How Stupid Is MAGA?

 Anthony Scaramucci thinks even they have limits:

I Didn't See This Coming

 

Last night I had a brief conversation with my daughter. As a mother of two little ones, she is rightly concerned about the environmental future that awaits them. She expressed special concern about the possible construction of a second Canadian pipeline. I quickly reassured her, saying that since it would have to be built with private funds only, it will never come to fruition.

I may have spoken too soon.

A deeply disturbing article by Althia Raj suggests public money may ultimately be involved.

Federal Liberals, who hoped the government’s pipeline pact with Alberta was a public relations effort that would never see the light of day, should brace for its approval — including, possibly, with public money.

Three Liberals privately suggested to the Star that Prime Minister Mark Carney may put federal money behind a new pipeline to the west coast — despite the memorandum of understanding signed with the province lays only a path for the “construction of one or more private sector constructed and financed pipelines.”

This revelation must come as a shock to many Liberal MPs, who are on record as saying that the MOU signed with Alberta meant little, given the reluctance of private oil to put up the kind of money needed to build such a conduit. 

Last fall, when the prime minister was asked in Calgary if he was prepared to do more to de-risk the project to attract private capital, Carney said he was already “de-risking the project in several ways” through regulatory clarity and setting aside “billions” for financing Indigenous People’s equity ownership in projects.

But sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, say Carney wants to see the pipeline built, and is realizing it may not happen without more public money behind it.

Environmental waffling on matters related to oil presage Carney's capitulation on the actual pipeline.

[E]arlier this month, Environment and Climate Change Minister Julie Dabrusin referred to the government’s rising industrial carbon price as the “backbone” of the government’s climate plan, key to reducing Canada’s emissions, and providing industry the “right signals to move our economy in that direction.”

But on a briefing call with journalists hours before the MOU announcement, Alberta’s representative suggested $130 was a ceiling not a floor. While it’s higher than the province’s current headline price of $95 a tonne, and much higher than where credits effectively trade, between $20 and $40 a tonne, it’s not high enough to make projects, such as the $16.5-billion Pathways Alliance carbon capture and storage network viable — without even more public funding. (So far, the project has received tax credits worth 62 per cent of its construction costs, and the oil companies behind the massive project — a soft prerequisite for the pipeline — want more public funding.) 

Additionally, when Danielle Smith introduced regulations making the credits easier to obtain, Carney's government said not a word. 

If you do any research on carbon capture technology, you will realize it is more fable than reality. In reality it is not viable either on the scale necessary to make a difference or the amount of energy required to operate it, thus negating the amount of carbon captured.

Canadians have grown used to being stabbed in the back by our former 'friends', the United States. Few, I suspect, are prepared for the knife being wielded by our own government.

 

They Never Learn

Just looking at the world today, it is clear that Americans never learn their lesson when it comes to 'excursions' into other countries, all of which have proven disastrous for the world. It is the essence of their hubris. 

The only American to have understood this is Bernie Sanders who, in 2010, had this to offer:

 10 years ago, Bernie Sanders warned America of the unintended consequences that could emerge from a regime change war with Iran. Watch

Are You A Good Or A Bad Person?

I can't find the psychic energy these days to write anything meaningful, so I offer you this, sent by a friend. It is, in its own way, topical:

SOS From Ontario

 

As a resident of Ontario, I confess to being disenchanted these days. After Doug Ford has won three successive elections with very substantial majorities, he seems untethered, his megalomaniac plans substituting for competent governance.  

There is, of course, his preposterous plan to build a tunnel under Highway 401, but there are also other ideas that merit ridicule, not sober consideration, such as building an artificial island upon which to build construct a new convention centre for Toronto; he is also keen on extending the local airport (Billy Bishop) to accommodate jets, despite the fact it is a plan widely opposed by those living downtown. 

Ford is also considering opening the HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lanes to solo drivers in 'off peak hours' (whenever that might be in perennially-congested Southern Ontario). As well, citing fiscal constraints,(after eliminating a multitude to revenue sources), he has abruptly cut OSAP aid for university students. Especially worrying for those who value transparency in government, the premier is now in the process of crippling freedom of information requests by excluding cabinet records and government 'business' conducted on personal cell phones. And, of course, there is the long-standing RCMP criminal probe (eight years and counting, I believe) into the Greenbelt scandal. Of his lengthy recesses of the legislature I will not even speak.

I have been wondering of late whether or not people are tiring of his populist poses. If letters to the editor are any measure, there is a sliver of hope that people are beginning to understand that bluster and wild schemes are not a substitute for proper government:

Ontario to make premier, cabinet ministers’ records secret as it tightens FOI laws, March 13

The Conservative Ford Government has plans to exempt the premier and cabinet from freedom-of-information (FOI) requests which would deny the public access to documents held by the office, and signatures upon agreements relating to economic, financial and corporate contracts. The EV agreements the public would love to review will certainly never be made public. With the legalities carried out within the Legislatures and NDAs,  much has been agreed upon and held deep within the shadows of conservative backrooms and corporate parlors.

Ontario is truly for sale folks, and we will never know who the new owners are, what agreements were signed and if financial largess has passed into political party hands.

Steven Kaszab, Bradford, ON 

A premier who fears FOI is a premier with something to hide

Once again, Doug Ford is moving Ontario towards autocracy and non-accountability. A premier who fears Freedom of Information is a premier with something to hide. Here is the litmus test: is this a power you would want every party to have? How would Ford have responded if former Liberal premier Kathleen Wynne had made this proposition? Something dirty is afoot. And blaming the Chinese government is just a tactic to avoid accountability. People should be horrified by this. 

Elaine Jackson, Mount Albert, ON  

Premier Doug Ford has stated his government should be exempt from releasing documents, government records, etc., under the Freedom of Information Act. Amongst his arguments for is the fact he receives 1,000 calls per day about very personal problems and says he feels like a psychologist trying to solve everyone’s personal issues. Therefore, he will not release personal information about people’s lives.  Ford should make  use of an official government phone and  use  his personal phone only when engaged in the role of “psychologist.”

Mary Morrison, Mississauga, ON 

Are HOV users legitimate ride-sharers?

Ontario wants solo drivers to use HOV lanes outside rush hours, but experts doubt it will speed up traffic, March 17

Until the creators/supporters of HOV lanes presents conclusive evidence that the majority of vehicles using HOV lanes are doing so as legitimate ride-sharers the concept of HOV lanes should be considered a sham and a waste of valuable pavement.

Robert Woodcock, North York, ON

While the machinations of Ontario politics may be of little interest to those living elsewhere in Canada, the province surely offers an object lesson for all whenever their next provincial elections may be.

Trump's Folly

Isn't AI great? 

Worshipping At The Wrong Altar

We live in a world where major events offer the average person little influence. Wars, rumours of wars, starvation, mass displacements of population, all are part of a daily menu of woes that reminds us of our impotence. It is enough to make many shun news and current events and embrace ignorance.

Some, I believe, try to counter that impotence through what is often called performative politics. Essentially empty gestures, they allow practitioners to delude both themselves and others into thinking what they do really matters. That flattering balm undoubtedly assuages the egos of some, but at bottom, in my view, it means little or nothing.

We all know there are positions people are loathe to publically take for fear of rebuke. Instead of calling Israel genocidal, for example, we say the opposite - it has a right to defend itself, as if one has anything to do with the other. Thus we are spared the inaccurate but damning label of anti-semite. Lest we want to be cast with the right wing rabble, we say nothing or little to question the wisdom of allowing children to begin gender reassignment. Transphobe is not a term we relish if it is applied to us. 

Neither of the above examples is to suggest that I have become some kind of reactionary. What I have become however, is appalled by the fact that honest discussions and disagreements have been become weaponized to the point of suppression. Group think is demanded; non-compliance with a putative truth is met with punishment, usually in the form of stigmatization.

The story that set me off is the resignation of Niagara Regional Chair Bob Gale. Gale most recently drew attention to himself by trying to open discussions on amalgamation of a number of local governments in a search for efficiency and cost-saving. In doing so, it would appear that he is paying an unanticipated cost. 

Niagara Regional Chair Bob Gale has abruptly resigned, just hours after anti-racism groups in Niagara demanded he apologize for owning a signed copy of Adolf Hitler's infamous manifesto, Mein Kampf.

The Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association (NRARA) and Justice 4 Black Lives Niagara said in a joint statement on Wednesday that they condemned Gale for purchasing and owning the book signed by Hitler, the leader of the German Nazi Party and architect of the Holocaust, in which six million Jewish people were systematically murdered along with millions of Roma, 2SLGBTQ+ and other victims.

"[We] demand a public explanation and apology," the groups said.

I am troubled by this for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that Gale describes himself as one who collects historical documents. His collection consists of acquisitions from across the political/historical spectrum: 

"[M]y collection includes an 1859 letter from anti-slavery advocate John Brown, a letter from George Washington, a letter from Winston Churchill and Vatican archives."

By this measure, Gale is not a crypto fascist extolling the Third Reich, but in these fraught and performative times, that apparently does not matter.

That reality is perhaps best exemplified by the NRARA's Saleh Wazzirudin:

"Bob Gale needs to explain himself publicly and apologize for owning one of the most notorious pieces of antisemitic hate.”

Sherri Darlene, founder of Justice 4 Black Lives Niagara, said in the joint statement that it's no secret that racism has been a problem in the region for a long time.

“It’s shocking but not surprising that Niagara’s highest elected municipal official owns hate literature," she said.

Joining in that group-think pile-on are Niagara NDP MP Wayne Gates and Premier Doug Ford, both of whom approve of Gale's decision to resign, which just shows that political courage is absent across the spectrum.  

The times in which we live leave little room, even among progressives, for nuanced, subtle thinking or reasoned discussion. It is almost as if we have grown allergic to anything possessing shades of gray. And that is something, unfortunately we have in common with the reactionaries we claim to oppose.