Ah ... the speculation. Let's not get ahead of ourselves — Karen Handel hasn't resigned (yet), but as pressure for her to quit grows, it seems like odd timing for the organization to post an ad that looks a lot like it's an ad to fill the embattled Senior Vice President of Public Policy's shoes. The ad is for a Director of Public Policy — are we just mincing labels here? Director, Senior Vice President — tomato, tomahto.Or perhaps - Basset, Basset Hound. Personally, I've always been one in favour of the captain assuming responsibility for sinking the ship and in this case that means …
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Robert L. Brown, pretty much lays down the gauntlet over Harper's claims that the Old Age Pension is "unsustainable". In his article he refers to a report by the Chief Actuary of the OAS which actually challenges Harper's assessment with facts.So do we need to worry about the sustainability of OAS?Not according to the Chief Actuary.Based on the assumption that the cost of living would rise 2.5 per cent a year and that earnings would rise at 3.8 per cent a year (i.e., real wage growth of 1.3 per cent per annum), the Chief Actuary projected that the cost of OAS as a percentage of GDP would be …
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We don’t want to return to the bad old days of the back alley, when a poor vulnerable person who made the mistake of stepping out of line had to be forced into the shadows and have the realities explained to them with a tire iron.If I told you, Mark Steyn, you probably wouldn't believe me. But I would be the one who's right. Steyn, however, is just fine if we return to the bad old days of the back alley, as long as it's occupied by a poor vulnerable pregnant woman forced into the shadows and facing the realities of a coat hanger. …
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If it's got a pink ribbon on it, I'm not buying it. Simple.As TBogg points out, the upper end of the Susan G Komen foundation had to know that THIS bombshell was being released in the same week at they issued a press release severing their breast cancer funding from Planned Parenthood. And, as he asks, is that hubris or stupidity?Run for the cure? Apparently the mega-charity holding the trademark rights on that line (in the US) doesn't really give a damn about the cure part, especially since they've been hijacked by the religiously-driven woman-haters. Cowards. …
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The woman really needs to hire a research assistant who can click on and read the results of any one of these links. Unlike Wente's fawning over Charles Murray's latest piece of fiction based on fantasy, others have already relegated it to the irrelevant bin. Good party game; no place in the library. Here.Here.Here.Oh yeah. The concept promoted by Murray in The Bell Curve, that race and inferior intelligence are linked, is racism, pure and simple. …
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Greg nails it. The Harper agenda to carry out "pension reform" because the population of seniors in Canada threaten to undermine the economy is based solely on ideological propaganda and not an analysis of the facts. For one thing, most of these PMO talking points are propaganda utilizing grade 4 arithmetic (at best):OAS is funded primarily through taxes on working people and is unsustainable on its current course. For example:The number of Canadians over the age of 65 will increase from 4.7 million to 9.3 million over the next 20 years. The OAS program was built when Canadians were not living …
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If the priorities of the Harper government aren't fairly clear by now you, you've been living under rock. Everything is driven by the ideology espoused in this Harper speech. Now, Harper is going to start executing the agenda everyone on the right said he didn't have. You know - the hidden one.One would like to think that Harper's blustering at the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland was simply his continuing attempt to pat himself on the back for no other reason than his very existence. It was these lines which have everyones' ears pricked up:As I said earlier, one of the backdrops for …
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We don't believe you anymore.All of you need an assignment where the food ain't so good, the alcohol can kill you and the perks mean you don't get eaten alive by bedbugs. You guys are far too comfortable being thrown a comforter by the slimy creatures that inhabit the halls of power.You peddle bovine scatology.You are all in conflict of interest. …
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Sunday, 22 January 2012, was not a good day for BC Ferries. Or more accurately, it was not a good day for travellers intent on using BC Ferries to get anywhere. Shortly after 9 a.m. Sunday the sustained winds across Vancouver Island started to lay a beating on the place, from Juan de Fuca Strait in the south to Queen Charlotte Strait in the north.BC Ferries, very wisely, stopped operating a majority of routes exposed to extreme winds. Route 1, the heavily travelled Swartz Bay (Victoria) Tsawwassen (Vancouver) saw the cancellation of at least 4 large ship departures from each terminal from 11 …
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Andrew Potter pulled no punches on this one.Tony Clement is the dumber than a sack of hammers and has a bag full of the stupidest ideas to hit government since the invention of the failed curved machine gun barrel. In his six years in power, Stephen Harper has successfully positioned the Conservatives as the party of neither the left, nor of the right, but of the deeply stupid. And as Canadians have come to realize, when Tony Clement is sent out to sell a policy, things are about to get seriously neuronally challenged....There is nothing wrong with trying to reduce red tape. Only the most …
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Yes, I know. You're shocked. Conservative MP Wladyslaw Lizon has raised a little ridicule by sending a survey out in his ethnically diverse riding asking constituents if they speak “Indian.” The problem, of course, is that there is no such language. In India, there are 29 languages each spoken by more than a million people, like Hindi, Bengali, Tamil and Punjabi. English, though the first language of few Indians, often serves as a common tongue.  A novel idea comes from one of the commenters to that story. If only there was some sort of national survey that asked people questions …
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There's this from Cathie. Oh dear! Did the Harper government lie to us again?A federal agency created by the Harper government with great political fanfare in 2008 is costing millions of dollars to achieve pretty much nothing.The Canada Employment Insurance Financing Board has just about everything a budding government agency could want.So far, it has spent over $3.3 million for new offices, computers and furniture, well-paid executives and staff, travel budgets, expense accounts, board meetings, and lots of pricey consultants.All that's missing is a reason for it to exist at all.Personally, I …
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The Rev. took the juiciest parts of Harper's latest "sit down" with Peter Mansbridge and spread them out here. It's so good that it's difficult to pick out which part of "Iran really scares me" is the brownest part of Harper's utter bullshit. But by way of example:“I’ve raised the alarm as much as I can, but obviously I don’t advocate particular actions publicly. I work with our allies to see if we get consensus on actions,” he said.Mr. Harper said he has no doubt that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. “There is absolutely no doubt they are lying,” Mr. Harper said, referring to …
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Rick Mercer gives a great rant here. And a video to remind you that in the eyes of Harper, you are under attack. …
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Is that, unlike real grass, it wears out.That's a fact.The other problem, of course, is that, (despite the fact that it's a Monsanto invention), you can't kill it with this Monsanto invention. Unlike real grass, it has no roots. Where real grass, once established, adapts to its environment and then takes hold, astro-turf is held in place by another artificial substance - glue.So ... the best way to get rid of the astro-turf is to dissolve the glue. …
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I agree with Cathie. I am done with giving the Harper Cons the benefit of the doubt. I'll believe they'll actually amend the residency requirements law only when I see them bring it to the Commons and whip their caucus to support it. …
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If you live in Moose Jaw (note: two words) you probably don't spend a lot of time thinking about BC Ferries. On the other hand, if you're planning on a vacation which involves world-class flower gardens or whales or even just a decent cup of tea, you're probably going to end up on a BC Ferry at some time. Anyway, your tax dollars, (Yup! Even federal ones), go into making that stretch of water a part of the Trans-Canada highway ... so you should care a little bit.Back here there were links back to a couple sites which hauled up some information on BC Ferries and that more-than-inconvenient …
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Therefore it's not on the agenda you can see. The Harper government has served notice that thousands of same-sex couples who flocked to Canada from abroad since 2004 to get married are not legally wed. But speaking in Halifax Thursday, the Prime Minister said the issue was not on the agenda for his majority Conservatives. “We have no intention of further re-opening or opening this issue,” Stephen Harper told reporters when asked about The Globe and Mail’s report. The reversal of federal policy is revealed in a document filed in a Toronto test case launched recently by a lesbian …
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Jesus H Christ on a popsicle stick. This is the same guy who made a joke about Canadians dying from listeriosis. Isn't it wonderful? If you criticize a politician in a position of power, you get a personal swipe.We're their frigging bosses!!! By their own standards we can call them on anything we want to. We are their employers. And they are obliged, by their subordinate position, to sit there with their mouths shut and their Blackberries silent.Goddamn, I hate every politician in this country, and Clement is an excellent example as to the, "why". A compost heap is too comfortable a position …
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We've got an Alberta prime minister trying to bully British Columbians.Art SterrittHaida First Nation Executive DirectorCoastal First Nations10 January 2012 I have no doubt that the hillbillies in the Harper government, (and particularly a feces flinging moron like Oliver), cannot even begin to understand the nuance of what's just happened. …
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Stephen Hume gets it. Better yet though, via Alison, Carol Off gets it. In short, people (who should have been paying closer attention all along) are starting to see through the hypocrisy and dirty politics of the likes of Harper and the minister his extremist frat boys sent out to face the mob, Joe Oliver. …
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Well, the Speaker of the Kansas state legislature is a festering racist who, if the US Secret Service is on the ball, should end up being seriously grilled under some seriously hot lights.Then, Charles P. Pierce, (who's on the road with the Republican clown act), points out the obvious. It's the entire conservative "movement":I think, maybe, it's time for the nation to rise up and point out to the Republican party that, root and branch, it is a racist embarrassment to democracy and a blight on this nation that all the world can see. Whether it's N. Leroy Gingrich's chirping about how all the …
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Since when did oil companies give a red rat's ass about the "ethical" behaviour of the governments of lands from which they sucked oil out of the ground?The truth is, oil companies are some of the least ethical corporations on the planet. Being harboured in Canada doesn't increase their ethical behaviour. It simply masks what they are and have been all along. Now go read Norm, then go read Ian.Update: Go Alison!! And check out Holly Stick's links in the comments.Interesting ... Some people, depending on where they are, cannot access Ian Reid's blog. No one knows why. So ... Norm has reprinted …
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Mike Adams is, beyond doubt, one nasty piece of work. In his latest Conservative outing he tells the tale of one Allison, a depressed white girl who, despite her wisdom and energy found herself in the clutches of a black lad. Her life ruined and her virginity gone forever she realizes the folly of her liberal ways and becomes a Conservative talking head whore.Cool story for the Blogging wankers ... and total bullshit. Mike Adams, who positions himself as a 'thinking" Conservative ends his tale thus:The story may be a simple one but that is okay. Liberalism is a simple way of viewing the world. …
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DAMMIT JANET! is keeping a weather eye on the emerging pack of Conservative anti-choicers intent on imposing their authoritarian religious will on the women of this country. Go read and then return.The article referred to in fern hill's post comes from the uber-propagandist, anti-woman, Lifesite. What makes it interesting is that it is not breaking news. Lifesite has simply regurgitated this older report from The Windsor Star in an apparent effort to keep up some momentum which would have been lost over the holidays. What makes it more interesting is that this is now the fourth nutball …
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Well, you know what part of my anatomy you can kiss. Try not to get shit on your lips.Read it again. …
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From CBC: (emphasis mine)Electro-Motive Diesel, which makes diesel-electric locomotives and engines in London, Ont., has locked out almost 500 unionized workers after they failed to take a 50 per cent cut in wages and benefits.  The collective agreement between EMD and the Canadian Auto Workers Local 27 ran out at the end of 2011, and picket lines were set up at 6 p.m. Sunday.EMD is owned by construction equipment maker Caterpillar through its Progress Rail subsidiary. Caterpillar has a reputation for being tough on unions and waiting out long strikes.So, lets look at Caterpillar's …
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The R.A.N.'s the place for you!That would be the Royal Australian Navy which, in case you hadn't been approached by some digger with a funny looking cap, is making some interesting offers. Apparently the Aussies are feeling a bit pinched. As it competes with industry for skilled personnel, the ADF has focused its recruitment effort in Britain, which is cutting back heavily on defence as part of a government-wide austerity drive.However, Australian navy chief Ray Griggs has given an undertaking to his British counterpart, First Sea Lord Admiral Mark Stanhope, that Australia will not recruit …
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T'is dark,And I like it.T'is silent,And I am reflective.T'is peaceful,And I am reminded of my friends.To all of you, may you and all who surround you have a joyful holiday season.* About the graphic: We are not snowballs, it's not the correct size family and I would never wear a hat like that. …
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On CBC's The House, Evan Solomon asked Reform Party matriarch Deborah Grey about Harper. Harper used to be her legislative assistant so we can probably safely assume she has some insight into the way he thinks. While she waxed on about how wonderful Harper is and how he's a Conservative and therefore the neatest thing since the invention of peanut butter, she slipped from referring to "conservatives", in a general sense to "Reformers", specifically. Solomon latched on:Solomon: Is he still a Reformer?Grey: Pardon?Solomon: Is Stephen Harper still a Reformer?Grey: Oh, I'd say so. So much for the …
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Unless you live in British Columbia you might not consider yourself affected by the goings on at BC Ferries. That would be until you realize that, while BC Ferries fares have skyrocketed since they became not-quite-a-Crown-corporation at the hands of Gordon "privatize-everything" Campbell, they also receive provincial and federal taxpayer subsidies. On 22 December the relatively new Coastal Inspiration slammed into the berth at Duke Point, just outside Nanaimo. The result was about 12 people with minor injuries, a ship that is out of service until the vehicle deck weathertight doors are …
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That premise may not sit well with the fuckwad beer drinkers who think Steve Harpers "Lawnorder" agenda is cool.They haven't read any of it and that's what Brother Harper is counting on. They just keep on doing, (racking up credit card debt), and ignoring whatever changes are happening around them. Brother Harper is counting on that too.Eventually one of them will walk into a hospital and be asked for a credit card. They'll hand it over and three weeks later we'll see some whining prick complaining that it cost him $10,000 for a 4 hour visit to the emergency room.What happened to universal …
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There are a lot more other important things going on, but this is truly smile worthy. …
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Genie Scott explains how the christian conservatives are trying to sneak their way into the US school curriculum with bogus "academic freedom" laws. As Panda's Thumb points out, it could be called "Academic Anarchy" without any loss of meaning. …
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I don't pay much attention to Rex Murphy. While able to wax eloquent on most any topic, that is, in my opinion, his only strength. He calls himself a "skeptic" on the topic of global warming. I submit that an earth scientist is a skeptic on that subject; Murphy is a denier by any test and unqualified to assess the science of climatology.He is, however, qualified to opine on topics political. We all are.The problem with Murphy is that he sprays himself with the same eau de toilette when pontificating on Canadian politics as he does when he spouts on about things climatological. He attempts to …
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Peter (Airshow) MacKay just keeps on feeding the beast. Defence Minister Peter Mackay spent $4,752 for two one-way plane tickets to go to the 2010 Grey Cup in Edmonton.I wonder what retired brown-noser MacKay's office will troop out this time to defend Mr. Indefensible?  …
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Never met him but, oh, how I wish I had. He will live on in ways I don't think even he could imagine. …
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Jason Kenney believes that the Charter of Rights, established under the Constitution of this country is something stupid. "I'm sure they'll trump up some stupid Charter of Rights challenge. That's democracy. They're welcome to object. " In short, he has expressed the belief that the governing party trumps the Constitution. Every bullet fired from the barrel of a police pistol was my bullet. If you call that murder, then I am the murderer. Finally I alone created, on my own initiative, the State Secret Police Department. This is the instrument which is so much feared by the enemies of …
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All assets possessed by the poor whom Margaret Wente stunningly suggests are much better off than we are led to believe. The column is worth reading if only to give you a feel for the callousness of Wente and the constituency she represents. One of the commenters to the online column described it best:Thinking the poor are doing better is what helps Margaret Wente sleep at night. What kind of logic is Wente using when she chooses to compare current conditions of poverty with conditions from a century ago?There is desperate poverty in urban and rural regions across Canada. The kind where …
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