Layton to Compromise on Gun Registry

Jack Layton is planning to compromise over the long gun registry. Of course, the only reason this bill is going to pass is because he refuses to whip the vote. Even though it is a private members' bill, it is clearly something all Conservatives support. I would not be surprised if Stephen Harper himself was the mastermind of this plan. I also wouldn't be surprised if the Conservatives would call an election, stating this as one of the reasons. The RCMP and ER doctors say that the registry is instrumental in saving lives. Why won't Layton make sure that it stays alive?

OTTAWA—NDP Leader Jack Layton says he’s not worried about the backlash that may come from his party helping kill the long gun registry.

“You can’t go through life in politics worrying about who is going to blame you for voting one way or another on an issue,” Layton told a news conference Monday.

Instead the party is proposing a last-minute compromise he hopes will save the registry while addressing some of the concerns that gun owners and native groups have.

Read more at the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail.

Quebec: Natural Gas Giant?

Quebec could allow for the opening of many shale gas wells. This would need to be harvested not unlike the Alberta tar sands. Good. Let the companies collect the gas. However, they should pay for the damages against the environment. This means not just a carbon tax, but many other taxes depending on the damages to the surrounding environment. This would encourage the oil and gas companies to either invest in R&D or not mine for gas at all. The government makes a profit. In any case, the environment wins.

In most places west of Manitoba, the arrival of yet another oil or gas drilling rig is cause for little notice or concern. In Quebec, a half dozen gas wells and the potential of hundreds more may be about to set off a new kind of identity crisis.

Quebec has long nurtured an image as a green-energy titan, relying on hydro and sneering at those other energy producers in the West, with their smelly, polluting oil and gas.

Read more at the Globe and Mail.

Co2 is good for Agriculture

I've read this argument on many Conservative blogs. Carbon Dioxide is plant food, therefore, if there is more of it in the atmosphere there will be more food in the world for people to eat. That's why we should emit more. This video from Climate Denial Crock of the Week debunks this argument.

Conservatives no way are going for an election.

If a question of an election is in your head this fall you should know it ain't going to happen. In the summer an election was almost certain this fall, but then the Conservatives had to go and mess with the long form census. Which polls show isn't so popular. Then the conservatives are revisiting the long term gun registry. Both these  issue's are ralling his base, and have immense opposition. These aren't issue's a party in power is going to propose just before an election. Now the Conservatives only slitly ahead of the polls are trying to get it back by ralling the base. An election not happening this fall.

Belugas with Oil

On Thursday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the creation of a protected area in the Beaufort Sea for belugas. Congratulations! This is a great gesture.. However, oil companies will be able to drill right outside the sanctuary. This, of course, makes no sense whatsoever. If there is an oil spill, the oil will cross right into the conservation area. The oil knows no human lines. It will not stop belugas from dying. This is another cover-up by the Harper government to make it look like they are protecting the environment when they are doing the opposite.

New Democrat MP Nathan Cullen said allowing an exception for offshore drilling defeats the purpose of creating a protected area. "This is a protected area that protects nothing except oil and gas interests," said Cullen.

Even if drilling takes place in territory outside the protected area, there's the risk that an oil spill could drift into the area and affect the beluga habitat, he added. "It's some insane notion that we can draw a line in the water and drill right beside it."

Read more at the Montreal Gazette.

Hottest year in Canada!

The hottest year in Canada is predicted to be 2010 if current trends continue into the fall. The record was last in 1998 when the temperature was just 2.5 degrees above normal all year round, and  so far this year the weather is 3.5 degrees above normal since January to July. If the trends continue for the rest of the year than we should see our weather being the hottest year on record. This is proof again that global warming is happening the climate is changing and in total it creates an increase in are weather above normal temperature. This proves that we need to act on global warming before some effects are to late to reverse. We still have time to stop many harmful effects, but arguing about science that is right in front of you isn't going to help us act.

Read more here

Gun Registry Works

An RCMP audit has confirmed that the Canadian Firearms Program is working efficiently to save lives. This includes the long gun registry that is slated to be scrapped if a private members' bill passes in September. police chiefs support the long gun registry. Now, the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians says that the long gun registry saves lives. However, not needing fact to guide their decision, the Conservatives and some of the NDP will vote to scrap the long gun registry. The registry was costly to set up, but the lives saved from it are worth more than the money spent on it.

In the News

The following arguments were lifted from numerous pro-gun blogs and websites about the long-gun registry and little was changed except weapons were transformed into vehicles, bullets into car keys.

Read more at the Montreal Gazette.

OTTAWA — Emergency-room doctors across Canada, who often treat victims of gunshot wounds, are asking MPs to keep the long-gun registry because they believe it will save lives.

Read more at the Vancouver Sun.

OTTAWA — An internal RCMP audit concludes the Canadian Firearms Program is operating effectively, efficiently and accountably, and the report makes no mention of massive cost overruns and bungling that plagued the contentious federal gun registry before the national police force assumed management of it.

Read more at the National Post.

Did you know?

Here Some very interesting facts my brother found this clip called "Did You Know?" on Youtube. Now Some of the things in the video you might think is a lie, but I would like to say that a prediction on the video is just a best estimates that may prove to be wrong as predictions can always be wrong.

I would like to thank my brother for giving me this idea.

Click here to see video.

A Republican who is for the mosque.

Ron Paul once a presidential nominee in 2008 is the one Republican I know of that actually understand the mosque issue. Ron Paul stated said that 9/11 should be blamed by terrorist groups not Islam saying that he doesn't support "painting Islam with a broad brush". He mentions more that he thinks that if a mosque is disrespecting 9/11 victims what about the strip clubs aren't they inappropriate so close to the 9/11 site. I think that mosque should be aloud , and that there is no reason to put a no on all mosques near the 9/11 site. Ron Paul said how Newt Gingrich is going overboard comparing the Islamic center as it would be like having a Nazi center near the Holocaust museum. I think comparing Nazi's a group like the KKK that is an illegal group in the U.S to a religion like Islam that promotes peace is insane. Now I am no big fan for Ron Paul, but you have to give him credit to him for going against the the republican wave of attack against this.

Green seat in Canada?

Elisabeth May Green party leader of Canada said that acquiring a Green seat is top priority. Could it actually happen? Well the seat May has decided to run this time is on the other side of the country. In BC in a riding that last election had a 11% voting for the green party candadate. Now the problem with this seat is that the conservatives had 43% and the Libral had 39% in the 2008 election with this you can say that this seat is way out of reach. I think with a high profile candadite that she is she could make a deant in this riding to make her party presence here very strong. In Central Nova she got the riding from 2% green to 32% green, but she got help considering the Liberals didn't put a candidate there that last time got 23%. Now the riding is diffrent instead of being in a riding where the Green party only got 2% before she came she is in a riding more open to enviromental issues.Elisabeth May was in a byelection in 2006 where she went from the 2006 election results of 5% green , and at the byelection brought both Conservative and Liberals down 5% and she rose to 25% green. Now her new riding she has been in and campaign longer than the by election one. So she could still win this by a small edge or lose by 20%, but again all politics is local.

World hunger what is the world doing?

World hunger an issue I find has not been stressed enough, Because clearly if it was a big issue it wouldn't be that bad. Here are some interesting facts about hunger in our world.

Did you know that 15 million people die from hunger every year. That is 1 person every 3.6 seconds! In the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America 500 million people are leaving in absolute poverty. 50% of our planet live on less than 2$ a day. It is also in the U.S one in eight children under the age of 12 in the U.S go to bed hungry. Now what is the world doing about it. Well the cost to satisfy all hunger needs in the world would cost 13 billion dollars. That is how much people in the U.S and the E-U spend on perfume. Now nothing against perfume, but the fact is that not enough money is given to end global hunger. In Japan 5 times more food is thrown in the garbage than the UN gives for hunger relief. 13 billion is a lot of money for you and me, but for our government especially the U.S and E-U have plenty they can give. In fact the cost of one missile can feed a hungry school every day for 5 years.

Here is something you can do and it won't even cost a cent. Click here

For some more facts read here

Labor has Won the Election

Some call the election too close, but I say a winner was made that night in Australia. Unlike, many parts of the world Australia has a diffrent system it has a preference system. This is a vote that asks people for their first and second preference. Then when there is someone with over 50% they are elected. Now the two party preferred vote nationaly was Labor 50.7% win against 49.3% National/Liberal. I say since the vote shows more people want Labor to win instead of the National/Liberal Labour should win. With the election so close I say the green party and Independents should talk with Labor. Now why Labor? Well just like Nick Clegg in the U.K he said he would talk to the winner of the election which was the Conservatives. I agree with this because if someone has won the vote to govern then there party I think ethically go to compermize with the winner, but this isn't compolsurary and if the independents and Green can't make a compremize then they should by all means look at the National/Liberal.  I do hope Labor has talks and negotioations with the Green Party and the Independents and can form a goverment with Labor.

Harper's Enemies

Harper has gained many enemies over the years he has served as prime minister. His archenemies, in my opinion, are environmental protection agencies. Harper continues to promise action to reduce emissions, yet he still doesn't act to meet our little target. This cartoon from the Globe and Mail portrays the situation nicely.

No clear national winner, but someone defenietly won.

The Australian election although showing a hung parliament that will defiantly need support from smaller parties to have a a strong government. The only winner now is the Green Party. Yeah Australia has voted in Green MP to there government, and if things go good with Labor Australia could have a carbon tax. Election still a little close latest results are spread a little all around, but so far Labor has 71 Liberal has 71 Green 1 Independents 3. 4 seats still not yet given . So at the end it could go either way. I hope to see a Labor minority government with the Green party and independents helping. Australia just like the U.K has now a member in parliament that supports environmental policies, because a government with enough Green party seats to make sure that the environment is seen when legislation occurs is the best that can happen. Now if we can only have a green party member in Canada.

Resolving Arctic Problems

Yesterday, the government announced that Canada will work to create a clearly defined Arctic with borders. However, Harper said that Canadian sovereignty will not be compromised. Hopefully, this could mean that the government is willing to talk and collaborate with other countries. As the Globe and Mail notes,

This contrasts sharply with Canada’s traditional approach, which was to (a) stake a claim and then (b) refuse to talk about it.

If you are going to use that strategy, at least have some military in the region. A Foreign Affairs paper said that it will probably be a decade until Canada gets its first Arctic icebreaker.

The best way to assert sovereignty is to be in the place you claim as yours. But the Conservatives are also determined to balance the budget sooner rather than later. The Foreign Affairs policy paper acknowledged it will probably be a decade before Canada has its own polar icebreaker.

Read more at CBC or the Globe and Mail.

The northwest passge to foreign policy.

Centuries ago many people have taken there ship to create a northwest passage to the Beaufort sea. Now many people have tried , and even died trying. A song was even written about the passage. Singing of people wishing to make a northwest passage. Now we have a PM who wants to make sure Canada sovereignty in the north stays, and to tell all the other countries that Canada owns the northwest passage. I am with the PM this one. Harper has the right idea. Canada should not be shy in saying that we own our part of the north therefore we have full rights to our internal waters and it's usage. Now the only thing is would we want to go to war with other countries because of the northwest passage ? No! Canada should take the high road and make sure that when it gives it's report to the UN that it is done properly, and that Canada is given full rights to what Canada owns. I am in full support of increasing the Canadian presence in the north.

Tories Gain

In the most recent EKOS poll, the Conservatives have a lead of about 4%. This is good for them, but as the headline says, that the landscape looks "as stable as a drunken bear on a bicycle." It seems like no political party can get a big lead for long. The Liberal party cannot seem to break the 30% point which is quite bad for us. However, it seems like we are rebuilding in Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. However, with the number of parties in Canada, each getting a lot of support from the public, it doesn't look like there are going to be majority governments in the near future.

The federal Conservatives have reclaimed a small lead after losing some ground to the Liberals, a new EKOS poll suggests.

According to the latest poll results, released exclusively to CBC News, 32.5 per cent of respondents would vote for the Tories if an election were held today, compared with 27.9 per cent for the Liberals.

Read more at CBC or the Globe and Mail.

Obama Muslim? Christian?

Obama is not only the first African American president, but apparently he is the first Muslim president. It's not true but 20% of Americans seem to think so. Believe it or not that number was 10% last year. That is a double gain, and if you think there is a political divide you are right. Republicans make a big part of it, but 18% of Independents think the same. Obama is a Christian no argument. The thing is that should there be something bad that 20% think he is Muslim? Well you could just say thet they are a part of 25% that don't believe Obama was born in the U.S. which means that this is just a conspiracy theory. The only bad thing about that would be that people just might not know. Could some people not like Obama because of his religon? (being muslim for 20% of people) . I think it is stupid if anyone where to go against a president, because of his religon. Religon should have nothing to do with policy.


Read more here

They continue to do it wrong.

The "Rethink Alberta" campaign made by environmentalists in California is telling people to avoid going to Alberta because of the tar sands. Now, they are putting ads in the U.K. I think they are doing it wrong. By boycotting the province you are going to punish innocent businesses that have nothing to do with the tar sands. I say you can hate the government or oil companies to death, but don't punish the citizens of Alberta of different political stripes. Just because people live in the province that has the tar sands does not mean that support the tar sands. So I would rather environmentalist groups campaign directly against the tar sands, or against the use of oil made from the tar sands. I think that this is a way better idea than punishing the people of Alberta.

The group that created the controversial "Rethink Alberta" tourism boycott campaign in the United States is taking its anti-oilsands message to England.

 "The level of awareness about the tar sands is still well below the radar screen of most Americans," he said.

Eleven large digital billboards with graphic images of the environmental costs of the industry are scheduled to go up in London over the next couple days. As well, ads will run on some of the country's most popular websites.

Read more at CBC.

Palin mania. Not happening.

Palin once a vice presidential hopeful has been ever since a rising star in American politics. She has associated herself with the tea party has went against the "Peolosi, Reid  and Obama" agenda. Some speculate she will run in 2012, but even though she is popular with her base it doesn't seem like her endorsements are helping much. Out of the 5 endorsements she gave in Republican primaries all 5 of the candidates she endorsed this month have lost there primary bid. So it seems like her endorsements haven done well this month so far, but next Tuesday some more primaries she has associated with endorsements will put her endorsements to the test. She has endorsed Joe Miller in her own state for the primary for the senate seat against incumbent republican senator running for reelection. Marco Rubio she endorsed for the senate seat. The big one I think might be in Arizona where she endorsed John Mccain her former running mate in 2008 has a tough republican primary. Now to be fair even though her endorsement haven done well this month she will at the end of the day she will be one of the most popular candidate in the republican party.

Palin went on to record a robocall for Didier, telling voters that "unlike establishment candidates who just talk about lower taxes, Clint has signed a pledge to do so." But Rossi easily beat Diddier in Tuesday's primary, besting the former NFL player by more than 20 points.

Palin's candidate also lost out in the Wyoming gubernatorial primary on Tuesday. There, the former vice presidential nominee backed what she referred to as a "Mama Grizzly," State Auditor Rita Meyer.

But Palin's 0-2 showing follows a bigger disappointment last Tuesday, when her hand-picked gubernatorial candidate in Georgia, Karen Handel, lost to fellow Republican Nathan Deal in a close election.

Faster Buses

In Montreal, the STM has sought to reduce travel time on the 467 express bus route. New traffic lights will detect buses approaching an intersection. When possible, the green light will be extended, allowing the bus to zoom through, or it will get a priority light. The STM plans to make this service common throughout the island in a few years. This is a great idea for all transit agencies. The reason why people take the car is primarily because it is faster than public transit. This, with multiple other improvements will attract more people to take the bus.

The 467 Express, a taste of tomorrow’s transit

Since the 467 Express Saint-Michel was introduced in March 2009, commuters have enjoyed rapid transit services on Saint-Michel boulevard, in addition to the 67 bus route, the STM’s busiest.

Then, in August 2009, the establishment of a curb-side reserved lane along Saint-Michel boulevard helped to improve the flow of traffic for both bus lines.

 Read more at the STM's website.

A Good Decision on the new MS Treatment

Yves Bolduc, the Quebec health minister has decided to fund a clinical trial of the new treatment for multiple sclerosis. Even though those who have been treated with it have reported good results, there hasn't been any scientific study done on this besides the one done by the person who discovered the treatment. Those with MS should be able to live as normal as they can. However, this "cure" could have side-effects we do not know about yet. Therefore, it is a good idea to fund a study as soon as possible so we will be able to decide whether this procedure works and is not dangerous.

Quebec's health minister says he's ready to join other provinces in a national clinical trial of a controversial treatment for multiple sclerosis.

Yves Bolduc says he's very open to Quebec collaborating on clinical studies, adding he will ask his own experts to provide him with an opinion.

Manitoba Health Minister Theresa Oswald has written a letter to provincial, federal and territorial health ministers seeking their support.

She has called for a pan-Canadian randomized clinical trial of the efficacy of the so-called liberation procedure.

Read more at the Globe and Mail.

Tolerance not much in America.

You would think that a nation that stands on the value of immigration and opportunities to people who have been stripped of there right s would practice what they preach, but no in the start of the controversial mosque two blocs away from the WTC site few politicians have pushed support for it. In fact many republicans have pushed against it like Sarah Palin, tea party leader Mark William and now democratic senate majority leader Harry Reid is against it. 68% of Americans are against the mosque yet about 2/3 of Americans are against banning burqua in public places. It is the same thing. Religious freedom is to practice your right to pray or to not to believe at all anywhere you want. This might explain how many politicians have spoken against it, and maybe how the biggest supporter is Mayor bloomberg who can't run again so isn't put to much political pressure.I think that the main argument put by Republicans that a mosque would insult 9/11 families is wrong. The Islamic center that is being built is an Islamic center, so it is for the community like the Jewish center in Manhattan It is for anyone who wants to can join. Second is that 9/11 families should not be insulted by a mosque that is against radical terrorism, and a n Islamic center that wants to create peace and promote the true religion of Islam that supports peace. Maybe some of our politicians don't have the political will do support what they think is right, because they care to much of there popularity rating

A blast from the past.

One of my first post on this blog was that there where accusations on the president of the humane society has abused animals. Now in city hall the case was dropped , because the data was not brought properly in acordince with the law. Now I think that if there is proof then the prosecution should cntinue investingation to gather information properly so that they can make sure that if there is enough proof that something happened then the president should pay his due.

The Crown told the court the search warrant and the manner in which it was executed during the raids on Nov. 26 at the River St. shelter was a "serious breach" of the Canadian Charter of Rights, lawyer Frank Addario said.

"Obama worst president ever" Ben Quayle

Ben Quayle a candidate for a republican primary for a district in Arizona. Now if his last name sounds familiar it might be because his dad Dan Quayle was the vice president of the U.s for four years during the George H.W presidency. Now he has an TV ad in which he calls plain out that Obama is the worst president ever. Now I understands people maybe saying Obama a bad president , but the worst president in history is a bit too much. Now he has legitimate concerns like "weakening economy". these might be a concern , but that doesn't make Obama the worst president in the world . This is Also considering that Bush who was in charge for 8 years was the one who placed the recession on the economy. Now to be fair there are some people who think that Obama was the worst president, but really can you judge a not even half done 1st term presidency as the worst entire presidency in history. I think not.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2010/08/13/jk.follow.fri.08.13.cnn

Marijuana in California.

Yes the only thing I might be looking forward to in this midterm election in the U.S is the referendum or ballot measure that California might legalize Marijuane for commercial use. This is great Marijuana should definetly be legalize. Many countries have legalized it already, and in fact Marijuana was legal as medicine in the U.S in the early 20th century. Marijuana was used for medicine more than 2000 years ago and is still used today for medical use. Marijuana should be legalized  since other more dangerouse drugs and subsatnces are legal Alchohal, tabacco and coffe. Yeah coffe study shows that coffe is more addicting then marijuana, coffe starts to be a substance that your brain is so depndent on that if you withdraw from it you can get headache nausea fatigue and even depression. You can actually die from having to much ceafine pills, while there was never in the history a death from marijauna alone. You could actually debate that smoking a joint in the morning is more healthier than your morning coffe. Now even if Marijuana lets admit has side effects that can cause damage, but compared to the damges and addiction from tabbaco and alcahol marijuana looks like coffe. Look also at the economic idea of it. Marijuana if leagalized would have so many taxes state and federal that it would increase federal revenue, but even more it helps drug companies and will create billion dollar industries that will employ people which will help the economy. This will help our economy and defund mexican drug cartals that distribute Marijuana to north America. This will make the border safer, help our economy and simply just makes sense.

BP when will I ever stop hearing your name.

First BP breaks an oil rig and creates the worst oil spill in American history. Then there where proof that BP knew that an oil rig could have been broken if they didn't fix it, but they ignored it. Then there was the whole BP scandal that they underestimated the oil disaster. They still of course then had hundreds of people come in for the president on the beach that they eventually left as soon as Obama turned his back. Now they hired people without any sort of background check to see if they where sex offenders. I don't know if they can do much more. The fact that they are still a living business is nothing short of a miracle. I can't believe that they allowed sex offenders to work without knowing that they where sex offenders. To be fair of course some clean up places did have background checks that did hire sex offenders, and they where watched and they said that nothing happened.

A lack of screening of oil spill cleanup workers meant a sex offender got a job, and left him free to rape a colleague according to a Mississippi county sheriff.

Rundy Charles Robertson, 41, who faces charges of sexual battery and failure to register as a sex offender, is in the Jackson County, Mississippi, jail with bail set at $505,000.

 Read more here 

They finaly do something.

Ever since Arizona passed it's new immigration bill the ignored issue of Immigration started to be center stage on policy needs in the U.S. Even though parts of the Arizona law has been put away the Obama Government has been pressured to do something about Illegal Immigration. Now they finally did something a new bill passed that gives 600 million dollars on border security. This means more money for officers to stop illegal information, new vehicles and 14 million in new communication devices. The bill is expected to be funded buy giving higher fees to companies who hire illegal immigrants. Even though I don't agree with parts of Arizona's law I think that you have to hand it to them for putting the issue center stage.

President Obama will sign a bill Friday that provides $600 million in emergency funding to help secure the U.S.-Mexico border.

Among other things, the bill provides for roughly 1,500 new law enforcement agents, new unmanned aerial vehicles, new forwarding operating bases and $14 million in new communications equipment.

The bill is funded in part by imposing higher fees on personnel companies that bring foreign workers into the United States. 

Read more here

Double dip rescession maybe not.

A fear of a double dip recession came first when Greece's debt crisis was causing havoc on the powerhouse Euro currency. The Euro, has lost it's value as the crisis was moving forward, meanwhile here in North America our TSX and Dow Jones went up and down that resulted in no real change. The fear of a double dip has been growing as the job reports show that in both countries Canada and U.S we lost jobs in July. This might all prove that a double dip recession is going to happen, but the Euro zone (the 16 nation that uses the currency) has posted a gain of 1% from the moths (April and May) gaining more than the U.S 0.6% gain, While here in Canada 1.5% gain. The Euro zone even in the midst of the Greek debt crisis was expected to have a 0.7% growth out did expectations, but some parts of the Euro did better than others. Germany did the best with a 2.2% increase there highest increase sine unification, but other countries like France gave U.S numbers. The worst performing one's where Spain that only gained 0.2% this of no surprise as Spain has a nearly 20% unemployment, but those are small potatoes compared with Greece's contracting economy that reduced by 1.5%. The global economy is growing which is good indicator that a double dip recession might not happen.

Germany was the clear leader, with data showing its powerhouse economy expanded by 2.2 per cent.

Data released Thursday showed the Greek economy contracted by 1.5 per cent in the quarter. And while Spain eked out a small 0.2 per cent gain, its unemployment rate sits near 20 per cent.

"Despite an inevitable slowdown, all ingredients are there for the German economy to take the next step toward a self-sustained recovery," ING economist Carsten Brzeski said.

 Read more here

Should stimulus end.

Flaherty said that Canda economy is strong that it will not need more stimulus, because the Candaian economy is doing very well that it can do fine now without the federal stimulus. The dead line of the stimulus spending is March 31st. Now it is true that Canada's economy is doing very well, and will not need more stimulus only if there isn't a double dip rescession. If the U.S confidence gets any lower and markets tumbles then Canada will of course suffer. I think we should be fair allow the stimulus to move forward till March, and if Canada's economy is sliping down then we should continue stimulus spending. The thing is that we may not need stimulus if we keep are expected job growth, so I say if there is a double dip rescession yes keep spending If we are doing fine, and economist say there is no need for more stimulus I say stop and move forward to deficit reduction.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says Canada's economic growth is "substantial" and unlikely to require more government stimulus to sustain what is becoming an increasingly fragile recovery.

A severe U.S. slowdown would be felt in Canada, says BMO economist Douglas Porter, and may necessitate Ottawa and some provinces extending their stimulus spending beyond their current sunset dates.

 The slowdown has been so severe that Canada may no longer be in a position to boast the fastest rebound from the recession among advanced G7 advanced countries.

 Read more here 

A win, win situation.

Quebec will sell hydroelectricity to Vermont. This deal will give Vermont 225 megawatts of energy this will give enough energy for 200,000 homes in Vermont. By 2012 for another 26 years Vermont will have energy that is clean and cheap. Vermont has now proven again that it believes in enviromentally and cheap energy for it's citezens and future citezens. I think that we here in Quebec are lucky to have so much lakes that we can make the new enviromentaly energy of the future. I hope Quebec continues to sell more of it's energy so it can first get more revenue and to get U.S to start moving away from oil and coal enrgy use.

Vermont will purchase 225 megawatts of power starting in November 2012 and ending in 2038 - 225 megawatts of electricity is enough power to maintain about 200,000 homes.

Read more here

6 out 50 is a good start.

The judge that found proposition 8 unconstitutional has now allowed all same sex couples the right to marry in California. The stay was placed after the first ruling saying although Prop 8 is unconstitutional gay couples can't marry till all appeals are over. Now the judge uplifted the stay on gay marriage. Now California rejoins that states that allow gay marriage. This puts the total to 6 states that allow same sex marriage (Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Iowa and California) , but also the District of Columbia now allows marriage. The thing is that if like last time between 2006 and 2008 then Prop 8 passed, so a question went to the supreme court of California whether the marriages that happened in those two years where still valid ? The good news is that the supreme court of California found it valid. That means even if an appeal wins in the supreme court the marriages that happens in between the appeal winning and August 18 will still be considered valid, but I do hope that the appeal doesn't win.

A federal judge ruled on Thursday to allow same-sex couples to marry in California, starting on August 18

Same-sex marriage is legal in five U.S. states and in the District of Columbia

Read more here

A hero? I think not!

Jet blue flight attendant Steven Slater has been getting much support for his action on a flight. Yeah I thought that the definition of hero was helping people. Well I guess I should alert my English teacher that a hero is now a guy who get's angry at a passenger because he was being very rude to him grab some beer than went off on an emergency off the plane. Now Slater said that the passenger was not following the rules and was grabbing his bag to early before the plane stooped. Then when he open the top compartment it hit Slater. Slater ask for an apology but the passenger said no. Then he grab the beer and went throw the emergency exit. Now the passenger is no angel cursing at the flight attendant. Slater is no angel either, because his job is to help people on the plane not to endangered everyone on the plane because some guy cursed at him. I think firing him doesn't have to happen he should probably get a fine go to court face the judge, and if he wants to keep his job he should get courses to make sure this doesn't happen again. In all honesty he did something wrong, and if they want to fire him I say they are aloud. If it where me in charge I would say pay the fine admit it to the judge and take the courses then I think he deserves a second chance maybe then he could a hero.

He was charged with criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and criminal trespass, according to the Queens District Attorney's Office.

That's when Slater got on the plane's public address system. Passenger Phil Catelinet wrote on his blog that Slater said, "To the passenger who just called me a motherf-----: f--- you. I've been in this business 28 years, and I've had it."

Read more here  

Madatory Long term census might stay after all.

The FFAC which is an organizationion that I am not very faimilar with, but even though I am not very familiar with them I put my hat off to them for there success in stooping the Conservatives goverment plan to get rid of the madatory long term census.They want to either stop the plan of getting rid of the madatory census or put the questions on language on the short term census. They are going now to federal court in Semptember 27. I hope that they now win there court battle, and we in Canada get to keep our very important information. Statistics Canada even said that the response rate could even get lower 50% considering last time when it was madatory it had a 95% response rate.

The legal challenge comes as newly released documents show Statistics Canada warned the Conservative government that the response rate for a proposed voluntary long-form census would be less than 50 per cent.

The court will hold a hearing on Sept. 27 in Ottawa to hear the request of the Federation of Francophone and Acadian Communities (FFAC) for an injunction that would block the government's move to make the long-form census voluntary.

Read more here

Don't get rid of the HST.

In BC there is a petion to stop the HST. Now I support the HST it will simplify taxes for business and also reduce taxes that can be added on a product to make it way more expensive. This in total reduces prices and saves bussness money that would be spent going to taxes. So actually it eliminate taxes on products. Election BC is now checking the petion to see if it is ligitamite. Now if it is ligitamite the petion will go to the legislation where it could go on a vote in the legalature to either get ride or continue the HST, and it could go straight to the ballot box on a referundum on it. I hope it does not get to that. I say that the HST should stay in BC and Ontario.

organizers say they collected more than 700,000 names by the time the document was handed in.

If Elections BC confirms the petition is valid, a committee of the legislature will decide to either put the issue to a vote in the house or send it to a non-binding plebiscite next year.

Read more here

So many reasons not to yet they go and do it any way.

 A former chief statistician Dr. Sylvia Ostry said that getting rid of the mandatory long term census is "Ridiculous" that the government shouldn't be telling statisticians how to gather information. I think that the long term census is necessary to gather information important information that we need. Stats Canada said that the returned rate would be 50% that might sound okay, but the long term mandatory census has a return rate of 95% so reducing the return rate by 45% makes the information lacking and not accurate. The sad thing is that with a non Mandatory census it will be sent to more people (33% of Canadians instead of the 25% that it is currently sent to) This will make the cost of the census more expensive for information that is not accurate. So we should spend more money to get less accurate data. 

“I think it’s ridiculous the government would intervene and tell Statistics Canada how to collect its information,” Dr. Sylvia Ostry

The Conservative government’s action, she said, undermined the global stature of Statistics Canada which has been praised consistently as one of the leading statistics agencies in the world. “The whole thing is shocking,” she said.

Graziadei also said the agency could get a 65 to 70 per cent response rate for a voluntary census, which "is still not an acceptable outcome for a census

Read more on stats Canada here

Read about Dr. Sylvia Ostry here

Politics as usual in Ottawa

That big stimulus package of the Canadian government went to help the economy, but of course some riding's got more money than others. There is nothing wrong with that, but when you look at which riding get the most money you will see that they will tend to be Conservative. Yet the Conservatives don't even have 50% of the seats yet most of the top riding earners are Conservatives. Look at the riding in Quebec top ten earners 4 of them are Conservative, but the Conservatives only have 15% of the seats yet on the top ten earners 40% of the seats are Conservatives. Good example of this is in the riding of  Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Riviere-du-Loup which the conservatives won in a by election just one year ago. This riding which got the most money then any other riding in Quebec. The month following that election the Riding got an extra 2.8 million dollars. That put the riding at 8 million dollars in funding, and even if they only got 2.8 million and not the rest the riding would still get more money than 96% of the other riding's in Quebec. What happened in that month that the riding needed all that money? the riding turned Conservative. This strategy isn't just being used in the current Government unfortunately this practice has been done for decades, and is used all across the world. 

Projects in Mr. Genereux's riding, which is located in eastern Quebec, were awarded more than $8-million worth of stimulus money, including $2.8-million in the months immediately following his victory.

They also echo findings from a 2009 Canadian Press study of the first round of spending announcements under the program. That research showed that in almost every province, a Conservative riding was first in terms of overall grant money received.

Read more here

Need any more proof about global warming.

An ice island 4 times the size of Manhattan has fell off Greenland and is now it's own island. This is the biggest chuck of ice to break of the arctic ice caps since 1962. This is a 260 kilometer ice island half the height of the empire state building. This shows how that the northern Hemisphere as predicted has seen the biggest increase in temperature, and as predicted is seeing major ice melting that is causing these ice islands to pop up in the arctic. Do we need anymore proof. I think the signs are showing that we need to take action now or if we wait and sit on our hands then enjoy the ice free arctic ocean.

The 260 square-kilometer (100 square miles) ice island separated from the Petermann Glacier in northern Greenland early on Thursday, researchers based at the University of Delaware said.

"The freshwater stored in this ice island could keep the Delaware or Hudson rivers flowing for more than two years. It could also keep all U.S. public tap water flowing for 120 days,"

Environmentalists say ice melt is being caused by global warming with Arctic temperatures in the 1990s reaching their warmest level of any decade in at least 2,000 years, according to a study published in 2009.

Read more here

Again lies from Harper.

In the fall of last year Ignatieff said he was going to try to bring down the government. Harper said that an Election would hurt the economies recovery. Although many economist say that an election doesn't really hurt a recovery that much. Now Harper said again that the Economy is too fragile for a useless election. The thing is elections actually help the economy. With all the buying of paper for flyer's and posters, renting empty spaces for speeches headquarters and the construction of election headquarters for TV stations. All of those actually help the economy, but to be fair if there was a budget being proposed that failed then there was an election all legislation would be delayed. Now 5 weeks is not that bad , and with all the spending on the election, and after the cleaning of all the areas the economy would be fine waiting 5 weeks. It is not like noting is being done in these 5 weeks a election unlike proroguing Parliament does help the economy.

Read more here

Birthers what a shame.

Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin was in the U.S army and went all around the world. Then when he was called to go to Afghanistan he didn't go for the call instead he said on YouTube that he would not go to Afghanistan till he knows that the commander and chief the one who is in charge of this war proves that he was born in the U.S.A . This is said that people in the army of the country don't believe that there leader wasn't born in the country. Lakin should know that the information is online he should look here. Obama was born in the U.S. there is nothing more to this conversation.

Lakin is among 27 percent of Americans who doubt or deny that Obama is American-born, according to a recent CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll. They compose the birther movement, which demands that Obama present a birth certificate signed by the doctor who delivered him in 1961.

Obama has made public an unsigned "certification of live birth," which birthers claim is not the same as a birth certificate. However, two Honolulu, Hawaii, newspapers have presented birth announcements for Obama, and the state's Republican governor has confirmed that the president was born in the Aloha State.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/08/06/terrence.lakin.birther.bio/index.html

The 14th amendment going? yeah when pigs fly.

Some people in Washington want to take away the 14 amendment of the U.S Constitution. First thing about this is that it would mean if anyone was born in America, but their parents were not born here or Immigrated legaly then they are not a citezen. The thing is that when Americans came here from england didn't come here legaly. What I mean by that is they just came and called that land their's kind of like illegal immigrants. So that would mean that all people of non native origin would not have got citezenship if this part the constatution was appiled before they came from England.  I would agree to not giving citezenship to illegal immigrants children who's parents come and give birth in America, but don't worry this will never happen. Getting rid of a part of the constatution is harder than talking about it. In order to get rid of an amendment you need first 2/3 of both houses to agree with it. That means that 290 house members need to vote with it and 67 senators also have to agree. That is imposible, because first this is coming from republicans and not even all of them are with this. The Rebulicans in the house have 176 members no where near the amount needed the senate they only have 41 seats again no where near. Step two they need 3/4 govenors of the country to vote with it. That means 38 govenors has to vote with it Republicans only has 24 govenors so for another time no where near. Now not all republicans support it so this is really not going to happen.

The turmaninator supports gay marriage.

That right Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger supports gay marriage. After a court ruling that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional the Governor told the court that Gay marriage in California should resume. I that gay marriage should be allowed as soon as all the appeals are over. The reason is that if the appeal wins than Proposition 8 is then constitutional, and anyone who in between the appeal and the last ruling (if the Governor gets his way and Gay marriage is allowed before the ruling of the appeal) will then have a legal battle to keep there marriage status. I hope that tomorrow everyone that wants to get married should be able to get married. I feel bad for the U.S, because not allowing people to marry takes the right of people away and discriminates them that puts them in a disability compared to straight couples.

Obama was so born in the u.s!

To the 25% of americans that may not believe Obama was born in the U.S. Look at Obama birth certificate here (thanks from the LA times). The thing is Obma was born in the U.S. There is no conversation about his birth. He was born in Honolulu Hawaii. I think it is sad that in a nation where media is all around 25% can't know that Obama is a legitamite president.

Conservatives go to 4 year low.

A new Ekos poll shows tie between the Conservatives and the Liberals. The Conservative got 29.7% in the poll. This is a four year low they have not been this low in support since 2006. The Liberals are not really winning either they have 28.5%, the NDP 17.4%, Bloc 10.4% and the Green 11.1%. The poll shows that the Liberal tour across Canada seems to be working against maybe some critics. The Liberals the Bloc, and the green party are all doing better than there 2008 result. The NDP and Conservatives are both doing worse than the 2008 result. I hope over the course of the summer the Liberals crack the 30% mark and grow further on.
http://www.ekospolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/full_report_august_5.pdf

A step towards eqaulity.

In the election of 2008 California had a ballot measure (Proposition 8) it which the people of California voted if the definition of marriage should be between a man and a women. The ballot measure passed 52%-48% which meant that California no longer allowed same sex marriage. A judge 2 days ago ruled that proposition 8 was unconstitutional. The judge said that Proposition 8 was no more than a way to discriminate gays from not giving them the right to marry. Now this unfortunately doesn't allow same sex couples to marry , because of the appeal that will happen. People expect it to go all the way to the supreme court. I think this is great I hope all same sex couples in the U.S will soon have the right to marry as they are aloud in many other countries. This is defiantly a step towards equality.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/04/california.same.sex.ruling/index.html?hpt=T1

Oil spill stoped ,but side effects could last decades.

On day 107 of the oil spill or should I say now capped oil spill the problewm is not intierly over. Even though a big part of the oil was taken out of the ocean the oil is still there. First the Exon Valdez spill (which by the way was the worst oil spill in american history now is second to the BP oil disater). which spilled 11 million barrels, and the BP spill which spilled more than the Exon Valdez spill. The spill from Alaska 20 years ago that spilled 11 million barrels has seen to have still damage to the area, so even though the oil is no longer spilling the current spill could still do damage to the gulf of mexico. The problem is no way far from over. The oil spill will stay with the gulf for decades to come. This enviromental disater could really be avoided if we have inspectors go to the oil rigs to inspect the safety of the oil rig. then make the oil companies pay for it. The company with the best safety will have more oil contracts while the oil comapnies that are deem unsafe will face fines and could lose some drilling sites to other oil capanies.

Lady Gaga knows how to protest.

Lady Gaga was in Arizona some days ago , and told her crowed of fans at her concert , and said that many people asked her to boycott Arizona because of the immigration bill. Now I am not much of a supporter of the immigration bill with the parts that force only immigrants to have to carry papers saying that they are legal. that part of the law was put away, but I congratulate Lady Gaga on her stance not to punish the people of the state, because of a law some people of Arizona might not agree with. This comes back to environmental groups wanting to ban the travel of Alberta, because of the oil sands. I think Lady Gaga has the right way to protest by telling her fans that the only way to get rid of it is to protest the law peacefully. I think first going to Arizona instead boycotting and saying what she said against the law gave more attention to her cause. I think the environmental groups should take a page in Lady Gaga's book and see that if you get the people to protest the law/oil sands inside the province/state it will work better than to punish the people who might not agree with the law/oil sands. I want to clear I only support the part of the bill that allows police to be able to check the legal status of someone only if there is a legitimate reason (not Racial profiling)

watch her speech here

(Go to 1:42 to see the party where she starts talking about the law)

Democrats in 2010

 With less than 100 days to the midterm election the republicans say that they are ready to take back the house and the senate. Is that really true? Now currently polls have republican and democrats tie in the house election. The senate the republicans need to win 10 new seats and lose not one of there own seats. The thing is that (Rothenberg Political Report a non partisan newsletter) predicts that only 11 democratic seats are in danger not to mention the 7 republican seats that are in danger of going from republican to democrat. Republicans would only be able to lose one seat in order to still be able to have a majority with grabbing all 11 democratic in danger seats. The House looks more likely. Well in order for republicans to win this they would have to gain 39 seats now unlike the senate all the house seats are up for election. The house is more unpredictable, but in 2008 the democrats had a 11% lead over the republicans in vote. Now let go to the swingometer of the house of representative on this blog. A swingometer is a device use to predict elections. it is used by placing how much a party is predicted to gain in percentage. then add that percentage to the overall vote across the country and find an estimated result if a party for example gains 3% in popular vote. for example: if the swingometer would be 3% for the republicans it would mean that take all the 435 seats an add 3% to there votes and see if there is a change in seats. Now this is definitely not perfect, but it is a good estimator. Now if you give 11% to the republicans in the midterm election which would give a tie in votes the result would be 229-206 democratic win. In fact you would need to give a 15% swing for republicans to win. Now that would mean a 4% lead which in unlikely considering the democrats have more money than the republicans now and the polls show the m at a tie. So it looks like republicans may win, but in reality the senate in very out of reach and the house is hard but easier than the senate.

Use swingometer here

Read more here

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/08/02/midterms.outlook/index.html

How they could be prejudice I don't know.

The ADL (the anti defamation league) is an organization that wants to stop the defamation of people. At Miriam Webster defamation is defined as "the act of defaming another" the definition of defaming "to harm the reputation of by libel or slander". This means that they are against harming reputation by accusation with no bases or fact. So why does the ADL say they disagree with the building of the mosque right next to the ground zero. They say that it would make 9/11 victims feel offended seeing a mosque next to ground zero. That isn't correct at all first if you are comparing an Islamic center for prayer to terrorism that is first a slander saying that all Muslims are for terrorism. Which is what the ADL should be against. The whole argument that it will insult 9/11 victims is so off. 9/11 victims shouldn't feel insulted, because this mosque isn't for terrorism it is an Islam center for prayer. This mosque should be seen as how tolerant we are as a society to allow everyone to have the right to pray wherever they want. This is a shame that a organization like the ADL who is against defamation is actually supporting it.

Read more here

watch an interview about the center here

A mosque in New York City

A plan for a mosque to be build in NYC next to ground zero has been much criticized by some New yorkers. The plan was going to happen , but the idea of making the current building a landmark would stop the mosque dead in it's track. The panel of landmark preservation commission voted unanimously that the building wasn't a landmark, and now the building will be destroyed to create an Islamic center. This is great people should have the right to practice their fundamental right to religion, and that includes being able to pray wherever they want. The idea I think to connect people who want to pray and the terrorist who attacked the world trade center is just racism. Just because it is a Islamic center to allow people to pray doesn't mean it supports terrorism. I think this is stupid to deny a religion a center to pray , because some crazy people on 9/11 destroyed the WTC. You can't define any religion by some people of that religion. If you do that it is the definition of prejudice. So to not allow people because of Prejudice no matter what religion is wrong.

New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commission denied landmark status Tuesday for a building at the site of a proposed Islamic center and mosque near "ground zero."

There is a prayer site in the building currently, so Muslims are peacefully praying in the building already.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission pointed out prior to its decision that it would have nothing to do with the planned use of the structure.

Read more here

You know what get ride of the tax cuts all togetor.

After watching a some arguments on the telivision I have to say I think Fareed Zakaria has the best idea. Now I have not really changed my mind , becuase his idea is to get rid of all the tax cuts ( I said that to end the tax cuts for the rich). Now you might be thinking this is a recession no time to raise taxes. Not really. Because people who get this money are just saving it. So I say raise taxes, but extend unployment benefits so that people who don't have a job can continue to live just fine considering the tax increse does not go on unployment benefits, and do what Canada did if you recontruct your house the goverment will pay a portion of it. This way we make sure that the money is bieng spend and it employs more people. Give more money to the states extend some stimulus spending and extend unployment. This stuff is a one year idea. So by the next year all stimulus spending is gone more people are employed and tax revenue is up . I say that instead of giving money that people wouldn't spend give it in places to help the middle class and the uneployed. I think this is a good way to help the economy since the tax cuts does nothing, and we need to spend the money in a way that helps the economy. I think that there is also one more big problem the U.S.A has a debt crissis , and the thing is that the tax rate isn't going to be able to give them a surplus any time in the near future. I say if we put the taxes in a place it was during the surplus years of the 90's, end the tax cuts that create 30% of the deficit, end the war in afganistan and Iraq as scheduled, create a helth care service that will save money in the long run and end stimulus spending then the U.S will be able to have a surplus.

A war many wants gone.

The war in Afganistan has become a war that everyone wants gone. Poll after poll show that everyone thinks that the war in Afganistan should end soon. The timeline of leaving in the next summer people agree should happen , and shouldn't be extended. I have stated my opinion on this before we should stay in Afganistan if needed ,but it seems that people just want to end it, and that would probably stop any extension dates in NATO coutries. the prblem is that if we leave Afganistan and it isn't secure enough agaisnt the taliban then we might be pushed back into the war again, so we should stay till the Afganistan army can have the support of all parts of there countries and have a strong hold on there country away from the taliban. If we try to go away from Afganistan not because it is secure and we have done are jobs but for political points then we might go back, and watse more time and money.

Dan Grander you are right.

I read a column in the Gazette newspaper online it was an editorial on the census written by Dan Grander. He wrote a great piece of information on the long term census. He talked about how in 1936 a poll that was taken by 2.3 million Americans on the election of that year. The poll showed that Alf Landon would win and not Roosevelt ,and would beat Roosevelt by a landslide. Mr. Grander mentions the poll was bias, because the people who did the poll where finding the address to send them to by car records. This meant that poorer people where less represented in this situation, which voted for Roosevelt. The result was that Rosevelt did win even though 2.3 million americans polled said that the other guy would win by a landslide. As a comment on the blog stated by Tom he thinks that if a poll that is not mandatory is reliable than how is it that a non mandatory census isn't. The thing is polls that are not mandatory can be wrong. In the 2008 primary New Hampshire was suppose to go to Obama every poll said even the exit pols , but It went to Hiliary. In 1992 the poll in the U.K had the conservatives just winning the election with the max 316 seats (minority Goverment) and would lose 3%of the popular vote (Camapared to the last election which gave them 43% of popular vote , and with 376 seats). The exit poll was wrong , and in fact the conservatives still had a majority , and only lost 0.3% of the popular vote. This goes to show how non madatory surveys can be unreliable, but to be fair as long as it is done radomly with no bias the margin of error can be minor 3%, but even with a margin error of only 3% it seems that you can make a mistake of majority goverments and minority. The long term census which gives very important informations has a response rate of 94% which is high , and shows strong data that is very accurate. With a non madatory census staticians believe that poorer people will not answer the census as much as the other , and this will create a in acurate reading in the census.

Read the editorial here