Forgetting Their Purpose

There is little doubt that politicians' constituency work can be onerous, eroding personal/family time while home on the weekends and perhaps compromising the work they do in Ottawa. It is not a task I envy.

Nonetheless, there are those who, obstructed by overweening ego and ambition, refuse to acknowledge that serving their constituents is or should be their primary task. This might seem to be stating the obvious, but it is a truth some would-be Titans of the political universe seem to largely ignore, local scutt work apparently beneath their political dignity.

This is the tale of one such person.

I speak from personal experience here as I write about the consistent unresponsiveness of my Liberal MP, Liberal Filomena Tassi, to my phone calls and emails, and it stands in marked contrast to the relationship I had with my former MP (we had boundary changes in our area), Conservative MP David Sweet. Although he and I never saw eye-to-eye on any issues I raised with him or his office, the fact that Sweet would always respond to my emails, either by email or personal phone calls, earned my deep respect, and I like to think that we had some quite civilized exchanges.

Unfortunately, Ms. Tassi is an entirely different story. After a career helping others as a chaplain at a Catholic high school, her leap into politics looked like a good transition, one that would enable her to help even more people. Sadly, that has not turned out to be the case. Rising quickly within the government power structure, she is currently the Minister of Labour, a position she no doubt attained through both talent and party fealty.

And that fealty was obvious from the beginning, not only through the many photos of her with the movers and shakers of her government, but also what I regard as her strategic decision to refuse to acknowledge those who ask where she stands on an issue. That I am not alone in being ignored is attested to by a letter to the editor that appeared in The Hamilton Spectator back in 2017:

My MP ignored my voice

RE: Pensions in crisis
As a longtime resident of Ancaster, and a former Sears employee for over 30 years, I thought it was important to write my member of Parliament regarding my concerns about the financial future of thousands of fellow Sears pensioners locally and across Canada. It would have been nice to know that my elected representative from the Liberal government, shared my concern, and may have some input into its final conclusion.

This is the first time that I have contacted an MP on anything, and unfortunately, after an initial email over three weeks ago, a followup email and then a phone message to her Ottawa office a week ago, there has been no reply. I guess Ms. Filomena Tassi does not place a high priority on aging pensioners problems, but politeness and common courtesy should have resulted in some sort of followup!

I would like to thank MP Scott Duvall of the NDP for his efforts to bring this plight to the forefront and to The Hamilton Spectator for printing articles on pension shortfalls.

Ms. Tassi — is anyone manning the communications in your office — do you care?

Don Backman, Ancaster

Backman's letter prompted me to write one of my own, a truncated version of which follows:

Liberal MP Filomena Tassi must have missed the orientation given to all newly-elected federal representatives when she took office just over two years ago. Had she attended, she would have understood that one of the most important roles of parliamentarians is to represent and help their constituents on both big and small issues.

Her failure to even acknowledge Don Backman's emails and calls on the very important pension issue do not surprise me in the least. The emails I sent her on two separate occasions, one shortly after she was elected and another about six months later, netted me the same result. Her failure to respond to the first I attributed to the fact that she was new to office. The silence that met my second missive, regarding Canada's unconscionable sale of arms to the Saudis, was harder to explain away.

.......

Perhaps the current representative of Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas has reasons for her silence. Is it possible she is angling for a role higher than that of backbencher in the Trudeau government, her strategy being to avoid any contentious matters in order to demonstrate unflinching fealty to Justin Trudeau? Cabinet positions are often built on such absolute loyalties.

If that is the case, Ms. Tassi has a gross misunderstanding of where her first allegiance should lie: her constituents.

I might add that I recently wrote to her again, despite her communications embargo, expressing my opposition to the Teck Resources' Frontier Mine and asking where she stood on the issue. Again, no response.

So is this post simply an expression of egoistic frustration, an old guy angry that he is not being heard or acknowledged by his Member of Parliament? Not at all.

It has become increasingly apparent that our governments no longer feel responsible for representing and advancing the public interest, unless that public interest happens to coincide with economic and corporate health. The wants, needs and expectations of the general public are rarely regarded as imperatives except during election campaigns; such a cynical manipulation of the electorate, in my view, goes a long way toward explaining the alienation and disengagement far too many Canadians feel.

Whether or not MPs agree or disagree with their constituents' views and values is ultimately secondary here. It is their failure to even acknowledge them that betrays one of the basic tenets of democracy and the implicit covenant our elected representatives have with all of us.

An Effective Rebuke Of Trumpland Republicans

Filmmaker Matthew Cooke provides much-needed perspective and context as a counter to the far-right rhetoric that relentlessly seeks to undermine faith in government.

Well-worth five minutes of our time:



H/t Penny Gill

An Unhinged And Unbound President

"...a president is fully above the law in the most dangerous kind of way. This is how democracies die.”

- Former U.S. attorney Joyce White Vance

Those who have been reading this blog over the years will have noticed that I post far less than I used to. The reason is a simple one: my disenchantment with the world and its politics has reached new depths. Consequently, I do wonder if writing about this broken world is the best use of whatever time remains to me, given that if I am very fortunate, I likely have little more than two decades left.

Nonetheless, like a moth drawn to a flame, I read things that erode what little faith I have left in this world but also sometimes demand a catharsis that only writing about them can on occasion provide.

Case in point: Edward Keenan writes about how, post-impeachment, the unhinged Donald Trump is now also unbound, using the levers of power to punish all who have crossed him:

Trump has always had strongman tendencies — the grandiose rallies and military parades, proclaimed admiration for dictators, declarations that his actions are beyond scrutiny — but his actions this week amplified that affinity in ways that could do lasting damage. Jason Stanley, a Yale University professor and the author of “How Fascism Works” told Business Insider that the tactics employed by the president and his Republican Party are “straight from the literature on authoritarianism.”

First there was the punishment of his perceived enemies: Trump dismissed his ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, and marched decorated war veteran Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman out of the White House — along with Vindman’s twin brother, Yevgeny, who also worked in the White House but played no role in the impeachment trial.

His chilling message of retribution is a clear warning of the consequences of crossing him in any way, something only worthy of the world's worst dictators.

And it's not just to individuals that this message is directed:

More explicit was Trump’s proclamation that he would use policy to punish New York unless it dropped investigations and lawsuits into his taxes. New York’s attorney general has been investigating several matters related to Trump and his businesses; recently, the Department of Homeland Security suspended the state’s access to trusted traveller programs that speed entry at border crossings. Trump appeared to connect the two when he tweeted that Gov. Andrew Cuomo needs to understand, in the context of the “national security” issues, that “New York must stop all of its unnecessary lawsuits & harassment.”

Then there is the special attention directed toward those who Trump perceives as his loyalists:

On Monday, the U.S. attorneys who successfully prosecuted former Trump adviser Roger Stone for crimes related to Trump’s 2016 campaign suggested a prison sentence of seven to nine years, which was in line with the standards set out in federal guidelines. On Tuesday morning, Trump tweeted that the recommendation was “horrible and unfair,” and insisted that “the real crimes were on the other side.”

Hours later, the Justice Department intervened to overrule its own staff and suggest leniency for Stone. In response, all four prosecutors withdrew from the case, with one even resigning from the department.

So much for the rule of law and the independence of the Justice Depart, a tradition that dates back to the Watergate era.

Perhaps Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown sums it up best:

Trump’s “retribution tour” shows he has indeed learned something from acquittal: “The lesson is he can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants.”

After the election of Trump, I made a pledge not to visit the U.S. as long as he was in office. I am beginning to think that that pledge will wind up being a long-term one, not just because of the very real possibility that he will be re-elected in November, but also because under his presidency, he may in fact be making changes to the very complexion and nature of American politics and society that his successors will either be unwilling or unable to reverse.

Truly, the United States is a nation in precipitous and likely irreversible decline.

Going, Going ......

I posted recently about the Teck tarsands development that is seeking the Trudeau regime's approval. If the government gives its go-ahead to the project, it will destroy whatever remnants remain of Mr. Trudeau's claims to green bona fides, not to mention the incalculable damage such a massive enterprise will do to the world's remaining carbon budget.

In today's print edition of The Star, John Stephenson of Toronto offers his perspective:

World co-operation is required to solve the climate crisis. Co-operation requires trust. How is the world to ever trust Canada if it approves the gigantic new Teck Frontier oilsands mine?

Here is what Bill McKibbon recently wrote about us in the Guardian: “If an alcoholic assured you he was taking his condition very seriously, but also laying in a 40-year store of bourbon, you’d be entitled to doubt his sincerity, or at least to note his confusion. Oil has addled the Canadian ability to do basic math: more does not equal less, and 2066 is not any time soon. An emergency means you act now.”

He concludes: “Trudeau, for all his charms, doesn’t get to have it both ways: if you can’t bring yourself to stop a brand-new tar sands mine then you’re not a climate leader.”

Approving Frontier probably won’t appease Alberta. But it will burn bridges with all environmentalists and the rest of the world. It’s simply not worth it.

Words And Actions Matter

In these latter days of my life, a time when I have largely lost faith in the possibility of large-scale change, (captured governments being what they are), I think more and more of the things we do in our daily lives that can make things either more or less tolerable for others.

No matter how insignificant we may regard individual acts and comments, we should remember that they can serve as a light in the darkness that envelops our world. A simple smile, a look in the eye, a tacit recognition of someone's essential humanity - we cannot know the ramifications of such basics.

Conversely, as the following video amply demonstrates, we can refuse through our words and deeds to acknowledge those elements; what we cannot ultimately ignore, however, is their destructive impact on others:

"Go back to your country" 5 words that had a lasting impact on a Hamilton man

Here's a phrase no immigrant wants to hear, "go back to your country", those 5 words have had a lasting impact on a Hamilton man who was threatened almost two years ago. Dale Robertson doesn't deny he uttered threats and assaulted an Indo-Canadian couple.

Telling It Like it Is

That's precisely what Rutger Bregman did at Davos last year:



H/t Alex Himelfarb

Breman talks about the reaction he received from his taxation proposal:

Don't Agonize. Organize

So says the indefatigable Robert Reich, who, while admitting that the times are very discouraging, urges no one to give up in despair. You need only watch the first three minutes to get the gist of his message:

A New Horrifying High Our Leaders Will Ignore

News that Antarctica just reached new horrifyingly high temperatures, forerunner of the deluge to come, once more reinforces the perilous state our world is in. Despite that, it seems likely that the Trudeau government will approve the massive tarsands project known as the Teck mine, which I posted about the other day.

Indeed, the most startling fact about the development is that it will add to our-already massive greenhouse gas emissions which, despite the pious rhetoric of the Trudeau government, means our country, with a mere 0.5% of the planet’s population, will use up one-third of the world's remaining carbon budget.

A new petition opposing the development is available to sign at the David Suzuki Foundation.

Still not sure that this development flies in the face of ecological sanity? Perhaps the following thoughtful missives from the Toronto Star will help convince you:

I oppose the expansion of tar sands production and call on Liberal cabinet ministers to reject the Teck Frontier mine.

The Trudeau cabinet’s decision is due at the end of February. It’s the first real climate test for this government.

I am one of the two thirds of voters who voted for increased climate action in last year’s federal election. We have less than 10 years to limit climate catastrophe and must act quickly to cut carbon emissions.

The Frontier mine is incompatible with our climate targets. It will produce about four million tonnes of carbon emissions per year.

It would result in significant adverse effects on Indigenous rights and cause irreversible environmental damage. The mine would result in a loss of habitat for local species including wood bison and whooping cranes.

And it will never be financially viable due to its reliance on unrealistically high oil prices.

Dorothy Goldin Rosenberg, Toronto

Can any of us really afford to wait another 30 years for Teck Resources to become carbon neutral? Canada’s federal cabinet ministers are deciding whether to reject or approve the Teck Frontier Mine, slated to be developed 110 kilometres north of Fort McMurray, Alta. — a mine that would become Canada’s largest tar sands project.

This mine would produce 260,000 barrels of oil per day. It would cover 290 square kilometres, almost the combined area of Vancouver, Burnaby and Richmond, and have a lifespan of 41 years. During those years, this mega-mine would add 4 million tonnes of CO2 per year to Canada’s emissions, singlehandedly guaranteeing we will not meet our Paris Accord targets.

A federal-provincial joint review panel found that the mine would not only cause permanent and irreversible damage to our environment, but it would also cause “significant adverse effects” on the rights, land use and culture of local Indigenous peoples.

So I ask again: Can Canada, my grandchildren and your grandchildren afford to wait 30 years for Teck to become carbon neutral? The answer from the future is a resounding and imploring cry of “no!”

Patricia Smith, Barrie

As author of “Hawk,” a novel about the oil sands being used in many Canadian schools, I want to raise awareness about the Teck Frontier mine proposal currently up for approval by our federal government.

This mega-mine, the biggest yet, will add an area twice the size of Vancouver to an already questionable tarsands industry and is undoubtedly incompatible with our climate targets.

Canadians are doing their part to cut back on emissions, but our efforts to eat less meat or use public transport pale in comparison to the harm that will be done by this proposed project.

We pray for Australia and send money to help burned koalas, we criticize others for cutting down the Amazon forest, depriving orangutans of their habitat, and we judge the U.S. for its climate-denying leadership.

But here in Canada, with scientists telling us we have less than 10 years to limit climate catastrophe, we are poised to eradicate more boreal forest and add more greenhouse gases to an already beleaguered atmosphere.

I saw former U.S. president Barack Obama on his recent visit to Toronto. He praised Canada for listening to the science. Have we stopped doing that?

Jennifer Dance, Stouffville

Despite the bellicose rhetoric emanating from Alberta over this development, which you can view with this link, in a sane world, there really would be no debate over this ill-conceived and very, very dangerous project.

May The Scales Fall From Their Eyes

To the distracted masses, apostolic minions and all evangelicals who worship at the altar of The Beast:

Repent.

Romney Was Right from chip franklin on Vimeo.

Canada Stands Indicted

While I most assuredly cannot claim any virtue when it comes to climate-change mitigation (I still fly, probably the greatest environmental sin one can commit), I do understand the gravity of what the world faces; to say I am pessimistic about our future is a massive understatement. That pessimism has been given new impetus by a piece Bill McKibben has written in The Guardian.

Despite having elected a government purporting to take climate-change seriously, it is likely we will approve a new tars sands project that will add countless megatonnes of greenhouse gases to the world's atmosphere:

The Teck mine would be the biggest tar sands mine yet: 113 square miles of petroleum mining, located just 16 miles from the border of Wood Buffalo national park. A federal panel approved the mine despite conceding that it would likely be harmful to the environment and to the land culture of Indigenous people... Canadian authorities ruled that the mine was nonetheless in the “public interest”.

To put things into perspective,

Canada, which is 0.5% of the planet’s population, plans to use up nearly a third of the planet’s remaining carbon budget [emphasis added]. Ottawa hides all this behind a series of pledges about “net-zero emissions by 2050” and so on, but they are empty promises.

Despite the worldwide evidence that we are witnessing the beginnings of runaway climate-change, we just can't seem to help ourselves.

... the Teck Frontier proposal is predicated on the idea that we’ll still need vast quantities of oil in 2066, when Greta Thunberg is about to hit retirement age. If an alcoholic assured you he was taking his condition very seriously, but also laying in a 40-year store of bourbon, you’d be entitled to doubt his sincerity, or at least to note his confusion.

Canada is far from unique in its addiction to, and advocacy for, more fossil-fuel development. What perhaps differentiates us from the world's other bad-actors in this domain is our pious avowals that we are enacting measures that will address the problem

As Bill McKibben points out, nothing could be further from the truth.

They Are Not The Exclusive Domain Of Republicans

They being intolerance and homophobia, as this exchange at the Iowa Democratic caucus makes clear:

Death Of An Icon

Dear Friends:

There is no easy way to say this: Mr. Peanut is no more. The first video below depicts the circumstances of his demise, while the second is a loving retrospective of his long life.

Looking for the silver lining of this shocking news, however, one must consider the possibility that his death was for the best; stories have abounded for years of his sad decline, many saying that he was a mere shell of his former self.

Composting has already taken place.

All Things Considered

All Things Considered is a show on NPR...good radio. Republicans don't listen cause they already have a show on FOX called "Lick Trump's Balls." https://t.co/i17FfR2vAx @TheRickWilson @gtconway3d @McFaul @Rosie @janemarielynch @girlsreallyrule @RepSwalwell @FrankFigliuzzi1 @NPR pic.twitter.com/oKx0lb7rC9

— Chip Franklin (@chipfranklin) January 30, 2020

The Living, Beating Heart Of Canada

Having visited St. John's last summer, I found that the stories of Newfoundlanders' boundless generosity and graciousness are absolutely true. Therefore, the following resonates deeply with me:

.@markcritch’s ode to the Newfoundland blizzard. #nlstorm2020 #nlblizzard2020 #nlwx pic.twitter.com/ksZEcH0EQe

— CBC News: The National (@CBCTheNational) January 21, 2020

Lev Parnas, International Man Of Mystery

Is he a hybrid of Zelig and Forrest Gump? Is he a grifter trying to make his mark on the American psyche? Is he, as suggested by Trump's impeachment defence lawyer Patricia Bondi, simply a publicity seeker?

Or is Rudi Guiliani associate Lev (Trump: I-don't-know-the-man) Parnas telling the truth when he says he was intimately involved in the Ukrainian scandal, facilitating the search for dirt on Joe Biden and his son Hunter?

You decide, but pay special attention to the pictorial evidence of his associations included in the following report:

Not So Fast, Capitalism

The triumphalism of capitalism can sometimes be hard to take. Platitudes such as "A rising tide lifts all boats" abound, rarely questioned except by the most astute among us, thereby excluding much of the MSM.

Fortunately, there are still people like Linda McQuaig to set the record straight on a recent claim in the NYT that life just keeps getting better today:

Amid growing criticism of extreme inequality, expect to hear lots more about how today’s capitalism is benefiting the world — especially next week when the global elite meets for their annual self-celebration in Davos, Switzerland.

It’s a powerful narrative. If capitalism is working wonders for humanity, maybe it doesn’t matter that a small number of billionaires have an increasing share of the world’s wealth.

But is the narrative true?

McQuaig suggests something other than capitalism is at work that has improved people's lives:

Life expectancy only began to improve towards the end of the 1800s — and only because of the public health movement, which pushed for separating sewage from drinking water. This extremely good idea was vigorously opposed by capitalists, who raged against paying taxes to fund it.

So sanitation, not capitalism, may be humanity’s true elixir.

Indeed, things only truly got better, says British historian Simon Szreter, after ordinary people won the right to vote and to join unions that pushed for higher wages and helped secure public access to health care, education and housing — again over the fierce objections of capitalists.

This suggests that it’s not capitalism but rather the forces fighting to curb capitalism’s worst excesses — unions and progressive political movements — that have improved people’s lives.

This is not to imply, however, that advocates of unfettered capitalism are helpless against such onslaughts of insight. While public polling suggests widespread, growing support for greater taxation of the wealthy, they have a potent threat in their arsenal:

Don’t even think of taxing us, because we’ll just move our money offshore.

The antidote to such extortionate tactics is suggested by Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, economists at the University of California, Berkeley, in their book, The Triumph of Injustice:

... they argue that advanced nations could effectively clamp down on tax havens if they co-ordinated their efforts, just as they do in other areas, like trade policy.

Saez and Zucman point out there’s nothing to prevent advanced nations from simply collecting the corporate taxes that the tax havens don’t.

Recent reporting requirements make this possible. “It has never been easier for big countries to police their own multinationals,” they argue. “Should the G20 countries tomorrow impose a 25 per cent minimum tax on their multinationals, more than 90 per cent of the world’s profits would immediately become effectively taxed at 25 per cent or more.”

As always, there are solutions to the ills that plague us. What is in short supply, however, are politicians with the vision, integrity and backbone to implement them.

Thought For The Day

This resonates on oh so many levels.

Increasingly Transparent

The thuggish illegalities of Donald Trump are obvious for everyone to see. Everyone, that is, except for those inexplicable sludge marks on human rationality known as Trump devotees.

Marie Yovanovich? Trump had Rudy intimidate her? She's been stationed in Somalia and Ukraine. Giuliani gets backed up eating a banana. https://t.co/i17FfR2vAx #RemoveTrump @TheRickWilson @gtconway3d pic.twitter.com/soFQc6dArH

— Chip Franklin (@chipfranklin) January 16, 2020

Wash And Dry?

As I have written in the past on this blog, I have long suspected that Canada is soft on white-collar crime, including money laundering. The fact that the Panama Papers has yielded almost no recovery by the CRA of hidden tax money speaks volumes.

It would appear that laissez-faire attitude is now working its way through other federal bodies. Marco Chown Oved writes:

Despite multiple recent reports that identified Toronto’s vulnerability to money laundering, the RCMP has decided to disband its Ontario financial crimes unit, the Star has learned.

Announced internally on December 10 in a series of meetings held in detachments across the province, the decision will see 129 officers and eight civilian staff re-assigned to other units, including organized crime, anti-terrorism and drugs, according to an internal email obtained by the Star.

Breaking up a stand-alone unit devoted to investigating complex and difficult cases has financial crime experts worrying that fraud and money laundering activity will increase.

The many people currently working in the division will be redeployed to others dealing with terrorism, drugs and organized crime - a very bad idea:

“It just won’t work,” said Garry Clement, former director of the RCMP proceeds of crime unit. “The RCMP, in my view, has sort of lost sight of the fact that taking on financial crime requires a very high degree of expertise.”

A similar reorganization happened in B.C. several years ago, said Clement, where there has since been an explosion of money laundering in casinos, real estate and luxury cars.

“It amazes me that they tried this approach of dissolving the (financial crime) units and putting them together with other units and we know the results,” he said.

Says former deputy commissioner of the RCMP, Peter German,

“Eliminating economic crime as a national priority for the RCMP is a mistake. It was recognized years ago that protection of our economy is a critical issue for the national police. Furthermore, following the money trail is accepted around the world as likely the most effective way to attack organized crime where it hurts most,” German said.

It is difficult to draw any positive inferences from this egregiously bone-headed move, a reminder once more that when one scratches beneath the surface, all sorts of unpleasant implications are exposed.

Corporate Integrity: No Longer An Oxymoron

While he will undoubtedly come under under intense criticism, all I can say is, Bravo, Michael McCain.

I’m Michael McCain, CEO of Maple Leaf Foods, and these are personal reflections. I am very angry, and time isn’t making me less angry. A MLF colleague of mine lost his wife and family this week to a needless, irresponsible series of events in Iran...

— Maple Leaf Foods (@MapleLeafFoods) January 13, 2020

…U.S. government leaders unconstrained by checks/balances, concocted an ill-conceived plan to divert focus from political woes. The world knows Iran is a dangerous state, but the world found a path to contain it; not perfect but by most accounts it was the right direction…

— Maple Leaf Foods (@MapleLeafFoods) January 13, 2020

…The collateral damage of this irresponsible, dangerous, ill-conceived behavior? 63 Canadians needlessly lost their lives in the crossfire, including the family of one of my MLF colleagues (his wife + 11 year old son)! We are mourning and I am livid. Michael McCain.

— Maple Leaf Foods (@MapleLeafFoods) January 13, 2020

Well, This Is Certainly Interesting

OMG. This should be the end of Biden's candidacy. https://t.co/Y2N8bn0O6t

— Linda McQuaig (@LindaMcQuaig) January 13, 2020

Tell It Like It Is

I have written nothing about the Iranian missile that brought down the Ukrainian flight, frankly because I don't know what to say beyond the fact that it is an immense tragedy, not only due to the loss of life but because of who was killed: primarily young people with their entire lives ahead of them, and young people who were immensely talented, many PhD students, researchers and doctors. We will never know what they could have achieved, both for themselves and for the world.

What is clear, however, is the fact that Donald Trump has much blood on his hands. Had he not assassinated an Iranian citizen on sovereign soil, the Iranians would not have been on high alert and mistaken the doomed flight for an incoming missile. That the Psychopath-in-Chief feels no responsibility or remorse is a given here.

Canada's response to Trump's responsibility, of course, has been non-existent, so if we want some honest dialogue about this terrible event, we could do far worse than scanning the letter-writers' page in The Star:

For now, U.S. President Donald Trump’s vanity project — taking out Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani — has cost the lives of scores of Iranian mourners killed in a stampede at the general’s funeral, and scores of foreign nationals killed in a plane crash while desperately fleeing Tehran.

The only thing this self-serving president cares less about than Iranian lives is the lives of Iranian Canadians.

There is no room in Trump’s personal world view for effective diplomacy. Having turned Soleimani to smouldering ashes, he was too immature to remain quiet about it, but crowed and gloated, even as millions of grief-stricken mourners flooded the streets of Iran.

Trump may well be re-elected, such is the powerful pseudo-intimacy between him and his adoring followers.

Having said that, I understand Trump’s skepticism about handing back billions to the current Iranian regime, which clearly had a long shopping list of terror-related activities.

It is time now to reinstate a better version of the Iran nuclear pullback, or for Canada to quit the region entirely.

Ron Charach, Toronto

Three things are important to note on this crisis in the Middle East with Iran and the US.

One, U.S. President Donald Trump does not take ownership (or blame) for bringing the crisis to a head, but instead blames the Iranians and the late Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

Two, Trump has had his face slapped by the retaliatory missile strikes by Iran. He will not like this and inside it makes him feel humiliated and insecure. (My guess is that this personal response by him has been kept hidden.) He will be left surly, vindictive and unforgiving toward the Iranians.

Three, Trump will not abandon his goal of containing Iran and trying to prevent them from having nuclear weapons. Whether this is realistically attainable or not is another question.

Chaos, confusion, uncertainty, lack of clarity, worry and emotion, and nothing solved — once again the results of Trump’s actions. Both sides now know the other can strike with missiles.

Through all of this we must wonder, how come the U.S. defensive equipment did not knock down the Iranian missiles? Was the range too short for response, was the equipment even in place? Was all this puffery?

Norm Ferguson, Richmond Hill

It is often said that talk is cheap. I beg to differ. Had talk substituted for Trump's pathetic, impulsive and deranged behaviour, many, many people would still be alive today.

Psst! Wanna Know A Secret?

On A Certain Dysfunctional Commander-In-Chief

Chip Franklin may be somewhat coarse, but he certainly has insights into the dysfunctional entity known as Donald Trump:

Watching Trump's announcement in front of all those generals reminds of the kid who dresses up in his dad's clothes...ya know, and then kills 1000’s of innocent people pic.twitter.com/96LZ6dPqzA

— Chip Franklin (@chipfranklin) January 9, 2020

Nice Beard Though

As a Canadian, there are a number of things that cause me to feel ashamed: here in Ontario, it was the election of the dumb demagogue Doug Ford, while federally it has to do with my many fellow citizens who believe the government propaganda that we can have our climate-change cake (more pipelines, more tarsands} and eat it too (bitumen extraction as a way to afford reducing our emissions!)

But given current events, most cringe-worthy for me is the absence of a Canadian response to Donald Trump's latest effort to destabilize the Middle East through the assassination of Qassem Soleimani. While few would argue that the general was not responsible for much death and mayhem, his killing at the hands of Donald Trump will likely have far-reaching implications.

Yet despite that, only silence from Mr. Trudeau.

Contrast that with the fact that even a right-wing government like Boris Johnson's is now speaking out, this time over Trump saying he will target cultural sites in Iran if the latter retaliates for the murder:

Britain’s foreign secretary has said that targeting cultural sites in Iran would breach international warfare conventions in an implicit rebuke to Donald Trump for threatening to bomb protected heritage sites.

Dominic Raab did not criticise the US president directly over his threats, but said: “We have been very clear that cultural sites are protected under international law and we would expect that to be respected.”

Trump’s comments amount to threatening a war crime because such action would violate international treaties that the US has signed up to.

The director general of Unesco, which lists 24 protected sites in Iran, highlighted that both the US and Iran were also signatories to a 1972 convention prohibiting states from taking “any deliberate measures which might damage directly or indirectly the cultural and natural heritage” of other states.

The UN security council also passed a unanimous resolution in 2017 condemning the destruction of heritage sites following attacks by Isis, including on the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria and on the Mosul Museum in Iraq.

Canada's craven and submissive silence should not be a source of pride for anyone. If history teaches us anything, appeasement never works.

But in other news, Trudeau has a nice beard, eh?

Hmmmm ......

Just sayin'.

This Is Quite Powerful, And Also Quite Relevant

A Facebook friend posted the following, which appeared on Dandelion Salad, a site I intend to explore as time permits. Bracing and sobering, this video about the cost of exercising one's right to free speech in the home of 'brave' and the land of the 'free' seems more relevant than ever:

Words, Words, And More Words

I haven't been writing much these days, in part due to a stubborn bug I've been battling, and in part because I often wonder if there really is much more to say that I haven't already said over the years. However, today I read an article that seems particularly germane to our troubled times, and hence, back into the fray for another go.

Ever since I was very young, I have had an avid interest in the English language, an interest no doubt fostered by my love of reading. That love of books led me into a career as an English teacher, and it was while teaching Grade 13 (OAC) that I think I began to truly appreciate the often insidious power of language. George Orwell's Politics and The English Language, about which I have written in the past, here, here and here, is especially instructive in that regard.

One of Orwell's key warnings revolved around the political use of euphemisms, words that often mask some unpleasant truths. We use them all the time without ill-intent (think, for example, of referring to the deceased as having 'passed away', or a beloved pet that has been 'put to sleep'). However, those in positions of power, whether they be, for example, employers or politicians, often use them to pervert or conceal truth. Consider, for example, the last time you heard that someone was fired, axed or terminated. These days, people are 'laid off' or 'furloughed'. Nice not to have to think too closely about the desperation that unemployment can bring, isn't it?

But the above illustration is still pretty innocuous. In his column today, Rick Salutin has some thoughts about the more sinister of use language:

Since this is the season for Word of the Year nominations, like quid pro quo and CBD, let me propose a late entry and long-shot (whoops, bad word choice): contractor. As in this report on the backstory to the assault by Iraqis on the grandiose, irritating U.S. embassy compound in Baghdad: “The U.S. carried out military strikes in Iraq and Syria targeting an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia blamed for a rocket attack that killed an American contractor.”

Contractor? Was this person renovating a basement suite in Fallujah or reshingling a roof in Mosul? Nope. Though details aren’t given, this is almost certainly what was earlier known as a defence contractor and before that, by the perfectly adequate word, mercenary. They’ve existed since the dawn of warfare and came into major use with the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. It has taken since then to get “defence” dropped from the term but it was worth the effort.

The omission makes “contractor” a high-value obfuscator in a league with “collateral damage” for innocent victims, “enhanced interrogation” for torture, “extraordinary rendition” for kidnapping, etc. It’s a creative area.

Why this evolution (devolution?) of mercenary?

The UN has a “convention” prohibiting mercenaries that was initiated, perhaps prophetically, in 2001, at the start of the endless, U.S.-incited wars in the Mideast. (Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen). UN conventions are fairly easy to create but fade after that, since they must be signed, ratified, declared etc. Only 35 nations signed this one, not including the U.S., U.K. and Israel, the big providers of mercs. Canada signed but didn’t ratify.

But there is another reason as well, one that has allowed private companies to accrue huge profits at the public's expense:

Before the post-millennium invasions, the U.S. miltary-to-merc ratio was about 50-1. It has since dropped to 10-1. They often contract through the CIA and take up about half its payrolls.

By 2006, there were about 100,000 “contractors” in Iraq, most of them ex-U. S. military, trained on the taxpayers’ dime. They were actors in horrors like Abu Ghraib and Fallujah. When you hear about the U.S. removing its last 5,000 troops there (unlikely at best since, in fact, they’re adding forces), you should know there are still 7,000 contractors who aren’t going anywhere.

And so our 'masters' continue their rampant pillaging, public accountability becoming merely an increasingly quaint notion.

So what is to be learned from this? Perhaps only one thing: the prescience and the ongoing relevance of George Orwell's insights, almost 75 years after he wrote Politics and the English Language.

Makes Sense To Me

I had this exact conversation with my son this week as he and his wife visited from the west.

Alberta, Ottawa set to clash over rent supplement cost, Dec. 27

This story reports another impasse over money between Alberta and Ottawa. Yet it fails to explain the full story as to why Alberta is so low on cash.

Alberta has been a tax haven for decades, and still has no provincial sales tax like almost all of the rest of Canada pays. For Ontario, the provincial sales tax is 8 per cent; for Alberta, it is 0. The revenue going to provincial coffers from this are huge in Ontario; zilch in Alberta.

So what does Alberta Premier Jason Kenney do? He expects federal funds to cover for the lack of Alberta provincial funds. He never mentions sales tax. That means taxpayers in other provinces, who pay provincial sales tax as well as other taxes, are expected to maintain the Alberta tax haven.

Why isn’t this fact included in every story about Alberta seeking federal money? Canadians would then better understand how Kenney is pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes.

Allan Fox, Toronto

Breaking Up With Jesus

While some may be cheered by the fact that evangelical magazine Christianity Today has called for Donald Trump's removal, be aware that theirs apparently is not a widely-held view amongst 'true' believers.

The inimitable Mrs. Betty Bowers explains to Jesus why evangelicals can no longer follow Him: they are seeing someone else.

While I'm pleased to see #ChristiansAgainstTrump finally trending, I think the more interesting news story in America for the past three years has been #EvangelicalsAgainstJesus pic.twitter.com/tAmcQevHtn

— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) December 20, 2019

The House That Trump Didn't Build

Johnny Carson, when bringing to the audience's attention bizarre stories that strained credulity, used to say, "Folks, I do not make these things up; I merely report them."

I shall leave you to infer what you will from the following report, which left me, shall we say, in less than optimal spirits.

A farmhouse near Latrobe, Pennsylvania, known as the Trump House, wants to make neighbourhoods great again. Trump superfan Leslie Rossi is behind it. Mike Armstrong explains why and how Rossi thinks critics haven’t given Trump a fair chance.

On Whining About Witch Hunts

Really, what more is there to say?

Ding Dong, the witch is...too soon?
(more) https://t.co/i17FfR2vAx@goldengateblond @Rosie @janemarielynch @TheRickWilson @TomArnold @girlsreallyrule @billmaher @RepSwalwell @FrankFigliuzzi1 @tedlieu @Kokomothegreat @jordanklepper @juliehdavis @shearm @McFaul pic.twitter.com/NbCG6Fz6V6

— Chip Franklin (@chipfranklin) December 18, 2019

The Real Adult In The Room

These days, it is hard to see the call to public office as an honourable one. The following letter sets things into their proper perspective, I think, while the video that follows shows who the real adult in the room is:

Former Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne remarks that every child has the right to aspire to public office. We can look to the elections of Donald Trump, Doug Ford and now Boris Johnson and realize that children have and will continue to aspire to and achieve public office.

G.A. Corcoran, Toronto

When you can't attack the message you try to attack the messenger "that's a sign we are winning." @GretaThunberg to @NaomiAKlein.

The science is clear, there is no time to wait. #ActOnClimate#Climate #energy #tech #go100re #GreenNewDeal pic.twitter.com/CcCAImeGNp

— Mike Hudema (@MikeHudema) December 16, 2019

Dieselgate: The Stench Continues In Ottawa

Most people will remember the massive crime against humanity perpetrated by Volkswagen when it used software to hide the amount of noxious emissions its diesel engines were actually spewing out. If you are a little rusty on the details, I posted about it over a year ago. For those who want the Coles Notes version, suffice it to say that the company paid billions of dollars in penalties and had to take the offending vehicles off the road. Indeed, some executives are now behind bars because of their crime.

Not so in Canada, however.

It seems that after four years of discussion as well as intensive lobbying by Volkswagen of the government and the Prime Minister's Office, (lobbying directed toward the same cast of characters, shockingly, that tried to arrange for a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with SNC-Lavalin), it appears that Volkswagen will get off with only a fine, four years after much harsher justice was meted out in other countries.

I urge you to watch the following news report. It inflamed me, and reaffirmed, in my mind, the neoliberal bona fides of Justin Trudeau and his robber baron friends and colleagues. Please pay special attention to the response that Jagmeet Singh got from Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Naveep Bains when the former raised the issue in the House:

Don't Let The Door Hit You On Your Way Out

No doubt the Idiot-In Chief thinks that by changing his residence, he will avoid justice in New York:

You've Been Warned

Should the legislative branch of the American government do what a functioning democracy requires and hold an out-of-control President to account, mayhem will ensue, according to Trump Nation:

Trump supporters at the president's rally in Hershey, Pennsylvania tell CBS News their thoughts on impeachment and the possibility of his removal: "It would become the second Civil War." https://t.co/jPUmfWREbX pic.twitter.com/bzT0v9oaWN

— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 11, 2019

More Evidence That The Emperor Has No Clothes

The Mound notified me that he is having problems accessing his blog, and so directed me to the following story. Given the stellar job he has been doing on the climate file and other issues relating to the earth's viability, I know my post will be a mere shadow of the quality and depth he brings to bear, but here goes anyway.

The Guardian reports a truth about Justin Trudeau that his supporters are loathe to acknowledge: despite his election pledge, he is leading us farther away from any chance of meeting Canada's promised greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.

... Justin Trudeau’s newly re-elected government will decide whether to throw more fuel on the fires of climate change by giving the go-ahead to construction of the largest open-pit oil sands mine in Canadian history.

Approving Teck Resources’ Frontier mine would effectively signal Canada’s abandonment of its international climate goals. The mega mine would operate until 2067, adding a whopping 6 megatonnes of climate pollution every year. That’s on top of the increasing amount of carbon that Canada’s petroleum producers are already pumping out every year.

Approving Teck Resources’ Frontier mine would effectively signal Canada’s abandonment of its international climate goals. The mega mine would operate until 2067, adding a whopping 6 megatonnes of climate pollution every year. That’s on top of the increasing amount of carbon that Canada’s petroleum producers are already pumping out every year.

And despite Trudeau's repeated and lofty rhetoric about consulting Indigenous people, this project has grave implications for them:

The Teck mega mine would be on Dene and Cree territory, close to Indigenous communities. The area is home to one of the last free-roaming herds of wood bison, it’s along the migration route for the only wild population of endangered whooping cranes, and is just 30km from the boundary of Wood Buffalo national park – a Unesco world heritage site because of its cultural importance and biodiversity.

Most Canadians are aware of the filthy nature of tar sand development, but even if this project does not go ahead, much further damage is being planned:

Even without Teck Frontier, there are 131 megatonnes per year in approved tar sands projects just waiting for companies to begin construction. No wonder the industry is on track to take up 53% of Canada’s emissions budget within the next 10 years.

And the signs that Trudeau is giving little more than lip service to emission-reduction is becoming very evident:

Less than two months ago, two-thirds of Canadians voted for parties vowing to do more to fight climate change. Trudeau promised during the campaign to introduce legally binding targets for Canada to reach net zero emissions by 2050. But all the current national climate policies, including a carbon tax and coal phase-out, would be overwhelmed by this carbon juggernaut and Canada would radically fail to meet its climate commitments.

There are alternatives:

By rejecting the Teck mega mine, the Canadian government could signal that it is committed to stopping this runaway train. That it does represent the two-thirds of Canadians who voted for increased action against climate breakdown. It could launch a serious program to help the oil and gas workers of Alberta, the people who are out of work and need a future to believe in, by redirecting the many billions of dollars for pipelines and fossil fuel infrastructure into diversifying and decarbonizing Alberta’s economy.

In rejecting the Teck mega mine, Canada would be joining France, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Norway and recently California – all jurisdictions that have recently constrained expansion of oil and gas due to the urgent need to build cleaner safer energy systems and fight climate change.

Based on the Trudeau government's past performance, I would say the odds of the Teck project being approved are great. But I would very much welcome being proven wrong.

Tis The Season

I love being able to disseminate cheer at this time of the year.

A holiday poem for the kids: "'Twas the Night Before Impeachment." pic.twitter.com/5JecwETnkC

— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) December 10, 2019

Time To Lighten Up

Often we can be so weighed down by the woes of the world that we forget there is much humour to be found in it. Indeed, I don't think it is an exaggeration to say that frequently, people take themselves far too seriously, mounting as they often do that white steed to proclaim outrage against some perceived wrongdoing. If you will bear with me for a few moments, I hope to show the lighter side of that outrage.

You are probably familiar with the following Peleton commercial which has garnered quite a frenzied, even rabid, response from those sensitive souls who are always eager to proclaim their truth as universal, and happy to foist it upon the rest of us:



As reported by the New York Times, many were deeply offended:

Many social media users criticized the commercial for being sexist and classist. A Peloton Bike retails for $2,245, and membership for the company’s signature interactive classes costs $39 a month.

The woman in the commercial, many users pointed out, was already fit.

Such carping criticism, it seems to me, misses the point of exercise in general, and of the commercial specifically, perhaps best summed up in this Tweet:

The ad revolves around her (implied) greatly improved mental well-being rather than her physical fitness. Committing to regular exercise made her happier. I saw no implication about weight loss in the ad.

— Tommy Leonardi (@LeonardiTommy) December 3, 2019

In any event, I have no use for such extreme political correctness. It suggests to me that some people have far too much time on their hands.

Which is why I was delighted to see this send-up by the always irreverent Ryan Reynolds (he of Deadpool fame) in a commercial for his new gin:

In an ad for Reynolds’ Aviation Gin called, “The Gift That Doesn’t Give Back,” we see Peloton Girl once again, same intense but unreadable expression, a wider shot cuts to her friends, looking as puzzled [and] concerned as anyone who has seen the ad feels.

Time for folks to lighten up and save their outrage for matters of real import, like climate change, neoliberal politicians, and the general state of the world.

Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled

According to this group of crazed evangelicals, all is well in the world thanks to God's chosen one occupying the White House. My suspicion is there was a full moon out.

Thank you @realDonaldTrump @VP for hosting #FaithSummit inside the White House Complex today with leaders from across America!

We worshipped, prayed & learned all this admin. is doing to promote religious freedom across the world!

What an honor to pray inside the Oval Office!

— Sean Feucht (@seanfeucht) December 7, 2019

IN CASE ANYONE OUT THERE IS WORRIED ABOUT THE FUTURE OF AMERICA TODAY.... 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

WE’RE INSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE RIGHT NOW 🔥🔥🔥🔥#WorshipTakeOver #DontLoseHope pic.twitter.com/9oknH9nkc4

— Sean Feucht (@seanfeucht) December 6, 2019

Things Fall Apart

The idea of entropy comes from a principle of thermodynamics dealing with energy. It usually refers to the idea that everything in the universe eventually moves from order to disorder, and entropy is the measurement of that change.
-vocaulary.com

The above is one definition of entropy. Here is another, perhaps more germane to this post: a doctrine of inevitable social decline and degeneration.

While I am not sure of the inevitability of such decline, it seems to be a perfect definition for the disorder that has plagued Ontario since Doug Ford and his crew were elected to 'govern' Ontario. And the latest reports show that things are growing worse by the day. In this self-proclaimed "open for business" province, workers are suffering:

Just 1 per cent of workplaces across the province are being proactively inspected to ensure they are safe — and the Ministry of Labour’s enforcement efforts are failing to prevent employers from repeatedly violating safety protections, according to this year’s auditor general report.

In reviewing health and safety initiatives in Ontario, the auditor general looked at companies that had been inspected by the ministry at least three times in the past six years. It found many employers were ordered to fix the same hazard year after year, citing details reported by the Star on a North York industrial bakery where five temporary help agency workers have died.

“The concern is they’re really not enforcing as they should be,” said Patty Coates, the newly elected head of the Ontario Federation of Labour. “They’re not strong enough with employers and that’s what they really need to focus on.”

“This government needs to put some money into prevention but also to properly investigate, as well as lay charges and fines,” Coates said.

But wait. There's more! In addition to the present chaos in education, brought on by a leadership that is intent on devaluing education, are the following:

- Premier Doug Ford’s climate change plan is based on faulty calculations and will fall well short of the Paris Agreement targets to reduce greenhouse gases by 2030.

- 67,000 of the 1 million patients discharged from hospitals annually have suffered some type of harm.

- Nurses are “repeatedly” fired or banned by hospitals for incompetence are rehired by other hospitals, posing risks to patient safety.

- Wait times for addictions treatment, emergency department visits for opioid emergencies, and addiction death rates continue to rise despite increased funding.

- Nursing home menus are alarmingly high in sugar — contributing to heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer — as well as sodium, and low in fibre.

Thermodynamics may dictate an inevitable trend in the physical world from order to disorder. There is no such law in the realm of human behaviour. That is entirely on us.

A Creeping And Very Real Threat

I am currently reading Linda McQuaig's latest book, The Sport & Prey of Capitalists: How the Rich Are Stealing Canada's Public Wealth. As with most of her books, despite her very clear, accessible writing style, I am having a hard time with it, disturbing as it is in so many ways. While I am not prepared to discuss it at this point, its thesis, not exactly startling, is that our government is ceding more and more of our formerly proud public institutions to the depredations of rampant capitalism.

I came across the following video on The Guardian today, about threats to the British National Health Service by Boris Johnson as he prepares to negotiate bilateral trade deals, perhaps the most impactful one being with the U.S. It addresses the sort of mentality that McQuaig talks about in her book. You can read the article here, and watch the disturbing claims being made by Labour's Jermeemy Corbyn below:

It Can Be Done

I was surprised that the concept of the New Green Deal has been around for over a decade. Far more ambitious than the Green Shift once proposed by Stephan Dion, it is very much doable, but of course the usual suspects (captured governments, the fossil-fuel industry, etc.) fight it all the way.

Although the following short documentary by The Guardian is directed toward U.K. action, the ideas in it are applicable worldwide.