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H/t The Raw StoryWednesday, September 11, 2013
And Speaking Of Weapons Of Mass Destruction ...
Laurence O'Donnell offers a vital history lesson on the United States' use of napalm:
Ten Chemical Weapons Attacks Washington Doesn’t Want You to Talk About
Double Dare Ya
Apparently, instead of taking his position as leader of Ontario's Progressive Conservative Party seriously by articulating responsible policy, young Tim prefers to engage in children's games:
Tory leader Tim Hudak dares Liberals to call election
'Nuff said?
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Quebec's Purity Values Charter
The following is reported in today's Vancouver Sun about Quebec's impending purity values charter:
The Quebec government has released plans for a "values charter" that would impose unique-in-North America restrictions on religious clothing for employees at all government institutions starting with schools, hospitals and courts.
If adopted by the legislature, the plan would apply to the hijabs, kippas, turbans and large crucifixes worn by more religious public servants.
That would mean a career-vs-religion dilemma for civil authorities like judges, police, and prosecutors; public daycare workers; teachers and school employees; hospital workers; municipal personnel; and employees at state-run liquor stores and the auto-insurance board.
Last night, The National's Terence McKenna had a report on the implications of this very restrictive and discriminatory legislation that will likely see a massive outflow of visible minorities who are the target of this repugnant measure. Take a few minutes to watch it and see what you think:
The Quebec government has released plans for a "values charter" that would impose unique-in-North America restrictions on religious clothing for employees at all government institutions starting with schools, hospitals and courts.
If adopted by the legislature, the plan would apply to the hijabs, kippas, turbans and large crucifixes worn by more religious public servants.
That would mean a career-vs-religion dilemma for civil authorities like judges, police, and prosecutors; public daycare workers; teachers and school employees; hospital workers; municipal personnel; and employees at state-run liquor stores and the auto-insurance board.
Last night, The National's Terence McKenna had a report on the implications of this very restrictive and discriminatory legislation that will likely see a massive outflow of visible minorities who are the target of this repugnant measure. Take a few minutes to watch it and see what you think:
Young Tim's 'Transparency'
In a political landscape littered at all levels with lies, deception and expedience, it is hardly surprising that young Tim Hudak, the beleaguered 'leader' of Ontario's Progressive Conservative Party, has hung former Finance critic Peter Shurman out to dry.
Those who follow Ontario politics will likely be aware that Shurman, who represents the riding of Thornhill, lives in Niagara-on-the-Lake and maintains an apartment at taxpayer expense in Toronto, since his principal residence is more than 50 km from Toronto. This was done, according to Shurman, with the full knowledge and approval of Hudak, knowledge and approval which the Tory leader now steadfastly denies.
As a consequence of Shurman's expense claims coming to light, along with his refusal to pay back the money, young Tim, apparently in a futile effort to display 'decisive leadership,' fired Shurman from his finance critic's post:
“He did follow the technical rules but I need to enforce a higher standard,” said Hudak. “I think we need to change this rule.”
Which may be all well and good except for two things: Hudak's prior approval of the arrangement, if Shurman is to be believed, and this interesting tidbit in today's Star:
Embattled Progressive Conservative MPP Peter Shurman wanted to run in Niagara Falls in the 2011 election, but Tory Leader Tim Hudak urged him to remain in Thornhill to save that seat ...
... four senior Conservative sources said the leader was worried the Liberals would win Thornhill without Shurman and pleaded with the popular incumbent to remain there, even though Hudak knew he was living in the Niagara region by then.
While young Tim is trying to use this situation to show that he is capable of strong leadership, some would say it is an example of something far less flattering: personal betrayal.
Monday, September 9, 2013
How Many Fingers Am I Holding Up, Winston?
O'Brien held up his left hand, its back toward Winston, with the
thumb hidden and the four fingers extended.
"How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?"
"Four."
"And if the Party says that it is not four but five -- then how many?"
"Four."
The word ended in a gasp of pain.
-- George Orwell 1984
As a resident of Harperland, there are indeed days when I feel like Winston Smith, the beleaguered protagonist of Orwell's prescient novel, 1984. Like Smith, I live in a land of lies perpetrated by a government that claims to represent its citizens, claims that are as far from truth as most of us are from sainthood. It is a land where civic engagement is discouraged, genuine concerns derisively dismissed, and the most passionate often find themselves on government enemies' lists. It is a land of cruel delusion.
My friend Steve yesterday alerted me to yet one more instance of the kind of Harper propaganda and subterfuge that bears little relation to truth.
Most of us assume that when we fly, we are protected by stringent government oversight, and that when we purchase a ticket from a Canadian airline, we are purchasing the services of both a Canadian plane and crew. That is not necessarily true.
There is a term in the airline industry called wet leasing, a practice that allows Canadian companies to lease not just a foreign aircraft but also its crew, maintenance and other essential elements.
While there is nothing illegal about the practice, it does open the door to potential threats to safety.
Take, for example, an incident that occurred on July 16, 2012, when two Canadian CF-18 Hornet fighter jets scrambled to intercept a Sunwing Airlines flight near Quebec City, after the Toronto-bound aircraft lost contact with air traffic control for more than an hour. The plane and crew, leased from Portugal, placed everyone in danger of being shot down as a terrorist threat for one simple reason: the pilot forgot to change radio frequncies when he entered a new flight zone, a standard requirement that even the most unseasoned of domestic pilots are well-aware of.
Yet in Harperland, we are told not to worry. Last week, six months after CTV News reported the near-death experience of the Sunwing passengers, Transportation Minister Lisa Raitt announced the government will limit wet-leasing by imposing a cap of “20 per cent of a Canadian carrier’s fleet that can be wet-leased from a foreign company for periods of more than 30 days.”
In addition to this wholly inadequate and belated response, Minister Raitt had the audacity (or is it just the usual contempt for the intelligence of Canadians?) to issue the following statement:
“Our government is working to make sure that Canadians are first in line for Canadian jobs, to open new markets for Canadian companies and to give more options to Canadian consumers”.
Message to Ms. Raitt and the other apparatchiks of Harplandia:
You are holding up four fingers.
thumb hidden and the four fingers extended.
"How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?"
"Four."
"And if the Party says that it is not four but five -- then how many?"
"Four."
The word ended in a gasp of pain.
-- George Orwell 1984
As a resident of Harperland, there are indeed days when I feel like Winston Smith, the beleaguered protagonist of Orwell's prescient novel, 1984. Like Smith, I live in a land of lies perpetrated by a government that claims to represent its citizens, claims that are as far from truth as most of us are from sainthood. It is a land where civic engagement is discouraged, genuine concerns derisively dismissed, and the most passionate often find themselves on government enemies' lists. It is a land of cruel delusion.
My friend Steve yesterday alerted me to yet one more instance of the kind of Harper propaganda and subterfuge that bears little relation to truth.
Most of us assume that when we fly, we are protected by stringent government oversight, and that when we purchase a ticket from a Canadian airline, we are purchasing the services of both a Canadian plane and crew. That is not necessarily true.
There is a term in the airline industry called wet leasing, a practice that allows Canadian companies to lease not just a foreign aircraft but also its crew, maintenance and other essential elements.
While there is nothing illegal about the practice, it does open the door to potential threats to safety.
Take, for example, an incident that occurred on July 16, 2012, when two Canadian CF-18 Hornet fighter jets scrambled to intercept a Sunwing Airlines flight near Quebec City, after the Toronto-bound aircraft lost contact with air traffic control for more than an hour. The plane and crew, leased from Portugal, placed everyone in danger of being shot down as a terrorist threat for one simple reason: the pilot forgot to change radio frequncies when he entered a new flight zone, a standard requirement that even the most unseasoned of domestic pilots are well-aware of.
Yet in Harperland, we are told not to worry. Last week, six months after CTV News reported the near-death experience of the Sunwing passengers, Transportation Minister Lisa Raitt announced the government will limit wet-leasing by imposing a cap of “20 per cent of a Canadian carrier’s fleet that can be wet-leased from a foreign company for periods of more than 30 days.”
In addition to this wholly inadequate and belated response, Minister Raitt had the audacity (or is it just the usual contempt for the intelligence of Canadians?) to issue the following statement:
“Our government is working to make sure that Canadians are first in line for Canadian jobs, to open new markets for Canadian companies and to give more options to Canadian consumers”.
Message to Ms. Raitt and the other apparatchiks of Harplandia:
You are holding up four fingers.
On Tasers And Tim
As usual, Star readers offer their penetrating commentary on recent events and the benighted Tim Hudak. Enjoy!
80-year-old woman tasered a day after rules changed, Sept. 4
I find it extremely disturbing that Peel Region police officers called to Thomas St. and Erin Mills Parkway on Aug. 28 around 3:30 a.m. were unable to “talk down” an obviously anguished 80-year-old woman. According to the article, the woman was “walking along the road,” which is not at all busy with traffic at that time of the morning. Surely, even if they could not get her off the road of her own volition for safety reasons, they could have easily overpowered this senior citizen.
Instead, they tasered an 80-year-old, causing her to fall, at which time it seems that she fractured her hip, as well as incurring other injuries. In view of all of the unfavourable publicity regarding how police appear to rush to use force above all other methods, this does not bode well for our citizenry, young and old.
Grace A. Taylor, Streetsville
Really? Tasering an 80-year-old woman? Did Peel Regional Police feel so threatened by her that they felt their only option was to use a Taser?
Mary Smart, Kingston
Collision course for Hudak, labour, Column Sept. 5
The Conservative party in Ontario is ready to self-destruct and one big reason is that Tim Hudak, Randy Hillier and other dinosaurs in the party want to “deunionize to reindustrialize,” medievalize not modernize labour in Ontario. This backward vision whereby the province transforms itself into Mississippi or Arkansas in order to attract exploitive employers who treat their employees like dirt instead of paying living wages and providing fair benefits is a non-starter with the Ontario public. It is one of the main reasons the Tories are tanking in the polls.
We don’t need political leaders who take us backward. We deserve leadership that moves us forward, by following successful examples like Germany. Attacking unions might throw some red meat to the dinosaurs in the Conservative party, but the quicker they become extinct, the brighter Ontario’s future will be.
David Lundy, Merrickville
Re: Proposed bill would help building firm, hurt unions, August 31
Bill 74, a private members bill introduced by London-area Tory MPP Monte McNaughton, to overturn a Labour Relations Board decision re: the use of unionized workers caught my attention. This strikes me as another “race to the bottom” for Canadian workers.
The Labour Relations board gave the giant construction company, EllisDon, whose head office is also in London, two years to lobby Queen’s Park for a change.
A couple of questions: Did EllisDon become a giant company without the help of Canadian education/training programs/Canadian infrastructure/benefits and resources? Benefits that support the growth and success of Canadian companies are also due to Canadians.
If companies from other countries can bid for jobs here with complete freedom to hire non-union workers, isn’t that a sure sign that Canada and Canadians have been sold out by our governments?
If I were the head of EllisDon, I would exert pressure on the federal government to establish a level playing field, rather than try to undermine the workers who have made EllisDon profits possible.
If Canadian companies lost their right to a level playing field due to the free trade sell out, why should the most vulnerable workers be bullied and sacrificed?
Donna Chevrier, Mississauga
80-year-old woman tasered a day after rules changed, Sept. 4
I find it extremely disturbing that Peel Region police officers called to Thomas St. and Erin Mills Parkway on Aug. 28 around 3:30 a.m. were unable to “talk down” an obviously anguished 80-year-old woman. According to the article, the woman was “walking along the road,” which is not at all busy with traffic at that time of the morning. Surely, even if they could not get her off the road of her own volition for safety reasons, they could have easily overpowered this senior citizen.
Instead, they tasered an 80-year-old, causing her to fall, at which time it seems that she fractured her hip, as well as incurring other injuries. In view of all of the unfavourable publicity regarding how police appear to rush to use force above all other methods, this does not bode well for our citizenry, young and old.
Grace A. Taylor, Streetsville
Really? Tasering an 80-year-old woman? Did Peel Regional Police feel so threatened by her that they felt their only option was to use a Taser?
Mary Smart, Kingston
Collision course for Hudak, labour, Column Sept. 5
The Conservative party in Ontario is ready to self-destruct and one big reason is that Tim Hudak, Randy Hillier and other dinosaurs in the party want to “deunionize to reindustrialize,” medievalize not modernize labour in Ontario. This backward vision whereby the province transforms itself into Mississippi or Arkansas in order to attract exploitive employers who treat their employees like dirt instead of paying living wages and providing fair benefits is a non-starter with the Ontario public. It is one of the main reasons the Tories are tanking in the polls.
We don’t need political leaders who take us backward. We deserve leadership that moves us forward, by following successful examples like Germany. Attacking unions might throw some red meat to the dinosaurs in the Conservative party, but the quicker they become extinct, the brighter Ontario’s future will be.
David Lundy, Merrickville
Re: Proposed bill would help building firm, hurt unions, August 31
Bill 74, a private members bill introduced by London-area Tory MPP Monte McNaughton, to overturn a Labour Relations Board decision re: the use of unionized workers caught my attention. This strikes me as another “race to the bottom” for Canadian workers.
The Labour Relations board gave the giant construction company, EllisDon, whose head office is also in London, two years to lobby Queen’s Park for a change.
A couple of questions: Did EllisDon become a giant company without the help of Canadian education/training programs/Canadian infrastructure/benefits and resources? Benefits that support the growth and success of Canadian companies are also due to Canadians.
If companies from other countries can bid for jobs here with complete freedom to hire non-union workers, isn’t that a sure sign that Canada and Canadians have been sold out by our governments?
If I were the head of EllisDon, I would exert pressure on the federal government to establish a level playing field, rather than try to undermine the workers who have made EllisDon profits possible.
If Canadian companies lost their right to a level playing field due to the free trade sell out, why should the most vulnerable workers be bullied and sacrificed?
Donna Chevrier, Mississauga
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