Parliamentary Secretary to Steve, his job there is apparently to pipe up "Point of order" every few minutes like some demented Energizer bunny until the Chair finally cuts his mike.Lib MP Wayne Easter's spirited response to John Baird's surprise appearance before the Ethics Committee on Tuesday in …
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