That Didn't Take Long

Bob 'Mad Dog' Runciman has a solution for those pesky protestors who dare embarrass the Prime Minister.

For What It's Worth

There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away

For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield, January 1967

After reading this post by Alison at Creekside, and this one by Doctor Dawg, both dealing with Chuck Strahl and CSIS, and the latter's collaboration with Enbridge in spying on Canadians exercising their democratic rights, please enjoy the entire song:




As well, the CBC's Kady O'Malley weighs in here.

Some Things Never Change

Although the following Rick Mercer rant was made early in 2013, most, I think, would agree that nothing has changed in the interim:

I Am Weak

Already, I am breaking my New Year's resolution not to mock unhinged televangelists. Pat Roberston, as usual, provided a temptation I could not withstand:

Progress Or Politics?

If you start the following video at about the 5:30 mark, you will hear a surprising answer from Conservative MP Braid Braid when asked by Evan Solomon if the Harper government believes in climate change.


Progress or mere politics? You decide.

A Letter We Should Widely Share

Although he likely doesn't articulate anything that progressive bloggers don't already know, Star letter-writer Paul Kahnert of Markham neatly and succinctly addresses the real design behind tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy. It deserves to be shared widely with those who may not be fully aware of some essential facts.

Have we had enough? Insight Jan. 4

Tories like Stephen Harper and Rob Ford (and Tim Hudak) follow the Tory plan of tax cuts, which mostly goes to corporations and the wealthy. Tax cuts then create a crisis in public services. Then the Tories bring in privatization to deal with the crisis by selling public assets and services to the corporations and the wealthy.

Why do we the public constantly vote for this scam? You can’t build a civilization on tax cuts. Look where we’re going with the Tories. A just civilization was never built on tax cuts and never will be.

Where is the politician who promises fair taxes, good governance and independent oversight? This is how we built our city, our province and our country before. This is how we built a just society.

There is more wealth now than there ever has been. We can afford healthcare, education, public services and livable pensions. The only reason Harper doesn’t want to increase the Canada Pension Plan is because his friends at the banks won’t get their service charges.

Strip away the smoke and mirror show of Harper, Ford and Hudak and you’ll see the truth. The only thing that Tories do, is transfer public wealth to the private few.

Paul Kahnert, Markham

The Polar Vortex Explained

In response to my post the other day about Donald Trump's fatuous dismissal of climate change because of the cold we are experiencing, The Mound of Sound, who does exemplary work on the subject, explained that the loss of Artic ice is powering the Polar Jet Stream currently engulfing us.

Here is a video that offers a clear and cogent explanation of the phenomenon:



A more detailed written explanation can be found here. All in all, things are unfolding as climate change experts predicted. And that is very, very bad news indeed.