How To Vent Your Frustration with Stephen Harper

Ever felt like knocking a little sense into our contemptible Prime Minister? Visit this website for an unusual and cathartic opportunity.

The Unbearable Pain of Being

For those who have never been quite certain of the true meaning of existential angst, may I recommend the following?

And for your further discernment, Henri 2 Paw de Deux:

Foolish Consumers, Kneel Before Me!

Perhaps my sense of human is on the wane, but if you really think about it, the implications of this story are deeply disturbing.

The Cost of Political Disengagement

Thanks to LeDaro's link, I was able to catch up on the At Issues panel that I missed on Thursday night. While the discussion revolved largely around the F-35 debacle, the point I found most discouraging was the statistic that only 30-35% of Canadians follow politics at all. It is a shockingly low number for a democracy, one that, of course, has allowed Harper and his acolytes to begin to wreak havoc on our traditional way of life.

It is indescribably sad that the majority of Canadians see politics as something distinct from and essentially irrelevant to their lives, rather than one of the main determinants of its quality. Those of us who write political blogs are very much aware of this fact, but the conundrum with which we perpetually wrestle is how to communicate that to the wider population.

Perhaps part of the answer is implied in Tim Harper's column today in The Star. Entitled Conservative government fights to keep budget cuts in the ‘back office’, the piece examines the ramifications of the elimination of civil service jobs while the government paradoxically insists that no front-line services will be affected. This past week, both the public service unions and Tom Mulcair have rather effectively attacked this risible assertion.

Perhaps if enough scrutiny is given to the issue, we can see an increase in the abysmal statistic I mentioned at the start of this post.

The Government's Three Wise Men?

I thought you might enjoy this editorial cartoon courtesy of The Hamilton Spectator:

Thomas Walkom on Fair Taxation

Long a taboo subject, increasing tax rates for the wealthy is back on the agenda, in no small part due to the Occupy Movement and, more recently, Andrea Horwath. In today's Star, Thomas Walkom presents an interesting perspective on the issue. You can click here to read it.

The Administration of Justice In Disrepute

While I have nothing especially insightful or profound to say about Rick Vaive's acquittal on drunk driving charges, I must confess to a certain perplexity pertaining to the following:

All considered, [Justice] Hourigan said she believed Vaive when he said he was exhausted, not drunk, the night of July 14, 2009. So despite the fact a breathalyzer test — administered outside the required two-hour time frame — showed Vaive had twice the legal limit in his system that night, Hourigan acquitted him of impaired driving charges in Newmarket court Thursday afternoon.

Has a new legal standard or precedent been established? If impaired individuals truly believe, when getting behind the wheel, that they are in complete control of their faculties, do they now have a legitimate defense against impaired driving charges, objective breathalyzer results notwithstanding?

For the sake and safety of all of us, I sincerely hope that the Crown appeals this verdict.