Patrick Brazeau - Now Why Does that Name Ring A Bell?

I don't know whether the 37-year-old is the youngest to be rewarded by the Harper regime with a Senate seat, but a Google search led me to this 2009 posting about his, ahem, 'creative' fiscal practices.

F-35 Lies From The Department of National Defence

Much to my surprise, the National Post has been doing a good job lately in covering Conservative misdeeds. While the Canadian taxpayer has been subjected to so many falsehoods and a great deal of subterfuge about the true cost of the F-35 jets over the past year-and-a half, The Post's John Ivison offers information about next month's report on the jets from Michael Ferguson, the new Auditor-General, that promises to shake up some people.

We can only hope that the report finally 'shoots down in flames' the Harper lie that the jets will only cost $75 million each.

The Smoke From That Gun Is Turning Into An Overpowering Stench

Despite the Harper regime's steadfast denials over involvement in the voter suppression crimes and their attempts to divert suspicion onto the Liberals and NDP, evidence is mounting suggesting their complicity in the felonies:

An investigation by CBC News has turned up voters all over Canada who say the reason they got robocalls sending them to fictitious polling stations was that they'd revealed they would not vote Conservative.

Although the Conservative Party has denied any involvement in the calls, these new details suggest that the misleading calls relied on data gathered by, and carefully guarded by, the Conservative Party.

You can read the entire story here.

Is Liuna Local 183 Trying To Stifle Dissent?

As I have indicated in past posts, Liuna local 183 seems to be the poster boy for bad union behaviour. Not only has it made some very questionable decisions that work to the detriment of the union movement as a whole, but now, it seems it may using the strongest measures possible to stifle discussion and dissent.

As revealed in a Star story today, the union leadership is seeking the expulsion of 13 workers who disrupted a meeting while asking questions but getting no satisfactory answers over the employment of John Manadarino, a disgraced union employee who still retains employment through his management of the Canadian Tri-fund.

If the members are expelled, they will lose their livelihoods as they will no longer be able to work on unionized construction projects.

The question people have to ask themselves is if this sanction is justified, given the physical disruption that occurred at the Mandarino meeting, or whether this is the union equivalent of corporate libel chill.

Crass Manipulation About Iran's Nuclear Intentions

Those who believe that the public is being as crassly manipulated about Iran as it was by the lies that served as prologue to the Iraqi invasion will find two recent articles of interest.

The first, entitled No defensible reasons to attack Iran, by Gwynne Dyer, pierces many of the fallacies being used to incite fervour for a war with Iran, while the second, Are We About to Get Embroiled in a Nightmare War With Iran? by Noam Chomsky, suggests who the real renegade states are.

For those who believe in the importance of critical thinking, I recommend both for perusal.

UPDATE: Click here to read Fareed Aakaria's thoughts on Iran.

Now Here's A Budget That Makes Sense

Although largely shut out of the public discussion on government budgets, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has released its alternative to the upcoming federal budget. While the Harper government is fixated on massive cuts that will only produce more unemployment, this budget contains some eminently practical ways to help restore fiscal health while at the same time benefiting the majority of Canadians, not simply the minority who are now so advantaged by the neoliberalism of our current political masters.

The Courage of the Few, The Cowardice of the Many

This story of how a Syrian refugee risked his life to post and smuggle video of atrocities to the West should make us all feel just a bit ashamed as so many of us seem to treat our democracy so lightly.