This does not make the Superior Court of Justice a "censor." What it does is to remove the "rights-shield" from defamatory speech, thus protecting Vigna's rights and, for that matter, the rights of anyone similarly situated. The point, to borrow a phrase, is that people's reputations and rights should not become roadkill on the path to free speech.Read more at the Ottawa Citizen.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
The Free Speech Shield
Pearl Eliadis exposes the right's argument of free speech. There should be some exceptions to free speech, such as hate speech or defamation. It's obvious why defamation is not legal: because it's not fair to people when false claims are made against them. Hate speech too. It incites violence against certain groups. Speech like this should not be tolerated and that's why we have the courts: to remove the "rights shield" for hate speech and defamation. And it's not censoring: these are fair limitations on free speech. As long as you don't accuse someone without any basis and with false information or promote violence against a certain group, you're free. That's fine with me.
Let's Follow the U.S. Baird Tells Us.
Are new environment minister John Baird told Canadians that he wants to make are environmental regulation equal to the U.S. Which is kind of saying we are going try follow the diet plan of the guy who goes to a fast food chain every single day of the week. Canada is going way behind compared to other countries in Europe. The U.S and Canada are doing terrible when it comes to the environment, but at least Obama is trying to do something. Harper is just going to follow whatever the U.S does, but if Obama imposes a carbon or a Cap and trade system I wonder if Harper will follow. The thing is Harper knows that the U.S congress doesn't have enough support to do any major changes, so he will just make the U.S lack of action as an excuse. This is stupid don't wait for the U.S to do something do something by yourself. Harper be a little creative or Canada will find someone who can.
Read more here
Mr. Baird noted that the new regulations apply only to new plants and major expansions. To be effective, regulations will have to require that existing plants start to adapt to the best available technology, he said.
It now appears that efforts to pass a U.S. bill that would create a cap-and-trade system to control greenhouse-gas emissions are doomed, so the Obama administration has taken steps toward regulating polluters with its own executive power, through the Environmental Protection Agency.
Read more here
By-Election Results
I didn't predict this one. Then again, I'm no expert predictor. At this time in the polls, I'm going to call it. The Tories have won in their safe seat. Kevin Lamoureux won in Winnepeg-North and Julian Fantino won in Vaughan. I don't think many of us saw this coming. Of course, I don't think that much weight should be put on these by-elections, but this could dampen the morale of the NDP. They were ousted in a safe seat. Then again, also were the Liberals. The real winner in this is Julian Fantino and the Tories. For the Liberals and the NDP, I do not know what to make of this.
Monday, November 29, 2010
By-Elections
Today, three by-elections will be held. One in Ontario and two in Manitoba. The two in Manitoba seem like they will stay Conservative and NDP. However, the one in Vaughan could go either way. Of course, I'm no fan of Julian Fantino who has run a peek-a-boo campaign, not showing up for public debates. With so little data on this level, it will be hard to predict the outcome. I wouldn't be surprised if either side, Liberal or Conservative wins by a big margin. I would caution against taking the outcome of these by-elections as a test of the leadership skills of the leaders of each party. I think the campaign mostly focused on the candidates rather than the leaders. I will watch for the results of the three by-elections.
Conservatives Complain
The Calgary Herald reports that Sarah Palin complained of bias in the media when they reported on her telling radio listeners to "stand with our North Korean allies."She said that newspapers did not need to make it into a big headline. Well, of course they do, just as they do to any other well-known person. It seems to be very often that the Tories complain of media bias. Whenever something bad happens to them it's "Communist CBC's" fault. Sure media has some bias, but how many times Conservatives complain of it, you'd think that we were living in a left-wing state. It's time for them to take responsibility for their actions.
U.S. conservative standard bearer Sarah Palin has accused critics of unfairly singling her out after a slip of the tongue reignited debate over her grasp of world affairs.Read more at the Calgary Herald.
Biofue vs. Regualr gasoline.
Biofuel and regular gasoline are both two types of energy used for fueling cars. Energy is the ability to do work. In this case energy is the ability to move a car. Regular Gasoline is a non-renewable resource that many people tend to use for their car fuel. Biofuel is a renewable resource that comes from corn that farmers produced. Currently there have been many discussions about the two on which one is a better car fuel.
Biofuel has been seen as the solution for future car fuel, but in order to make biofuel you need energy. Meaning in order to make more Corn for biofuel you need to use energy to process the corn into a fuel, and currently most of the energy used to make this fuel is coal and natural gas which are non-renewable resources. The highest amount of corn based biofuel used in a car can only go up to 85% biofuel and 15% gasoline. Biofuel has a EROEI ratio of 1.34. (EROEI is the ratio of how much energy is invested to how much energy you get out) This means that for every unit of energy used to make the fuel you only get 1.34 unit of biofuel, so if you wanted to be really be green in using biofuel as the energy to make the biofuel rather than coal or natural gas you would be keeping ¾ of the biofuel you made this year into making more for the next year. Only ¼ of the biofuel you made would actually go to be made as a fuel. This shows that using biofuel as car fuel can’t work as it takes too much energy just to make it without using nonrenewable resources. Some would say that oil isn’t a renewable resource and we can’t keep using it. Yes that is true there will not be enough oil eventually to continue being a fuel or an energy source, but even if you convert every single field in the in the U.S into a corn field for biofuel you will not have enough biofuel to run the U.S. Oil may not be able to be an energy source in the future, but corn can’t even be the source of energy today.
Biofuel made from corn has been seen to be the solution to global warming. The theory is that if you use biofuel you will have a zero CO2 output in total even if a car running on biofuel emits CO2, but any CO2 realest when used is taken away because the CO2 was sucked up when the biofuel was a plant. This argument doesn’t hold water. When you actually put it to the test in the real world you see in order to have Biofuel you need to plant more crops, but where? If you take Grassland in the U.S, and change it into a field of Corn for biofuel CO2 even before you start planting will be released. Grass and trees stores Carbon in them in fact the amount of Carbon in Plants across the world stores 3 times the amount of Carbon in the atmosphere , so when plants are cut there Carbon goes out and is transformed into CO2 that goes out into the atmosphere. Meaning when you change grassland to a field of corn 134 Metric tons of CO2 will be released per hector. In order to actually pay off this 134 metric tons of CO2 it will take 93 years of using that land for Biofuel and nothing else. Changing jungles or rain forest into corn fields will take centuries to pay off the carbon debt. By this time there won’t be any oil left to mix the oil with biofuel. This proves that biofuel isn’t as green as it claims to be. Some would say that Oil is no greener. True, but if we instead plant more trees rather than making more corn fields we could have more forest sucking up more CO2 than the amount Cars create running on Oil.
In the future we should look at different sources of biofuel like cellulose a biofuel that comes from waste products, but having looked at the impacts that corn made biofuel can do environmentally, and seeing how inefficiently it is corn based biofuel is defiantly not the answer to Global warming or a proper alternative to regular gasoline.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
I See Bias All Around.
Unlike my partner Doggy and Owner I think that there is nothing wrong with having SUN TV come to Canada, Because every publication every news channel every radio network that I know has some sort of bias. That is why rather than trying to find perfect robots to do the news why not just have a sample of all kinds of news. Meaning Sun TV should come to Canada, but since Sun TV will be subsidised by Quebecor's. I think like the CBC they should try to be non biased. Anyways Sun TV isn't even on the air, so how do we know it is really all that biased. I say "don't judge a book by it's cover" let it go on the air, and watch it. If it is too biased for your taste don't watch it or make your own YouTube account about Sun TV biases like Liberal Viewer's. We should be given all around opinions, because there is more than just one side to a story.I know people who think Libertarians are insane, but to them you are crazy. Tell me honestly what's wrong with SUN TV .I do think that there should be some sort of limit on how Biased you can be if the broadcast is subsidized by tax payers.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Australia Thinking About the Future
In the Last Australian election just months ago the Labor party was tied in the election results with the Liberals, and after some co operation the Green party and some other ind pendants decided to support Ms. Gillard to create a Government. Since then People have been motioning that in order to keep the Green party with her she needs to put a carbon tax in place. Now I like that idea very much, because it is way better than the former Prime Minister's plan Kevin Rudd who was trying for a carbon trading system with a latter on addition of a carbon Tax. Now the Labor party is looking into the idea of a carbon tax, and might be going for it. This i find great now in a long while a another country could join the Carbon tax countries. Countries like India, South Korea, Finland, Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Costa Rica and in States or provinces like Maryland, California, Colorado, British Columbia and Quebec. I hope to Australia on that list shortly.
New Ads in Vaughan
The Liberal Party of Canada has released a new Italian-language attack ad in Vaughan. Notice that there isn't many personal attacks in it except for calling the Conservatives arrogant. It then goes on to prove it by showing how much money the Tories spent on prisons and the G20 summit among other things.When compared to the Conservative attack ads, the Liberal ones attack what the Conservatives do, instead of personal attacks.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Fox News North Approved!
SunTV news has been approved by the CRTC. The right wing propaganda will continue to be spread throughout the country. We can already see this being done in the United States where Fox News warps, twists and takes out of context words that Democrats say, while projecting Republicans in a good light. Here, I can expect that SunTV News will praise the Conservatives while attacking the other parties. Likewise, it will accuse other media of "left-wing bias," a Conservative favorite.
Sun TV is now set to launch in mid-March, said Luc Lavoie, the head of the project. The launch was originally set for Jan. 1, but technical delays including later-than-expected equipment deliveries have slowed things down somewhat, he said.
The upcoming channel has been surrounded by some controversy, including an online activist group that objected to its launch.Read more at the Globe and Mail.
Most Americans don't mind body scaners.
A new poll done by USA Today has shown that 71% of Americans said that they wouldn't be angry or would be bothered going throw the scanner. 71% of Americans also believe that the scanners are worth to prevent terrorist attacks. Clearly we need to keep the scanners. They help protect us and all passanger. Although they may be a bother it helps keep us safe. In fact national opt out day was a plan in the U.S to try and make havoc by making people on the business airplane travel day opt out of the scanners and to the pat downs to stall flights. In fact barely anyone did this, and it was seen as a total failure. I understand that we think that the scanners are bothersome, but the best way to go about it is just go throw the scanners and get on with are lives.
Despite heavy coverage by the media and calls for a boycott against the procedures, a USA Today/Gallup survey indicates that 71 percent of Americans who consider themselves air travelers say that a potential loss of personal privacy from such screening is worth it as a method to prevent terrorist acts, with 27 percent disagreeing.
According to the poll, 18 percent of people who say they've flown at least twice in the past year say going through a full body scan would make them angry, with 24 percent saying they would be bothered but not angry and 57 percent saying they would not be angered.Read more here
Thursday, November 25, 2010
The Coca-Cola Metro?
The STM has said it will open bidding on sponsoring metro lines shortly. Some people have said that there is already enough advertising in the metro. However, the STM is always running a deficit year to year and the bill is always paid by taxpayers. With more advertising, will come more money that can be spent on better service, having a cellular network underground and screen with real-time information on the next departure. This is also the area in which a foreign analysis of our metro said we had to work on: putting more advertising in the metros. I would stop short of renaming whole metro lines and stations, but the city's proposal sounds like a good idea. I would also like to see more metro cars and buses with full-body advertising.
Montreal’s métro lines will be not be renamed after corporations or change their colours, and stations will not be plastered with advertising if the Société de transport de Montréal allows the private sector to “sponsor” lines, the STM said Tuesday.
“It will have to be discreet or we won’t do it,” STM executive director Yves Devin told reporters.Read more at the Montreal Gazette.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
No Action From Harper On Climate Change.
Harper is now being accused of lobbying for weaker targets at the next climate summit. We all know Stephen Harper doesn't care for the environment. In Copenhagen Harper got the fossil of the year award, because he was the the person who did the most to try and stop a treaty from being signed. Now Harper is doing it again. He will want to make sure that no agreement is meet. He wants to make sure that we continue to wait for the next meeting to even start talking about a treaty. Harper is hopeless on the environment he has no plan no platform on the environment. Stephen Harper has to get kicked out of office, so we can actually have a government that will at least do something about the environment, and not give Canada the fossil of the year award again.
Read more here
Read more here
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Long Gun Registry is Cheap
The long gun registry doesn't actually cost as much as the Tories say it does. If we kill the long gun registry, there would be savings of only 1.5 million dollars annually. That's just over four cents per person per year! It's pretty obvious that we can afford to give up four cents in exchange for more safety. The numbers show that we only spend 11 million dollars each year on maintaining the whole firearms registry. In fact, licensing took up about 5/6 of the Canadian Firearms Centre's budget. Of course, the truth is now revealed. The gun registry does not actually cost billions of dollars to maintain, but only a bit over ten million. I think that is a fair price to pay for enhanced safety.
An independent cost-benefit analysis of Conservative legislation to kill the federal long-gun registry has found the public savings could amount to just over $1.5-million annually – and that there are only two good reasons to scrap the program.
One is a reduced burden on gun owners. The other is a lighter load for taxpayers.Read more at the Globe and Mail.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Security vs Freedom
The United States as well as Canada are looking to install new full-body scanners which will probably in the near future be standard. People can opt out of this machine, in exchange for a thorough pat-down. My co-blogger has said that the ends justify the means. I do not agree with him. So it's either letting Joe the surveyor see us naked, or let someone feel our body over. Stuck between a rock and a hard place. This full-body scanner intrudes into our private life too much. We shouldn't need to go through them.
Caught between complaints that airport screening has become too intrusive and threats of new terror attacks on aviation, Obama administration officials said on Sunday that they were sensitive to criticisms that security measures go too far, but insisted that the measures now in place are justified by the risks.Read more at the New York Times.
Doctor Discrimination in Quebec
The Globe hits the bullseye on this one. In today's paper, there is an editorial criticizing the way foreign applicants for residency programs are accepted and rejected. In fact, of the foreign doctors who had passed medical equivalence exams in Quebec, two thirds did not get residency positions. This is unacceptable when there were 85 positions free and there is a shortage of general practitioners. Quebec should move to have more and more foreign-trained doctors working in our hospitals. We need them.
Quebec, a province with a critical shortage of family doctors, discriminates against foreign-trained physicians and makes it difficult for them to become medical residents, the final step to gain a licence to practise medicine. It is a habit that needs to end. In the global competition for talent, Quebec will lose out.Read more at the Globe and Mail.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Security vs. Incovenience
The new Scanners in Canada and all around the world have been given much criticism about it being to invasive. The criticism may have regrown with a recent passenger telling airport security during a pat down "Don't touch my junk". Now people should know these scanners are very important for people's security. People should understand that we have to have strong airport security if we want to stop terrorist attacks, but in the future the world will have to ask ethical questions on how far will we go to keep people safe. In the case of these scanners I find that they are necessary, and a majority of people agree with this in the U.S. In order to maybe stop future security measures countries across the world have to stop terrorism activities in some countries including in our own. I am not supporting military action, but rather create more democratic systems in these countries to stop allowing these terrorist groups to continue to grow. put pressure on these countries to get there act together on terrorist groups or create sanctions on the government or dictatorship of that country.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Canadians Support Training Mission
A new poll shows that a slight majority of Canadians support a training mission in Afghanistan after our combat troops leave in July 2011. I feel that we should have a continued presence in Afghanistan, but non-military. We should focus completely on humanitarian aid and development of the country. I don't see the training mission as a big monster: I can live with it. We just need to make sure that we don't end up on a slippery slope. We simply cannot abandon the civilians in that country. Humanitarian aid and development will allow us to help Afghanistan without putting a large number of Canadians at risk.
OTTAWA — An narrow majority of Canadians support keeping upwards of 1,000 troops in Afghanistan until 2014 to train Afghan forces, says a new Ipsos-Reid poll that also shows the decision is most popular with westerners and men.
Fifty three per cent of respondents said they support the revamped and extended mission, although there is a caveat. Slightly more than six in 10 said there should be a debate and vote in Parliament even if the new mission involves only training, said the poll, which was released Friday.Read more at the National Post.
Take Away Senate Veto
The Canadian Senate should no longer have its veto right. The surprise vote on a bill calling on the government to act on climate change is great evidence why it should no longer have that right. Unelected officials should never ever have the right to completely reject proposals already passed by our MPs in the House of Commons. However, what they should be able to do is delay the passing of it, maybe send it back to a commission in the Commons. This would encourage further thought over bills that Senators don't really like. However, it should remain possible to pass a bill without the support of the Senate.
But alas, the kind of Senate reform I'm thinking of probably won't happen for a long time. The Globe says that taking away the Senate's veto would require reopening the Constitution, which no one wants to do. However it does agree with me that we should take away the undemocratic veto right of the upper house.
But alas, the kind of Senate reform I'm thinking of probably won't happen for a long time. The Globe says that taking away the Senate's veto would require reopening the Constitution, which no one wants to do. However it does agree with me that we should take away the undemocratic veto right of the upper house.
The Conservative senators were fully entitled to vote against the Climate Change Accountability Act on Tuesday, but the power of the Senate to reject Commons bills should be limited, in the same way that the British House of Lords is restrained.Read more at the Globe and Mail.
Where do Recylable items go?
The idea was that if you put plastic into that blue bin of yours than it would be reused and reused again and again, but a report shows that 80% of our recyclable stuff goes to China to be reused then put to make products around the world. I thought the idea was that the plastic bottles were reused and made more plastic bottles. I think that we need to have Canadian Recycable factories giving jobs to Canadians to recycle our plastic properly and ensure that we recycle properly, and not make products into one time use products that will be thrown out into the garbage. Now I am not discouraging recycling, because it is better that we at least recycle the product once rather than just throwing out the plastic.
Friday, November 19, 2010
No One Believes Them
A new poll released yesterday shows that when Harper says that his government is the only one that can help boost our economy, it has no effect on Canadians. In fact, the majority of those who answered the poll say that a change in government would have no effect on the Canadian economy. Only 30% think that a different government would be harmful. People do not believe the fear-mongering of the Conservatives. A Liberal government would be much better than a Conservative one.
Harper government scare tactics warning a big-spending Liberal-NDP coalition government would mess up an already fragile economy is not working, according to a new poll.Read more at the Globe and Mail.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Climate Bill Dies in Senate
I find it astonishing that the people who killed this bill wasn't entirely the fault of Harper. In the senate the climate bill failed, but in the House the Climate bill passed, so the elected chamber that represents the people passes a and the unelected chamber votes down a bill. The vote was close 43-42. Thing is there are 105 members in the Senate and 20 members didn't vote. The Conservatives have 52 seats just under a majority in the Senate, but the Liberals only have 49 seats. The others are divided to the Progressive Conservative 2 members and 2 independents. Meaning that the Conservatives could have gotten maybe one PC or Independent to vote against it, but I guess no need considering not enough Liberals even voted. This bill would have made Canada follow a new target of CO2 by having to reduce 25% of emissions from 1990 levels by 2020. This is a target we need to get to, but because of the Conservatives and some non voting members in the Senate the environment is going to have to wait a while. I think all this can go away if we elect our senate or abolish the senate all together. We need to do something with the senate, because having a senate that can stop legislation even though the house passed it is just going to make us wait longer for legislation.
Read more here
Read more here
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Lisa Murkowski Set to Claim victory.
Lisa Murkowski a former Republican senator is claiming victory against Joe Miller. Meaning that she is the second in U.S history to win an election by write in ballots. When she goes to Washington DC she is no longer a Republican she is a part of the Lisa Murkowski party. She is an independent to allegiance to any party. Now she still has a Republican platform, but will she support the Republican party. Will she be like Joseph Lieberman who is an independent in DC who caucus with the Democrats. She might work with her old party, but Sarah Palin who endorsed her opponent in the primary and election could face some problems if Palin runs for President. Although she isn't perfect I would much rather have her than Joe Miller the Tea Party Sarah Palin endorsed candidate.
Horrible Lies
There is a lot of ruckus on the Internet about an editorial saying that Michael Ignatieff called the Winnipeg-North by-election race unfair because the Tory candidate is Filipino. The Blogging Tories had a field day! Now for the truth. This is a part of the transcript.
Media question: The race in Winnipeg North, there’s been some speculation that the Tories are running Julie Javier... because might siphon off Kevin Lamoureux’s strong Filipino vote allowing the NDP to win, what do you think of that speculation?
Michael Ignatieff: Let’s not insult the voters of Winnipeg North, let’s give them a real choice – the right choice is Kevin Lamoureux. Let’s have a straight-up fight. Let’s not have any political games here. Let’s give the voters of Winnipeg North a clear choice. Kevin Lamoureux has 20 years of public experience... Kevin Lamoureux is the kind of guy who goes down to McDonald’s and holds clinics to help citizens with their problems and he’s doing it for 20 years. He’s the kind of guy Winnipeg North needs in the House of Commons and everything else is a bunch of games and we’re not here to play games, we’re here to win.He wasn't actually accusing the Tories of "playing dirty" as the editorial suggests, but defending the voters of the riding, saying that they are too smart for political games. I don't blame the Blogging Tories here, but I do blame the newspaper. And I will also say that the all-too-common assertion by the Blogging Tories that most of the media in Canada is left-wing is untrue. In this editorial's case, there are two possibilities: either somebody was asleep at the switch or this was a ploy to demean the Liberal candidate for the riding of Winnepeg-North. I think I'll go for the latter. I also urge all those who blogged about this editorial to have the decency to put an update out there for everybody to read.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
"No Earmarks" say's Republican Leader.
Mitch Mcconnell said that he would support a ban on earmarks that many Tea party candidates support. This is strange considering Republicans were one of the biggest cause of earmarks in the Obama administartation. What some Republicans did was that they added earmarks and then voted aginst the bill then complained that the bill was a big waste of money (in fact more earmarks came from the Republicans then the Democrats) (considering that the Democrats had overwemmingly majority in the House and Senate). The only Republican I know who kept much away from Earmarks was John McCain who was anti earmarks a long time ago. I say if the Republicans ( all of them) and the Democrats can both agree on no earmarks then okay more power to them, but I think that there are some times the goverment can spend money without it being wastefull spending. Minor spending from the goverment that are within reason are fine.
Monday, November 15, 2010
In Their Own Words
Someone has decided to open up a new blog dedicated to posting screenshots of Conservative blogs. It highlights what blogging tories write on a regular basis. Why does the blogger want to do this? According to "X," it's to draw attention to this "little known" group. There is already eight quotations on the webpage and it seems the author is out to make known what the grassroots Conservatives actually think. Some of it can be surprising. For example, the blog small dead animals provided us with: "what we need is an 'International Burn Ten Thousand Korans' Day."
According to one its more prolific members, Roy Eappen, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is appreciative of the Blogging Tories’ efforts, and has acknowledging that the group has not only “helped to counter a media that is not very friendly to the party”, but has “helped hold the party’s feet to the fire.” However, despite the group’s influence, it remains largely unknown outside political circles. The Blogging Tories in Their Own Words is an effort to draw attention to their writings and opinions.Read more at the Blogging Tories in Their Own Words.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Iran Lost Seat on UN Women's Board.
Iran a country that has one of the worst humane rights record in the world specially on women's Rights tried to get a seat in the UN board of Women's rights. Iran got trampled by another Asian East Timor. The vote was 36 for East Timor 19 Iran. Now East Timor is no angle when it comes to human rights although in there recent UN checkup on Women's rights it has done some work. Although I would rather have another country on this seat, but I would rather have a country like East Timor who is actually doing something to increase equality rather than a country that has absolutely no desire to do anything about Women's rights and has a even worse record than East Timor. Now If only we could kick out other countries like Saudi Arabia and Congo out of the women's rights Board. They to must be gone if equality is to be achieved.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/africa-mideast/iran-thwarted-in-bid-to-join-un-women-board/article1793523/
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/africa-mideast/iran-thwarted-in-bid-to-join-un-women-board/article1793523/
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Endorsing UN First Nations Rights
The Tories have endorsed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, three years after it passed the General Assembly. Back then, not only did we not vote for it, Canada voted against it! And us being one of the countries in the world that usually takes pride in our Aboriginal culture. It's still better late than never. The life of First Nations in reserves is far from being the best and there are problems which need to be tackled. What we will see now is if the Conservatives will act on the signing of the Declaration. Probably not, because the agreement is non-binding and it's an easy way to gain popularity without doing anything.
Canada has finally endorsed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The Harper government announced the endorsement Friday after a meeting between Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations, John McNee, and the president of the United Nations General Assembly.Read more at the Toronto Star.
Friday, November 12, 2010
New Ekos Poll
A new Ekos poll confirms my belief. We're going to be in a minority situation for a long time. Both the Liberals and Conservatives are below 30% of the popular vote with the Tories having a 0.8% lead over the Liberals' 28.6%. Threehundredeight.com gives the Liberals 103 seats and the Conservatives 115 seats. However, it also says that this might be a rogue poll. I think, nevertheless, that we can conclude that there won't be majority governments for a long time.EKOS poll - Nov. 11, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Remember
Today is Remembrance Day. A lot of companies and organisations will have a moment of silence for our veterans, who fought bravely for the country we live in today. Let us always remember our brave soldiers, living or passed away, for helping create a better Canada.
The Story about The Story of Stuff.
Annie Leonard is the face of "The Story of Stuff" since 2007 she has made some video's talking about the problem with our world. I may not agree with a few things she says, but she definitely is right we have to change the way we do things in the world. She has talked about issue's varying from Cap and Trade (and why it is bad) to water. Her idea's of making sure that we have a clean environment that works with the economy and not an economy based on what she calls "made for the dump" items. Made for the dumb means that companies make products that they know will stop working very soon so the buyer has to keep buying more of that product, and this creates a problem as we are throwing everything in the trash and it's not helping our environment. She gives create solution to the problems we face from making sure you take the extra second to look for good cleaner and healthier items. I recommend all of you to see her video's.
http://www.storyofstuff.com/
http://www.storyofstuff.com/
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Staying in Afganistan. Okay!
Harper just stated that he will keep some sort of mission after the 2011 date. I have stated this before if we are asked to stay we should stay. I think that all countries should always have some sort of mission after 2011. NATO members shouldn't just leave Afghanistan we need to help make a military and defence. Harper made the right choice, but this issue of Afghanistan he was asked before only month's ago saying Canada will leave Afghanistan on schedule. I think it is right to have a presences in Afghanistan after 2011 we should always have some sort of foreign relationship with Afghanistan officials to check up on the country from time to time. The NDP on the other hand want to leave right now I say that's stupid Canada committed to something and it should follow suit to make sure it did the best it could. Harper is no angle when it comes to keeping commitments (ex: Kyoto), but at least he is doing something right.
Advertising or Helping?
The Tories continue to waste Canadian money. Just last year, they spent about four million dollars on helping victims of crime, whereas this year, they spent six million advertising what they did to help victims. Here again, we see Harper using taxpayers' money to promote the Conservative brand. That six million dollars would be better spent helping people instead of trying to get people to vote Conservative. But, that's classic Harper. The Economic Action Plan signs were huge advertisements of the Tories and many other examples can show that too. We obviously cannot trust Harper to spend our money wisely.
A taxpayer-funded Harper government ad campaign for victims of crime is shockingly hypocritical, since the Conservatives have spent more money on the ads than they have on actual initiatives to help victims of crime, Liberal Status of Women Critic Anita Neville and Winnipeg North Liberal Candidate Kevin Lamoureux said today.
Read more at Liberal.ca.
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Anti-Israel or Anti-Likud?
Harper is suggesting that Canada's "support Israel at all costs policy" was one of the factors which helped us lose the UN Security council seat. He says that he won't tolerate any anti-Israel talk. The way he says it is fine. The way Harper acts on these principles is completely different. If anyone dares criticize the way the right-wing Likud party rules the country, Harper immediately calls them anti-Israel. Harper says that Israel can be subjected to fair criticism, but he doesn't act like it. The truth is that Israel is run by a government. One that many people, including Israelis do not like. The latter statement is especially true because the Likud party didn't get a plurality last election; they just won in what harper would consider an illegal coalition. I would like to see how Harper would stand by Israel on everything they do if there was a socialist government in power.
OTTAWA—Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he has the bruises to prove Canada’s unwavering support for Israel in the face of growing ant-Israeli sentiment may have cost Canada a seat on the UN Security Council.
“Whether it is at the United Nation or any other international forum, the easy thing to do is simply to just get along and go along with this anti-Israeli rhetoric,” Harper told an interparliamentary conference on combating anti-Semitism.Read more at the Toronto Star.
Monday, November 08, 2010
And Now Compromise.
Many Republicans in the Senate and in the House would like to destroy the Obama Health care bill. The half done bill that Obama Promised, and really who could blame him that is all he could get throw. Now the some Republicans believe that they can destroy the bill, but Obama still has the Senate and the Veto so forget it. Obama said that he wants now to compromise some parts of the health care bill and Bush tax cuts. Problem is that Obama is doing things half done (not full universal health care and only ending tax breaks for the rich) more compromising towards the right will be even worse. Obama didn't do such a good job on the stimulus. He should have spend much more on investments. Obama isn't terrible he wants to do most of the things I have motioned, but because some Republicans he couldn't. Now I would like to see what they can compromise?
Sunday, November 07, 2010
New Poll
A new poll has come out from Ipsos-Reid showing that the Conservatives and Liberals are stuck in "trench warfare." Numbers have hardly deviated from the 2006 results: Liberals at 29% and Tories at 35%. There have been ups and downs in numbers throughout the year, but support just returns to where it was before. I attribute this to the beliefs Canadians have about each party. It seems like they have already found out what each party represents and seem to have no need to change their voting preference. Of course, all this could change in an election campaign. I personally think that there will be no election until 2012 because no party will advance in the polls.
OTTAWA — Almost five years after the 2006 federal election that brought the Conservatives to power, the two main federal parties remain locked in dreary political “trench warfare,” with neither gaining ground among voters despite bloody policy battles, the results of an exclusive poll conclude.Read more at the National Post.
Saturday, November 06, 2010
Pension Plans own High Speed Rail
The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan and Borealis teamed up to buy the high speed rail link between London and the Channel tunnel. They now get to operate the link for thirty years. Of course, this changes nothing about the situation in Canada. We still don't have high speed rail. It's a bit ironic that Canadian investors are investing in high speed rail in foreign countries, but politicians are still unwilling to accept that high speed rail does make money and will help us. High speed rail should come to Canada and fast. It should be part of Canada's plan for the future.
The Channel tunnel rail link has become the latest piece of British infrastructure to be snapped up by acquisitive Canadian pension funds.
Two of Canada's largest pension funds, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Borealis, the infrastructure investment arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (Omers), have paid £2.1bn to operate Britain's only high-speed railway line for the next 30 years. It is the first privatisation deal done by the coalition government as it sets about slashing Britain's record debt.Read more at the Guardian.
Good bye Gordon Cambell.
In B.C the current Preimeir has decided to risgn from his post. I liked what Gordon Campbell did while he was in office. He helped to do the right thing even if it wastn't populare. Now I don't agree with everything he did, but I liked how he stood strong with the HST he knew it was right for the province and he did it. B.C has did better than most provinces in this rescession. I would like to thank Gordon Cambell for his three term service and wish him well with everything else.
Friday, November 05, 2010
Why Keep The Bush Taxes?
Obama stated that he wanted to eliminate the bush tax cuts for the rich and keep them for the middle class. Now I think considering that the Bush tax cuts didn't work and can save the U.S 3 trillion dollars over 10 years. The republicans and also the tea party say that you need to keep the tax cuts. Here is where the Republicans make no sense. They want to keep the tax cuts that don't work and still reduce the deficit, so they would cut funding to education, Health care, state funding etc... Yet they wouldn't even want to talk about cutting military funding which is a major part of the deficit. Rand Paul won in Kentucky and told CNN that if you want to eliminate the Bush tax cuts then your in favor of a second great depression. Yeah in 1990's remember when the economy was booming the economy was prosperous and the government was holding a surplus, and all of this left with Bush. If Clinton could keep the economy incredible with his tax rate, and bush could destroy the economy with his tax rate I wonder which tax rate is better. The answer is simple eliminate the useless Bush tax cuts and spend that money in reinvesting our economy not a stimulus. Now that the Republican own the house I can say the deficit will stay. The U.S moving 10 years back.
Jim Prentice Resigns
Former Environment Minister Jim Prentice has resigned as cabinet minister since yesterday and wil resign as a Member of Parliament by the end of the year. He never really achieved much in the area of GHG reduction, but as Jack Layton notes, it might not have been his choice whether to take a harder stance on climate change or not.
Some politicians have hinted at corruption in the fact that Prentice is leaving for CIBC.Personally, I'm not worried over what some people call "close ties" with private companies in this situation. Mr. Prentice just decided to move on in his life and found a job at CIBC. I'm not calling foul right now, with the information we have now. But, who's going to replace Prentice? Well for now, him.
... but I have no doubt that he must have had some frustrations dealing as minster of the environment with Mr. Harper who has never put the environment as a top priority at all, particularly when it comes to things like climate change and so on," said Layton "It's bound to have been very frustrating for Mr. Prentice."Of course, nothing will change in the future with Harper at the helm.
Some politicians have hinted at corruption in the fact that Prentice is leaving for CIBC.Personally, I'm not worried over what some people call "close ties" with private companies in this situation. Mr. Prentice just decided to move on in his life and found a job at CIBC. I'm not calling foul right now, with the information we have now. But, who's going to replace Prentice? Well for now, him.
Thursday, November 04, 2010
2010 is Over. Now 2012!
In the U.S the election for the midterm is over, and now the Race to the whie house begins now. You will probably see some presidetial hopefulles going to states like Iowa, New Hamhire and South Carolina are first statea to vote in the primaries. Now in one year the primaries start. That's right in American politics the race to the white house starts 3 years into the office and ends or continues on the 4th year. The U.S election takes a full year. From January ill the summer the two parties spend time picking who will run from the summer all the way around till the first Tuesday of November. Hucabee is currently the front runner in the Republican primaries. He ran last time in 2008. Romney is in second place he also ran in 2008 and Palin in Third place with 14% and Newt Gingrich at 12%. Funny thing is all these guys that by 2012 these guys woundn't of held any political office in years. The only one in the poll who will be still in office during 2012 would be Ron Paul and he is in 5th place in the single digit.
Potash Takeover Rejected
Industry Minister Tony Clement has decided to reject the takeover of PotashCorp which mines the famous potash fertilizer in Saskatchewan. For now. BHP, the company wanting to take over PotashCorp has been given thirty days to improve its offer. Then, the minister will review the offer and decide whether to let it happen or not. This is a good preliminary action. Potash is a resource that will be ever more important in the future and keeping it as Canadian as possible will ensure that we don't get the short end of the stick. Besides, it's a source of pride for residents of Saskatchewan. More importantly, the takeover could put jobs and provincial revenue at risk. I wouldn't go as far as to say that the potash business should be renationalized, but a big chunk should remain in the hands of Canada. What I think will happen is that another party will put forward a deal that isn't as bad as BHP's offer. That one will probably be taken. It's a good compromise.
OTTAWA—The federal government is for now turning down the controversial buyout of PotashCorp by an Australian corporate giant.
Industry Minister Tony Clement announced Wednesday that Ottawa is using its power to vet foreign investment to turn thumbs down initially on BHP Billiton Ltd.’s takeover bid.Read more at the Toronto Star.
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
Election results.
My predictions weren't to off, but the Republicans did grow at least 60 house seats like Dr. Roy Predicted with 13 undecided seats, But in the senate the Democrats have at least 51 to 47 with 2 states Colorado and Washington where the Democrats are head, but it is to close to call and in Alaska where Lisa Murkouski got enough people to write her name right and maybe get her to kick out the Tea party candidate. First the Republicans won the House even with a Democratic Senate that doesn't have 60 seats to one party means that the Republicans will be needed in both chambers to pass there bills. Republicans made a big win today, but this situation is a bit tricky, because if the economy doesn't recover who do you blame. The Tea Party might get angry at the Republicans if they don't do anything, but people might get angry at Obama for not doing anything. Which brings me to the Clinton agreement. Where Republicans had both Chambers but not the presidency. If Obama can come together with the Republicans on some sort of deal like Obama did then great. Finally bybipartisanship. Well this night turned out bad for the Democrats. Some highlights of the night.
California didn't blow away pot, Harry Reid is back in power, Bill Owens still got reelected in NY, Tea party endorsed Democrat losses in Idaho and Obama's old Senate seat goes red.
California didn't blow away pot, Harry Reid is back in power, Bill Owens still got reelected in NY, Tea party endorsed Democrat losses in Idaho and Obama's old Senate seat goes red.
Stay Off the Tracks
Three young men were killed Sunday when a Via train hit them near the old Turcot yards. They were trespassing on CN property to probably graffiti on the walls near the tracks. Of course, it's never smart to be on the tracks, especially in the dark at three in the morning. Trains can't stop suddenly. It can take more than a kilometre for a train to stop, after the driver has hit the emergency brake. But, what needs to be done to stop this from happening again? Obviously, there needs to be more awareness that getting hit by trains can hurt. Badly. Some people still think a train can stop as fast as a car. Now, instead of that car, imagine an eighteen wheeler filled with lead, speeding on a sheet of ice, trying to stop. That might put into perspective the distance needed for a train to stop. People need to be educated on this issue. I suggest representatives from CN and CP visiting schools.
Almost every night, young people jump over concrete barriers to get to the walls under the Turcot Interchange. Spray cans in hand, they stand on train tracks, painting their tags so that commuters coming through the next morning can see them.Read more at the Montreal Gazette.
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Scripted! with Regis and Kelly
Documents obtained by The Canadian Press show how far the Tory government went to micro-manage the announcement that this show was coming to PEI last summer. There was even a requested soundbite for the announcement.
"Our government of Canada continues to work in partnership to further strengthen the tourism industry on Prince Edward Island," the MEP says.Of course, this is an open advertisement of the Conservative party. It's saying that the Tories do good things for everyone, vote for us. It's like the Economic Action Plan signs: a propaganda campaign to brainwash Canadians. And the Tories were also mad when they didn't make the news. They wanted the front page headline to be: Tories contribute $200 000 to bring Live! with Regis and Kelly to PEI. This is just one of many examples of how Harper needs to control everything and keep secrets from us. More will come in the future.
OTTAWA — It may be called LIVE! with Regis and Kelly, but new documents reveal just how tightly the Harper government scripted the announcement that the popular morning show was coming to Prince Edward Island last summer.
Hundreds of pages obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act show the lengths to which officials went to stage-manage the big announcement.Read more at CTV.ca
I Hope to see Dems Win.
Even though polls showing Democrats losing the House I am still hoping that the Democrats pull off a surprise. If the Republicans get back in Government it will be a much longer less progressive Government. Democrats aren't great, but they still did much more progressive things then the Republicans. I do think that increasing taxes will have to happen, and must reinvest in there own country like many European countries. This might not happen even with the Democrats in power, but they'll be the closest one to it so far. Many Republicans believe that they can just reduce taxes and still hold a surplus. They think they can spend all this money and reform nothing and still make social services efficient. I am no Democrat. I am a Canadian Liberal, but since there is no true American version of the Liberal party the Democrats are the only one's close enough. There the only one's who see that change has to happen even if they do things half done or half wrong it's much better than all wrong the Republicans are offering. I know this may be last second on the morning of Nov 2nd, but I have changed my prediction seeing Democrats 51-54 in the senate and 230-235 Republican.I am still hoping for a Democratic House.
Monday, November 01, 2010
Mid Term predictions.
I saw Dr Roy's predictions where he said that the Republicans would gain 10 senate seats and 60 house seats. I think that is extremely optimistic for the Republicans. The Democrats according to the NYT has a 90% chance of winning the senate. The House I am almost certain will go Republican, but then again there are many swing districts. The best I see Democrats doing is winning both houses , and the Republicans have a very good chance of winning the House, but almost no hope in the senate. In the senate I am seeing around 51-53 Democrats, and in the House I am seeing 223-228 Republicans, but then again polls can change in seconds. I will be watching the election this Tuesday I hope most of you do to, and If your in the U.S I hope you vote. There are so many countries where people don't have the right to vote , and it makes me sad to see only 40% of Americans voting on the mid terms.
Omar Khadr: Wrongfully Prosecuted
Yesterday, a military jury sentenced Omar Khadr to forty years in prison on top of the eight he has already served in Guantanamo Bay. This shows the shortcomings of the US military justice system and the Canadian government as well to protect its citizens. Even though he was fifteen when he committed the crime of tossing a grenade at a soldier, he was still tried under the standards of an adult. Even though he was eleven when his parents put him in a training camp for terrorists. And did the court really need to accept evidence retrieved in bad ways, such as threatening one with gang rape or during the grogginess after surgery.
And what did Harper do about this obvious attack on a Canadian? Nothing. Actually, worse than nothing. He sent officers to coerce Khadr into giving the incriminating evidence and then handed over to the prosecutors. Even the Canadian Supreme Court condemned this action!
But, after all this will Harper allow Khadr to come back to Canada? The answer will be evident in one year, when he's allowed to apply for transfer. But, in the end, the sentencing really isn't so bad for Khadr. Since he pleaded guilty, he only gets eight years of prison time. But, still, the prosecution of Omar Khadr has brought shame onto both the Canadian government for allowing a citizen to go unfairly prosecuted in a foreign country and the US justice system which accepted for use in court tainted evidence.
And what did Harper do about this obvious attack on a Canadian? Nothing. Actually, worse than nothing. He sent officers to coerce Khadr into giving the incriminating evidence and then handed over to the prosecutors. Even the Canadian Supreme Court condemned this action!
But, after all this will Harper allow Khadr to come back to Canada? The answer will be evident in one year, when he's allowed to apply for transfer. But, in the end, the sentencing really isn't so bad for Khadr. Since he pleaded guilty, he only gets eight years of prison time. But, still, the prosecution of Omar Khadr has brought shame onto both the Canadian government for allowing a citizen to go unfairly prosecuted in a foreign country and the US justice system which accepted for use in court tainted evidence.
And what role did Canada play? Shamefully, it sent its officials to bully him into giving out incriminating information that it then handed to his prosecutors, an act the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously condemned. The Canadian government then declared, “Let the process work.” Some process.Read more at the Globe and Mail.
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