Blogging Tory's Heart Kinsella

Another BloggingTory has given Kinsella the Harper Seal of Approval.

And no its not the kiss of peace, cause we know they are not into that 'homosexuality-sex marriage' thingee.

This tip o the blog came from Dispatches from the Socialist Gulag;

Note to CARP: Pissing off Warren Kinsella isn't a good idea.In an attempt to save their asses, CARP is now blaming our dear friend, & apparently Stephen Harper's too, Warren Kinsella for the whole income trust leak debacle.Very bad move fellas. The last thing anyone needs is to have Warren Kinsella as your enemy,

Yep he might call them 'morons'. Ooooo scary that.

CARP

Income Trust leak

The Losers

"I can't win for losing here," Clinton said, with the prime minister at his side.

Funny you should say that Bill, my thoughts exactly.







Oh look UN photo op, Bill still wants to be elected alrighty as the next Secretary General of the UN. And his pal Paul could help him. So what's a little politicking between pals eh?

Hot Air at the Climate Conference

"I was glad to have a chance to meet with the prime minister but I'm not involved in your politics here," Clinton said. Then with a chuckle, he added: "I also know what the law is, as well as what the custom is."

Martin rejected the idea he was seeking to borrow some of Clinton's star power.

"This is not a political meeting," the prime minister said.

Gales of laughter as the flash bulbs go off.

Political Morality

Clinton may have the ignoble distinction of being the second U.S. president ever impeached. But none of that appears to make a whit of difference to Canadians.

We Canadians are after all used to Sex in the Highest Office of the Land. We had years of Trudeau in power with his many pecadillos and escapades, not mention those of Mrs. Trudeau and her fondness for ALL of the Rolling Stones. Trudeau wasn't known as Canada's Swinging PM for nothing. In fact one of his former lovers is the Liberal Candidate running against Jack Layton. Cheeky eh.

PM Radio Address All A Buzz

Clever Liberals they started their weekly radio chat with Fireside Paul before the election was called, just, so that they could continue them through out the campaign. So which PM is addressing us? Paul Martin or the Prime Minister? And if he gets to do this during the campaign do the other parties get equal time?

Well he sure used his role of being PM as PM photo op with Bill Clinton. And speaking of name dropping in this weeks radio address PM, Paul Martin that is, forgets the name of the President of Daimler Chrysler but makes sure we know he is pals with Buzz. They are like this, tight, like real buds. Buzz and Me. And the other guy from Daimler Chrysler, like this, tight.

Hello there.
Greetings from Windsor, Ontario- where I grew up.
I came here earlier today to finish off the second week of this election campaign. I was in town with the President of Daimler Chrysler and Buzz Hargrove, the head of the Canadian Auto Workers union, to mark the construction of a new facility that will mean new, well-paying jobs.

Meanwhile Buzz tries to tell us that this is really all part of clever political strategy that is accepted by everyone on the Left. Except the NDP who are all just so politically immature, and spoil sports; like everybody else on the Left who doesn't agree with him. Yep clever strategy that, Buzz. And if you think Paul Martin is Left wing then it must be because you and he are like this, tight, buds.

Making the most of opportunity
My call last week for Canadians to re-elect a minority Liberal government, with the NDP holding a clear balance of power, sent shockwaves through the federal campaign. And I'm still somewhat puzzled as to why. For I've simply given expression to a sentiment that is clearly shared by almost everyone on the Canadian left — including most NDP members.

Oh boy I see another definition for my Devils Dictionary;
Opportunism; Buzz Hargrove.

Ottawa's Revolving Door

Shoved out of the Harpers inner sanctum at the end of June, his PR/Media point man Geoff Norquay went through the revolving door that is Ottawa and ended up at the prestigous lobbying firm of Earnscliffe, faster than you can say 'cooling off period'.

Earnscliffe is one of Canada's top lobbying firms with Liberal ties. Ironic that eh, Geoff went from being the Conservative flack on point about Liberal corruption and Earnscliffe's involvement to becoming a flack for Earnscliffe.

Earnscliffe, known for many years as a firm that employed several of Prime Minister Paul Martin's key political supporters, was hired to do polling and communications work on budgets and fiscal updates during Mr. Martin's tenure as finance minister from 1993 to 2002. His successor in finance, John Manley, ended the contract.

He must be replacing David Herle who has left Earnscliffe to work full time for his boss PM. And we all remember the little faux pas that David and his pals in the PMO pulled off just a week before the election was called. Untendered deal went to campaign manager David Herle provided mini-budget advice and polling to Liberals in federal contract

Do you think maybe Geoff let his pals in the Conservatives know about this little contract? Nah perish the thought. On the other hand Earnscliffe is being smart to begin to distance itself from the Liberals and just in case the Harper wins, have an ace in the hole like they have always had in the PMO.

Which is why it's only the NDP that's credible about a cooling off period for Ottawa's revolving door of lobbyists.

The Conservatives have it in their platform too, but Geoff's rush to the arms of Earnscliffe, before the door out of the Leader of the Oppostions office hit him on the ass, makes a joke out of that.

If the Liberals put accountability for lobbyists in their platform it would be a conflict of interest.

New chant for both Harper and Martin rallies; Earnscliffe! Earnscliffe!

Devils Dictionary Redux Updated

I have added two new definitions to my Devils Dictionary Redux; Creationism and Moron.

Political Prisoners USA

Dec. 10 is the International Day for Human Rights a celebration of the 1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights. In the United States one of the fundamental freedoms denied its citizens is the right not to be murdered by the State. Like they did to Joe Hill.

The Death Penalty continues to exist and be used against Political Prisoners. I am speaking here in particular of Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu Jamal.

A Tainted Trial? A Stunning Win for Mumia Abu-Jamal

By DAVE LINDORFF; December 7, 2005 - Counterpunch

The recent high profile case of Tookie Williams and his pending execution in California has once again raised the question of the State Terror and the oppression of peoples of colour and their struggles against the Empire of Capitalism.

On this day we should not forget them. As the old Wobbly slogan goes; We are in here for you. You are out there for us.

“This has been one of the hardest years of my imprisonment, it might not

be the most brutal physical hardship that I have had to endure, but at

my age and with my poor health it was extremely difficult. The almost

two months “in transit” from Leavenworth to Lewisburg were sheer

torture, and I am alive today only because of those of you who supported

me and moved heaven and earth to get me out of solitary confinement.

During the time of my transfer odyssey Calvin Jumping Bull passed on and

immediately after that my brother Steve Robideau went. One of the

heaviest burdens to bear is that so many of my friends and family have

passed on to the spirit world without me being able to say goodbye, or

see them for the last time. Now I am told that at this point one of my

elders, Russell Loud Hawk, has survived a most critical surgery after an

automobile accident and his chances were very slim. His strength and the

strength of all my people, who live in the starkest conditions, in this

country that consumes twenty five percent of the world’s resources, and

overcome unimaginable challenges every day living under siege, gives me

the encouragement that I need to still walk tall behind these oppressive

walls. My body, my spirit, and my heart keep getting pounded but I am

not giving up. I will never give up and those of you who accompany me in

this hard struggle mean the world to me, I could not walk this

treacherous road alone.

Leonard Peltier

Privatization Leads To This

Like Canada's airports, services for airports are privatized, whether it is security or baggage handling. P3 operations of Canada's airports were brought in by the Liberals and plague us still. Here is another example of the entreprenaurial spirit of privatized public services.

RCMP investigating Vancouver airport company

CTV News Vancouver has learned that a company that handles baggage and freight at YVR is the target of a major criminal investigation by the RCMP.

Servisair/GlobeGround handles everything from passenger service to freight at 175 airports including the Vancouver airport.

The company employs baggage handlers, security screeners, ticket agents and the people who refuel planes.

According the Servisair/GlobeGround website, it has more than 20,000 employees who handle 1.4 million aircraft movements and 800,000 tonnes of cargo every year.

Goodale Tag Team Match Up

It's a tag team wrassling match over the Goodale File on Income Trusts, and who knew what, when, and why the markets responded like someone knew something.

In the left corner we have Mini Marauder, the one with the hyphenated last name.

In the right corner we have the Mouth That Roared, from Medicine Hat.



They are merciless in the political circle squared. They have wrestled the Goodale down and now they have him in a double leg suplex.

Will they succeed in making the hold stick, will Goodale squirm out before the three count?




Watch this space for more Wacky Wrestling Politicians.



Coming Soon:

Stronach Arm Wrestles McKay over who is more 'progressive'

Who Is Missing

Though the Conservatives do well from the west’s sense of alienation from Ottawa, the federal capital, beyond the region they are weak.
Despite the sleaze scandal and a ruling party that looks weak, the opposition party has gained surprisingly little in the polls since the last election—not unlike America. But Canada differs from its southern neighbour in a big respect. The two big parties must compete with the NDP across the country.


The Ecomomist ran this photo with their article about the election in Canada. And after mentioning the NDP they forgot to include Jack in the photo. Or did they? Perhaps they have a hidden agenda, after all they are a conservative capitalist business magazine. Do ya think?

For the Economist this is the closest that they get to making an endorsement of the NDP sans Jacks picture.

But Canadians are grumpy. They worry about government ethics, but they fret even more about things like the state of their health-care system. The Liberals have a 12-year run in government behind them. They are likely—but not guaranteed—to convince Canadians to give them yet another chance. But a majority in the House of Commons may again elude them.

Gee, on second thought not being in this rogues gallery may actually benefit Jack. As in these three amigos are more of the same.

Sayeth the Harper

"Take taxation, for example. There are real limits to tax-cutting if conservatives cannot dispute anything about how or why a government actually does what it does. If conservatives accept all legislated social liberalism with balanced budgets and corporate grants - as do some in the business community - then there really are no differences between a conservative and a Paul Martin. "

Rediscovering The Right Agenda By Stephen Harper
June 2003 - Report Magazine

Seniors: Tax Cuts or Long Term Investment

Well as to be expected the Harper announced his Seniors bribe, err policy two days after the NDP announced their plan. And Harpers was well wait for it, yep tax cuts. 2.2 billion by 2010. To increase the amount of pension income that can be sheltered from income tax from its current $1,000 a year to $2,000 a year -- and increase it to $2,500 over five years. Yep if you are a coupon clipper and living off your investment income this helps you. But not the majority of Canadian seniors who are not as well off. And who do not have RRSP's and rely upon CPP, OAS, and GIS for their retirement.

However when it comes to seniors who are the poorest, and in need of care the NDP announced it would invest in seniors care and home care, for a total of $7.5 billion over the same time period. Investment is always better than taking a dividend, which is all a tax cut really is.The money would provide home care for about 100,000 people, Layton said, taking some pressure off hospitals, and helping to ease wait times.

Harper promises not to touch CPP, OAS, GIS and keep their COLA updated. Thats good because unlike his tax cut for the cuopon clippers, the majority of seniors in Canada rely on their income from these programs to supplement their other pensions.

Seniors on the margins: Aging in poverty in Canada

Until recently, the percentage of seniors with low incomes had been declining. It went from 21% in 1980, to 10% in 1990, to 7% in 2003.⁴ The National Council of Welfare points out that this catch-up period is over. Since the middle of the 1990s, seniors' income has reached a ceiling and the gap between seniors' revenues and those of other Canadians is now increasing. Between 1997 and 2003, the mean income of senior households increased by $4,100 while the average income of other Canadian households increased by $9,000.⁵ The situation is even more pronounced for seniors living alone.

The significant increase in seniors' income over the last 25 years was the result of the maturation of Canada's public pension plans, as more and more people became eligible for the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and its Quebec equivalent, the QPP. In 1999, 85% of seniors received these benefits, while in 1983, there were fewer than 75%. This increase reflects the greater presence of women in the paid labour force since the 1970s. Another change was the growing number of pensioners receiving the maximum amount of pension benefits. The plans were established in 1966, and the first workers to receive full CPP/QPP benefits turned 65 in 1976. It is only by the 1990s that a majority of retirees were receiving full benefits. This means that the effect of the CPP/QPP on seniors' income has now reached its maximum. An OECD study acknowledged the success of Canada's public pension system in increasing seniors' income, but it also points out that "a large public system matures only once."⁶ Between 1980 and 1995, gaps in income decreased among seniors, the poorest seniors seeing the largest increases in income, thanks to their participation in public pension plans and to increases in the OAS benefits.⁷

The Harper tax cut will do little for women seniors who make up the majority of seniors who live in poverty. So much for family values.

POVERTY IN CANADA: AN OVERVIEW

Seniors:
Note: The number of women 65 and older in economic families who are poor increased from 5.4% in 2000 to 5.9% in 2001.
• 40% of all seniors living alone are poor
• 45.6% of senior women living alone are poor
• 32.8% of senior men living alone are poor


Oh yes and the Harper has never found a public pension fund he liked, when he was in the Reform party, the Alliance party or as President of the right wing business lobby NCC. So his promise now to protect them rings hollow.

Mr. Stephen Harper (Calgary West, Ref.): It may take 10 years to balance the budget, 10 years to lower taxes, and 10 years to reform people's pension Hansard, Thursday, March 7, 1996 -- STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS (008)

Cheeky Comments

I have left a cheeky comment on bloggingtory Stephen Taylors CTV blog article Kyoto hypocrisy

And one here about the Conservative tax cuts being called bribes. Choice Is Important

Who Really Stands Up For Canada

Well no sooner had I pointed out that both the NDP and Conservatives are using Stand Up as a slogan on their web sites than a day later, and a loonie shy, the young flogger at CPC Energy caught on to this little fact. He got quite verklempt about it all. Literally gets his knickers in a twist over it. Me thinks he doth protest too much.

Tch,Tch, shouldn't draw attention to the obvious....and then advertise your opponents use of the slogan and include a graphic to prove the point. That's called advertising for the NDP. Good Go. Keep up the good work promoting the NDP, oh anonymous CPC flogger.

And speaking of the anonymous floggers at the Conservative web site, it appears their secret identities may have been revealed by none other than the anonymous blogger Phantom Observer. He has upset some Blogging Torys with his expose. One of them complains that it's rather rich for anonymous to out anonymous.
Doesn't anyone take themselves seriously enough to like, blog with their own names?

Why Every Conservative Should Vote; Ignatieff

A Vote for Ignatieff
Is a Vote For
The Security State
And
State Security

A tip o the blog to simonpole.ca
His blog campaign against Ignatieff, one of many blogs commenting on this, has created the largest backlash campaign against any candidate since Trent Lott in the U.S.

A Confused Alberta Liberal

Who supports the Federal Tory's and for some reason thinks he belongs in Progressive Bloggers and Blogging Tories, but only flags BT on his page. He maybe the blogospheres first case of multiple personality blogging. I am speaking of Alberta Avenue aka Calgary Observer aka Running for Alberta.

In his latest blog ramble; Limousine Liberals, he uses one of those classic neo-con red baiting strategies; putting down left wing media figures like Chomsky and Moore for being ahhuh, wait for it, middle class.

Owning a big house or having stock holdings is enough to send Mr. Liberal-Conservative into a tizzy, a literal apoplexy of joy for uncovering some sort of unsavoriness in being left wing and middle class.

Well at least they don't have Filipina nannies. That is the ultimate status symbol of the American Ruling Class.

AA/CO/RFA is definitely a Blogging Tory as sure as he is definitely not a Progressive Blogger.

Conservative Blog Bashed by Blogging Tory

Well its not just those of us on the left wing of the blogosphere, or the MSM election blogs that have a problem with the Conservative Party Web Site Blog.

Its taken a week but finally a bloggingtory; Blue Blogging Soapbox has given up in frustration and vented.

"Just to be clear, I think the CPC Campaign Blog sucks. I don't know why they even call it a blog.

1. No permalinks
2. No trackbacks
3. No comments
4. Anonymous poster - come on - it's an election campaign. If it's a paid staffer blogging, then identify the person. If it's a volunteer, at least give us a screen name and an email for feedback and comment.

There is no way to link to individual posts, other than providing a link to that week's posts. It's as bad as Kinsella's musings page, masquerading as a blog."

Oh I like the cut of your jib fella. That last line was choice. It's a real good comparison. Hmm maybe WK is ghostblogging.....

Praise from the Right for NDP TV AD

So even the rightwhingnutz in the blogosphere like the new NDP TV AD called 'The Gift'.

Now THIS is a good ad
Political Staples
Very effective. An attack with humour. Perfect.

1st NDP ad
Dispatches from the Socialist Gulag
but they do know how to make a good TV ad. I just saw it this morning on Newsworld & I laughed my ass off. Very funny & very well done, which cannot be said lamentably about the Tory ads.

Who Said This?

Ok, now this is scary. I must have lived in Alberta for 51 years too long. I find this makes sense. Scary, very scary.

"A ban. That's fine, you can say ban handguns. That's like saying ban sugar, ban coffee, ban cigarettes, ban anything. You can say 'ban it.' You can pass legislation to ban them. But it's not going to stop the bad guys from getting a hand-gun and shooting someone."

Harpers Russian Pension Plan

ThePolitic says that Harpers pension announcement is just what folks need. And then in fine old red baiting conservative tradition he uses Russia as an example of the success of free market pension reform. Yep I kid you not.

"If we are charitable to Harper and assume this is not just a campaign promise led by polls and pundits, he may be realising what it took the people of the USSR almost 75 years to find: private citizens can allocate resources for their own well-being far more efficiently than bureaucrats in some distant government office."

So I had to leave him a reply; "Thats why the Soviet Union became a basket case economy, with baba’s begging in the streets that they used to sweep for an assured income, benefits and housing…yep they sure did come a long way….."

Klein Chokes

Well no sooner had the special privileges of the aristocracy around King Ralph been announced than the backlash swept over them.

While the peasants must butt out in public the King and his clowns could smoke in their offices in their castle on the shores of the North Saskatchewan. But the public outcry was a little too much. Public butts in; MLAs butt out

King Ralph choked when he and his courtiers arrogance was shoved back in their faces.

Liberal Endorses Edmonton Strathcona NDP Candidate

In an Edmonton Journal article yesterday profiling Edmonton Strathcona NDP candidate Linda Duncan, was the following endorsement from a local Liberal;

Elly de Jongh, a long-time Liberal who also is helping McLellan in Edmonton Centre, has known Duncan since they worked together on saving river valley communities in the 1970s. "I think she would be a real asset for Ottawa," de Jongh said. "

I would be putting that quote out in the campaign literature and on the front of her web page.

As I have said Edmonton Strathcona this time around is a two way fight between the Conservatives and the NDP.

And congrats to the Duncan Team running their web site they have added 'Citizens Media', comments and links to the blogosphere on their 'In the News' page.

Take note Brad Lavigne.

NDP Fights Back

With an attack TV ad that gives the Liberals the Xmas Boot....it's called The Gift very clever and very funny. Well done guys.

And their rapid response to the Liberals Gun Ban announcement was quotes from the community that the Liberals are supposedly speaking for, except nobody thinks the Liberals ban will work....The community is calling for more butter and less guns, but not a gun ban.

Attacking the Liberals is a good response to mitigate last weeks Buzz Factor.

Redmonton Votes

Daaveberta my fellow Redmontonianblogger has provided us with the voting numbers from the 2004 Election. So I left this comment on his site:

The Edmonton Strathcona numbers are telling, while some would look at this as vote splitting between the NDP and Liberals, the NDP actually improved their numbers, far beyond what they had gotten in the last two Federal elections in the riding. Now they did have a high profile candidate, which is one reason. The other may have been the Liberals ran a hand picked Martinite, who had been a provincial MLA. Togther the NDP/Liberal numbers show that Rahim Jaffir gets in up the middle. But I see no urge to strategic voting here where it might actually make a difference. Though with a high profile NDP candidate this time, and a no name Liberal the numbers might change in favour of the NDP.
The other two ridings to watch are Edmonton East total opposition numbers could defeat Goldring And they may coalace around the high profile NDP candidate there since the Liberals last time ran a high profile candidate, but this time its no-name brand.
And Beaumont-Mill Woods could go strongly Liberal as they have the only Indo-Canadian candidate running, the Conservatives ran Uppal last time and seriously challenged Kilgour with the South Asian vote, this time the Conservatives are running a no name White Guy....big mistake.....
Yep four ridings to be watched in Redmonton this time around. Place your wagers gentlemen.

Also See Redmonton Not In The Bag for the Conservatives

CTV does it again

Cutting edge at CTV on their Election Blog page. They now have Blogging Banter
where you can leave your comments unmoderated and they appear instantly. Gee just like a real blog. And of course the usual suspects are there plugging errr blogging away.

Note to Brad Lavigne; we know you don't read blogs, but maybe you should check this one out.......it is after all MSM which we know is all you respect.

The Real Liberal Hand Gun Ban

The majority of hand guns on the streets are illegal, smuggled in from the U.S.A. And we don't have enough border patrols to actually reduce the influx of smuggled guns. Well the Liberals are already enforcing a hand gun ban in Canada. No, not the one that severely restricts the legal ownership of hand gunds. Rather they continue to ban handguns from use by the very folks who patrol the borders. They are overworked, understaffed and un-armed. They also have no powers to arrest anyone for bringing guns into Canada!

The real Liberal Hand Gun Ban has been in effect for years, on the border guards. See how effective that has been.

A note; I am opposed however to issuing border guards Tasers, they are an offensive weapon that kills instead of stunning. Guns are guns, you know they are lethal. Arming border guards is sufficient.

CANADA EMPLOYMENT AND IMMIGRATION UNION FEDERAL ELECTION 2006

December 6, 2005 06:45 Tasers and sidearms needed by Immigration Officers to enhance border security and own safety; union president urges federal party leaders to act OTTAWA, Dec. 6

The President of the Canada Employment and Immigration Union today called for heightened protection, up to and including the issuing of tasers and sidearms, for Immigration Officers of the Canada Border Services Agency. Jeannette Meunier-McKay said the CEIU would be contacting the campaigns of all major federal parties to seek their support for making higher levels of protective force for Immigration Officers a post-election priority. She also stressed that the union was representing the views and wishes of its Immigration Officer members. "A recent, internal union survey revealed that an overwhelming majority of Immigration Officers - 86.5% of Enforcement Officers and 74% of Port of Entry Officers - expressed a strong need for additional protective devices, including tasers and/or sidearms," she said. "Our members have spoken strongly with a united voice - that current force options are inadequate to ensure their security when carrying out their duties to protect the public by keeping high-risk criminals and terrorists out of Canada." Meunier-McKay also pointed to last June's interim report of the Senate Committee on National Security and Defence, which called for strengthened port of entry security and concrete measures to improve the safety of CBSA enforcement staff. "The Senate Committee was very clear in urging the Martin government to give CBSA workers the tools they need to carry out their important duties in a safe and secure work environment," Meunier-McKay noted. "Whatever the composition of the next Parliament, the federal government has a clear duty to ensure the highest level of protection for these frontline peace officers." The Canada Employment and Immigration Union represents more than 17,000 federal public service workers, including some 1,300 immigration staff at both ports of entry and at inland enforcement offices. : Jeannette Meun

Why Jack Doesn't Blog

Many of us Dipper and progressive bloggers have wondered why the NDP is the only election site without a blog. And now we know. The PTB in the NDP war room have decided in their divine wisdom that blogs are not where its at. In fact they are so fixated on old media, that no less a high mucky muck than Communications/Media Director Brad Lavigne dismisses the importance of blogs.

In the NDP camp, insider Brad Lavigne says blogs have had a minimal impact so far on leader Jack Layton's campaign. The top priority is to track the other leaders' daily campaigns and mainstream news coverage."Our focus is established by our team,'' said Lavigne, the party's campaign communications director. "While from time to time it's interesting to see what these people are posting, they certainly don't drive our agenda.'' Election war rooms consider impact of blogs

Ah ha thats why the NDP is so behind on the communications eight ball, failing to take advantage of the blogosphere. Yep Lavigne is really old school, you can tell from his hair cut and their communications strategy so far.

Guess I will have to e-mail this little missive to the NDP cause they don't read blogs.

Correcting Kinsella

Well its always a joy here in mudville to correct Warren Kinsella's jaundiced view of the blogosphere, which is always highly coloured by his own blog prescence and his belief that he plays a more important role than he does.

Warren Kinsella, an aide to former Liberal prime minister Jean Chretien, says his blog gets as many as 100,000 hits a day. He has traced some of the heaviest traffic to Prime Minister Paul Martin's most trusted advisors and says his sources of information include former and current cabinet ministers, party leaders and rank-and-file members.
Election war rooms consider impact of blogs

100,000 hits a day?! Methinks Warren doth exaggerate his popularity a wee bit. Oh by at least five zeros. (see comments)

On December 8 after this article came out on CP, he posted it on his blog, he writes his latest backhanded defence of the importance of blogs in this election. He says that so far the blogs have not found a scandal of equal importance as American blogs did in the 04 election.

"In this bizarre two-part election, no big political story has been unearthed by Canadian bloggers - at least not in the way the American blogs broke the Trent Lott or Dan Rather stories. But it's coming."

Well gee what would he call this? The undue influence of American right wing lobby groups with the Conservatives is a major scandal,that has not been covered in the MSM as well as it has in the blogosphere. And I would call that a scandal uncovered by the blogs. Just not by Warrens blog. Hmm do I detect a bit of jealousy in his comment?

For an updated page on this Scandal go here.

Retirement Reverse Discrimination

The Ontario Government has ended a great injustice today, they have ended legislated compulsory retirement. Yep now you can work till ya die. The logic of this reversal of discrimination, is classic liberalism; the rights of the individual over the group. And classic Liberalism.

Moments after the province approved the legislation, Ontario Labour Minister Steve Peters hailed it as an opportunity for workers, especially those who joined the workforce later in life, to continue to contribute to their families and the economy. “It’s a very historic day,” Peters said. “We’ve ended a great wrong in this province.”

They found that the law restricted individual choice. For shame. But in changing the law to meet the sacred rights of the individual they lost site of that other important value of classical liberalism, utilitarianism, the greater good.

The so called compulsorary retirement law while restricting the rights of some was for the greater good of the many. Which is why unions lobbied and won compulsorary retirement, because they knew that if the bosses had their way, they would work us till we died, or toss us out with no pensions in order to hire younger workers who will not earn a pension for years. The idea of compulsorary retirement is directly tied to pensions, and to corporations paying into those pensions.

The McGuinty Liberals capitualted to the business community, who having underfunded their pension plans in order to put their capital into the stock market, wanted the government to bail them out. The best way to do that was to up the age of retirement. Business have campaigned provincially and federally to turn the clock back on retirement.

Of course for academics, such as the one who challenged the law in Alberta and got it overturned, or managers and bosses and even journalists working into your seventies or eighties is a career choice. For those of us who do blue collar work, by the time we are 65 we beasts of burden are well willing to give up the work life for the cottage life and we deserve it.

But now our pensionable earnings, our ability to retire early, or to retire at 65 have been put at greater risk.

Wayne Samuelson, president of the Ontario Federation of Labour, warned that in years to come, employees can expect to work up to the age of 67 or beyond before they can access government benefits.

Samuelson also brushed aside assertions by the province that the law won’t undermine early retirement rights or existing pension plans.

“That’s crap,” Samuelson said. “I’ve been going to union meetings all my life . . . and I’ve never seen anybody stand up and demand that they work longer. People want to work less. They want to have a decent pension. That’s the debate we should be having.”

He pointed to the United States, where access to government benefits has been increased to age 67.

New Democrat critic Peter Kormos slammed the law for not resolving fears of under-funded pensions.

“This legislation . . . is going to result in employers reducing pension benefits for younger workers who have not yet become vested,” Kormos said.

“This is going to create some real iniquities and further worsen, heighten, aggravate the crisis in under-funding of pensions and levels of pension benefits.”

It’s expected that less than two per cent of Ontario’s 1.5 million people 65 and over would continue to work, Peters said.

So you change a progressive law, compulsorary retirement for less than 2% of the working population, hmmm thats the same number that represents the ruling class in Ontario. So 98% of the working population must be subjected to the opportunism and greed of the ultimate minority. So much for the idea of majority rule, or even the greatest benefit for the greatest number. The McGuinty Liberals are classic neo-liberals, not real liberals like Bentham and Mills.

Previous Pension Articles are Here and Here

And Now A Word From David Orchard

The populist iconoclast David Orchard who was stabbed in the back by Peter McKay over the merger of the PC's with Harpers Alliance Party, never forgets. Nor should we. Last April he wrote; David Orchard campaign says Conservatives as unethical as Liberals

And it applies as much in this election as the one the Harperites were hoping for last spring. In fact the unethical behaviour of the Conservative party regarding David Orchard came back to bite them in the ass just before this election was called.

Two and a half years after the Progressive Conservative leadership race, the Conservative Party of Canada has yet to pay David Orchard more than $70,000. About $55,000 of that is owed to the Borden-area farmer from donations to his leadership campaign.

Nor has the Harper yet released who donated to his leadership race where he defeated Peter McKay for the leadership of the newly merged Conservative party.
So when it comes to ethics Mackay and Harper prove that old cliche that the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree, in Davids Orchard.

Rumours had it that Orchard might run for the Liberals, it was a reporters fantasy, but that would never be. He is too principled for that. Unlike his opponents for the PC Leadership or those who now run the strange beast that is the Reform/Alliance/PC Conservatives.

David is still fighting NAFTA and is the only Canadian to continue to offer a real solution to the Soft Wood Lumber crisis, Abrogate NAFTA.

Wanna disrupt a Conservative rally? Just start chanting; Orchard! Orchard!

Guns and Butter

When I was introduced to supply side economics in high school we were all taught that capitalism is about supply and demand, the old guns and butter hypothesis. Its all about what we call today rational choice economics, you can choose to spend money on the military or on essentials such as public service. Guns or butter. The more guns the less butter. And guns were always more expensive to produce than butter.

Today we could use the same analogy for the Paul Martins announcement that he will ban hand guns in Canada. His audience was a group of school kids in Toronto. What he told them was the old guns and butter example as applied to politics. You can get more headway publicity wise by banning guns than by promising social programs (butter) to deal with the issue of violence in visible minority communities. His presence in a visible minority community school shows he was trying to butter up folks for his gun announcement.

Hand guns are severly restricted in Canada, and have been since Trudeau introduced gun control. To get a handgun in Canada you must be registered with a FAC, and now registered with the billion dollar Firearms Registry boondoogle. You must get a permit from your local police department, to move your gun from your home, if you are going to the shooting range. And that permit is for that day only and for transportation from point A to point B and back to point A. Failure to get the permit and you can loose your gun and your FAC and your access.

So who is carrying guns? Well not legal hand gun owners. It's the new bling bling of Night Club culture as the recent shooting in Vancouver shows. Graffiti artists's slaying may spur gun amnesty Guns have replaced fast cars and cell phones as the club culture status symbol.

Ms. Slade said a decade ago she thought nothing of going out to nightclubs in the city. Now, however, she wouldn't because of a series of shooting incidents in recent years. "I'm afraid to go the bars. . . . It's getting worse and worse. You never know who's going to have a gun."

In Torontoa recent spat of shootings is driving the Martin announcement, and at the point of stating the obvious gun violence in the largest city in Canada has always driven the governments gun control legislation. While gun violence is also a problem in other large Canadian cities, such as Vancouver and even in Edmonton the shooting violence in Toronto is identified with the poverty of the Afro Canadian community in that city. In the other cities its identified with middle class ethnic crime, usually around drugs. Where the issue is poverty then we need social programs for employment to overcome this. If it is drugs then we need decriminalization.

Now drugs are illegal, and illegal guns are well illegal, but that doesn't stop anyone . Nor will Martins hand gun legislation. It will only further restrict those who abide by Canadas restrictive gun laws, moreso than even England, and reduce their access to hand guns for sport shooting.

Legalizing drugs would be a start to reduce crime both in the suburbs and the inner city. But the deciminalization of marijuana laws died on the table, again, when the election was called. Decriminalizing all drugs, would go along way to breaking the cycle of crime that prohibition has always encouraged. Its butter thats , better social programs and decriminalization, the economic solution to theproblem of gun violence in Canada. Some may say this is simplistic but it is no more so than Paul Martins announcement this morning.

For more debate on this go to progressive bloggers.

John Lennon Working Class Hero

John Lennon 1940-1980

John Lennon was asassinated 25 years ago today. The world lost a revolutionary voice that day.

A day after he died, his wife, Yoko Ono, said, "John loved and prayed for the human race. Please do the same for him." Millions mourned his death across world. As a leader of the Beatles, John Lennon helped to transform popular music. But to his fans he was far more than just a musician.

While the highlights of Lennon's career with the Beatles is well known, Lennon is less remembered for his political activism and dedication to peace. Lennon wrote some of the most famous songs of the anti-war movement: "Give Peace A Chance", "Imagine" and "Happy Christmas (War Is Over)". He sang at political protests against the Vietnam War, in support of the radical John Sinclair and even for the prisoners of Attica. He and Yoko made international headlines simply by lying in bed as part of their Bed-In For Peace.

The U.S. government saw Lennon as such a serious threat that President Nixon attempted to have him deported in 1972. In addition the FBI closely monitored his actions and amassed a file on Lennon of over 400 pages.

A voice that used the mass media to get his and Yoko's message out.
And that is important to remember that John was nothing without Yoko, something he acknowledged much to the anger and slagging of fans and critics at the time.

And while he was a working class hero for my generation he remains a voice of protest and disestablishmentarianism for all generations. He and Yoko spoke out for peace activists, for anti-war activists, for women, for anarchism, for humanism, for all those exploited and oppressed. Before they chanted "This is what Democracy Looks Like" in Seattle, we sang Power to the People!

He was the kid from Liverpool the Working Class Hero he wrote of.

Working Class Hero

As soon as you're born they make you feel small
By giving you no time instead of it all
Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be

They hurt you at home and they hit you at school
They hate you if you're clever and they despise a fool
Till you're so ------- crazy you can't follow their rules
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be

When they've tortured and scared you for twenty odd years
Then they expect you to pick a career
When you can't really function you're so full of fear
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be

Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV
And you think you're so clever and classless and free
But you're still ------- peasants as far as I can see
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be

There's room at the top they are telling you still
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill
If you want to be like the folks on the hill
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be

If you want to be a hero well just follow me
If you want to be a hero well just follow me

They Vote

Hey it worked for the Tories in Alberta for years under Lougheed and Getty. Every election they gave seniors something. It wasn't until the Klein Reich that seniors were ditched and King Ralph has regretted that ever since cause they are his biggestand most vocal opponsnts in the province. And they vote. Layton promises $1.5 billion for senior care The NDP's plan to spend $1.5 billion a year on long-term care and home care would begin to address the needs of seniors and help hospitals reduce waiting times, party leader Jack Layton said on Thursday.

Privatization Canada's National Rail Disaster

As major railway accidents caused by CN have occured over the last six months I have blogged about the disaster that is the Canadian National (CN) Railway (sic). Which it no longer is; Canadian or National. It is now a Contiental Railway, since it was privatized. And this is the core problem with it, while a successful business, it has sacrificed workers, communities and public safety for the bottom line. Yesterday another major crash occured with CN in B.C. Not one but two of them.

Under US president E, Hunter Harisson the working conditions at CN have worsened, the use of just in time management strategies and reducing workers for automated systems has led to an unprecidented summer and fall of accidents.
And now that they have taken over B.C. Rail, privatized by the Campbell government last year, their record for accidents has beat that of the previously provinicial owned and run B.C. Rail. BC Rail accident rate higher with CN in charge

When a bridge in McBride B.C. collapsed in 2003 and killed two railworkers it was the direct result of CN's bottom line fixation. Rather than maintain and fix the bridge, the company cut costs and corners the result was the death of two workers.

CN was fined in court yesterday a mere $75,000 of a potential $200,000 penalty. This is what a rail workers life is worth with privatized CN, $37, 500. Less than what those workers actually earned in a year. In their after profit per worker, after wages, and taxes, this is what CN makes, in annual productivity per worker funny that. And no one went to jail for nurder or manslaughter even though CN admited it was at fault! And they have two weeks to pay! Get out the cheque book.

Two Prince George men, Conductor Ken LeQuesne and Engineer Art McKay, both 51, were killed when the train left a wooden trestle bridge and plunged into a ravine.Canadian National Railway Spokesperson, Jim Feeney, says, "Yes, we pleaded guilty to a count under the Railway Safety Act for failing to ensure proper documentation and procedures in respect to railway work, inspection and maintenance on that bridge." The company has received a fine of $75,000.00 on a count that carried a maximun $200,000.00 penalty. Feeney says a broken rail has been indicated as the cause, which is "an unforeseen and unpredictable accident."

No it's not an unpredicatble accident, it was as they say in the Health and Safety world an incident waiting to become an accident. CN admited they cut back maintenance inspections, and in doing do the result was that this unpredictable accident could have been avoided.This was murder by negligence. And the court did nothing about it because it was restrained by the law which was applied against CN. The State failed to take CN to court for negligence and willfull neglect, or even criminal manslaughter. Instead they filed charges under the Canada Labour Act, and the Railway Safety Act, lesser acts which carry lesser penalities. Clever CN, pleading guilty, to get out of really paying for their crimes.

CN was privatized under the Liberals, not Mulroney's Conservatives, and it is the Liberals who are defending their sell off of our National Railway. Liberal Cabinet Minister and Candidate David Emerson said yesterday that CN's problems in B.C. were because they inherited them from B.C. Rail who failed to maintain their raillines. Thats passing the buck. Funny that we didn't have all these disasters when B.C. Rail ran its trains over the same lines. The reason is that CN has expanded the number of cars on the tracks in order to meet its just in time obligations to the coastal ports. After 11 derailments in the past six months the government has finally acted. CN ordered to shorten trains to no more than 80 cars after B.C. derailments

This speed up with the increase use of intermodal cars began after CN was privatized. A woman in Richmond has taken CN to court over the increasing traffic through her neighbourhood which she says began in 1992 after CN was privatized.

CN faces suit over derailment damage East Richmond woman says Monday's incident was not a surprise

But that all changed in 1992, when CN Rail began to operate its works yard in the middle of the night and escalated its operations.
Short trains became longer, overnight noise routine. A couple of thunderous diesel-spewing locomotives turned into nearly a half dozen. And the odd shake turned into troublesome daily quakes.
As activity ramped up in the works yard, so worsened the impact on Fisher's life.
Fisher, who has sued Canadian National Railway in B.C. Supreme Court, contacted The Richmond Review Tuesday, following Monday night's four-car derailment of a 39-car train not far from her home.
Four trains jumped the tracks on the Lulu Island trestle, one of which plunged into the North Arm of the Fraser River, carrying with it numerous brand new Toyota cars.
Fisher pointed out that this isn't the first derailment in the area, and that one on Dec. 31, 2002 happened next to her house and caused her already-split garage foundation to heave several inches. The split itself, she claims, was caused by the increased rail activity.
The cause of the 2002 derailment, according to Fisher, was speed and specifically trains being coupled together with too great a force.
Fisher's court case begins the discovery phase early next year.
Fisher said the sound of trains being shunted together each night is ruining her quality of life.
In addition, the ear-splitting 90 decibel whistle that screams four times each occasion a train reaches a level crossing now repeats itself up to 100 times on the worst of days, she said.
Trains are now a lot longer and much heavier, causing her property to routinely shudder, one time generating a jolt powerful enough to knock food off her table.

And in Alberta where we had one of the most serious toxic spills ever this summer thanks to CN the people whose lake was polluted have waited and waited to get compensation. Now CN is offering them a piddly $5000 each.CN offers cash for spill

Residents discussed the compensation offer at a meeting on Oct. 29. According to minutes of the meeting, Goss told residents CN was "mad as hell" with the provincial government and threatened to move its regional office out of Edmonton.

The Aug. 3 derailment spilled more than 700,000 litres of fuel oil and pole-treating oil in and around the lake. Since the spill, the company has been under a strict environmental protection order from Alberta Environment.

Provincial investigators executed search warrants on the company's Walker Yard facility in Edmonton. That generated "a lot of anger, I think, that (CN) were treated like criminals and things like that," said Goss, adding that the company sent Premier Ralph Klein a letter threatening to relocate.

It took the threat of criminal charges to get CN to actually act. At first they threatened a capital strike, to move out of the province because of the way the usually business friendly Klein regime was treating them. But the spill embarassed the government and showed they had no plan for dealing with a disaster of this magnitude. A disaster that again was predictable considering this province is an industrialized chemical hazard from north to south. Whether it is petro chemicals, fertilizers, etc, we have plants every where, and we have toxic goods on our highways and raillines, that travel across the province daily. The CN spill exposed the fact that the government had no environmental disaster plan. You don't embarass King Ralph and expect him to laugh it off.

In order to forestall further criticism about its decades old failure to maintain its lines, except for its bottom line, E. Hunter Harrison has announced CN will spend 10% more next year than they did this year to repair and maintain its lines in Western Canada. Oh be still my beating heart. Clearly what they spent this year did not even address the basic maintenance they have neglected over the years.

Thats because along with attacks on workers wages and benefits, reductions in the workforce, increasing train traffice and intermodal capacity, the capital privatized CN gained was used to buy up American Rail companies in order to become a Continental rail company. Sacrifices had to be made for the bottom line, and those included worker and public safety. And now the chickens are coming home to roost.

It's still not to late to rethink privatization. What we once owned as national crown corporations could be nationalized again. And at least one NDP candidate this election is saying so. And he running against the Minister in charge of Canada's railways.

An NDP candidate in Quebec says the Canadian government should run Air Canada, CN Rail, and the oil and gas industry. Leo-Paul Lauzon, a university economics professor in Quebec known for his left-wing views, said Canada should never have privatized those national commodities.Lauzon is the NDP candidate in one of the most hotly contested ridings in Quebec, facing off against Transport Minister Jean Lapierre, who is running for the Liberals, and against former PQ cabinet minister Jacques Leonard, who is running for the Bloc Québécois.

Where there's Smoke there's Smokers

Do as I say not as I do. Klein caucus ignores smoking ban
EDMONTON - Children could be banished from parts of Alberta's legislature so politicians can continue smoking in their offices.
Yep whats good for the goose ain't good for the gander in Alberta. Actually having well ventilated electro disperesed air filtration smoking rooms in the work place is a rational thing to do. But the taxpayer funded anti-smoking lobby is all about All or Nothing. So while the rest of us suffer the pariah of being smokers, the MLA's can merrily smoke in their offices. Now I take exception to that since we know that the majority of Kleins Caucus and MLA's are children, they should be protected from themselves. Meanwhile the impact on business in Edmonton, especially resteraunts and bars, lounges, etc. of the complete smoking ban, is a decline in business by 70% anecdotalely. Watch as the weather gets colder that will rise to 90%. So much for no impact on business that the anti-smoking fascists lied about. Oh wait a minute isn't the Legislature in Edmonton? Why by golly gum it is. So how come the provincial legislation trumps the city bylaw banning smoking in all public buildings. Hmmmm. Like I said what's good for the goose.....

Stand Up Canada

This election you get to choose who you want to Stand Up for you. And it ain't the Liberals cause they don't use the Stand Up Slogan, they hope their opponents will sit this one out.

However if you want somebody to Stand Up for you
then your choices are;

The NDP

The Conservatives

"It's not where you sit but where you stand." — Belinda Stronach, addressing criticism over her switch in parties from Conservative to Liberal by saying her principles stayed the same.

A Liberal Fairy Tale

Once upon a time there were Three Bad Liberals in Quebec, and the first one said, I wanna unload alot of money on my pals, the second one said I can unload alot of money on your pals, and the third one said I can make alot of money off you unloading money on your pals.

And then a big brave Liberal named PM rode into Ottawa and said I am offended at all the money that them Liberals spent in Quebec and I am going to do something about it. But the people were not amused and they said, but you are a Liberal.

And big brave PM said Yes I am but not a Liberal like them. And so he got the good sheriff of Gomery to look into the nasty deeds done by bad Liberals. And the good Sheriff of Gomery said that PM was a good Liberal, and that he did not know what the bad Liberals were doing, and the bad Liberals should go to jail.

And so the Liberal party was saved by PM and they all lived happily ever after...........

Except for the nasty Troll Kretien who lived under the PeaceTower and kept popping up and saying; "I yam gonna sue dat Sheriff Gomery d'about what he been saying about me".

But other than that..........

oh yeah and then their was the other Troll Peltme who said "nyah nyah I got my job back",

But other than that...............

opps then there was that other Troll DingDonginthewell who was a bad Liberal and PM got rid of him but he kept popping up saying; "I'm entitled" (he thought he was a prince)...

Well ok they kinda lived happily ever after........Except that the people called an election and PM was sad, cause he wanted to do so much for the people, with their money, and he said that the people didn't need an election cause he had put the Kingdom right with all his Kings Horses and all his Kings men, and it was just that nasty Prince of Darkness the Harp that wanted an election.

And then PM said to all the boys and girls in the Kingdom I will give you daycare, they cheered, I will give you healthcare,they cheered, I will give you clean air, and they cheered.

Suddenly there was a flash and in a puff of smoke the Pied Piper Layton appeared and said, hey I already said that stuff, and the children cheered.

Well it all got complicated after that and we are not sure where anyone was living or whether they were happy or not, cause no-one talked about the homeless or the poor, but that is a tale for another day.

The End.

CPP Funds Wal-Mart

The Green Party leader Jim Harris announced today that our Federal pension fund,the CPP, is a shareholder in union busting, child labour exploiting Wal-Mart. Congarts every Canadian is now a shareholder in exploitation. The Greens called for a Corporate Social Responsibility Act and for the end of CPP investments in Wal-Mart.

"Wal-Mart has a proven track record of insufficient sensitivities to the communities in which it operates, and a prime example of this corporate approach is the closing of their store in Jonquière last April, shortly after its workers unionized", said Harris.

As of the 31st of March 2005, the CPP held 322 000 shares in Wal-Mart valued at almost 20 million dollars. "If the CPP still owns these shares they have a responsibility to divest and send a strong message to all companies that our values as a community are more important than a single corporation's interests," said Harris.

Recently Radio Canada exposed the fact that Wal-Mart goods sold in Canada were being made by child labour in Bangladesh. In response to criciticsm of expoliting child labour Wal-Mart has refused to change its practices and has instead run away from its responsibilities.Bangladesh Wal-Mart criticised for cut and run policy - not taking responsibility for use of child labour

The use of the CPP,which all retired Canadians rely upon, as an investment vehicle has been a major source of controversy. Anti War Activists have pointed out the Military Weapons investments made by the CPP and recently David Dodge of the Bank of Canada suggested the CPP be used to invest in P3's.

When we think of ethical investments we would be forgiven for thinking that would be the prime investment vehicle of our publicly funded CPP. But it is not. The CPP is out to make money with no democratic control or transparency. Once again the Market Managers invest our pension money with no ethical parameters to restrict them.

Previous Pension Articles are Here and Here

You Like Us You Really Like Us

Canada 'not at its best at the moment': Economist

The Economist this week is Covers Canada literally. We are the Cover Story. They like us they really like us. Well they should we are the most successful capitalist economy in the G8, or the G9 or the G10, of the G11 or the.....And we Love NAFTA.....Ask Paul........We are fighting those nasty Yankee Protectionists to defend something that the Liberals once claimed was the fight of their life to oppose.....Yep the Economist says we're cool, and then the other shoe drops........
The magazine also points to Canada's peculiar flaws. "Canada has everything, except perhaps ambition." Ouch. And with tha erudite British aplomb they co on to give our little country their capitalist report card;

The latest edition says Canada is beset dysfunctional politics, grumpy anti-Americanism and three brewing political storms: one in the West, one in Quebec and one in its relations with the United States. The business-oriented publication is running a 14-page special report and a lead editorial on Canada.

It's upbeat about Canada's overall prospects: "Peaceful, diverse, tolerant (in June gay marriages became legal throughout the country) and with long-term riches to boot - if this isn't 'cool', what is?"

However, it points to building political turbulence.

Looking at the campaign for the Jan. 23 federal election, the survey describes the country's politics as "a fractured mess."

Prime Minister Paul Martin is "a fine finance minister, but as prime minister he has, on the whole, disappointed."

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper is described as "an aloof, cerebral figure, disparaged well beyond Liberal circles as a neo-conservative importing dangerous ideas from the United States.

He is also "clueless with the media."

Yep that sort of hits on the head doesn't it.

The Logic of the Homophobic Right

Here is an example of the irrefutible logic of the anti-gay rightwhingnuts. It appears today on the Anti-Abortion Anti-Gay Anti-Feminist Lifesite (sic)- The rightwhingnutz of Lifesite claim that the Charter defends individual rights not rights to Same Sex Marriage.

However, as the Family Research Council (FRC) has pointed out, "while every individual person is free to get married, no person, whether heterosexual or homosexual, has ever had a legal right to marry simply any willing partner. Every person, whether heterosexual or homosexual, is subject to legal restrictions as to whom they may marry. To be specific, every person, regardless of sexual preference, is legally barred from marrying a child, a close blood relative, a person who is already married, or a person of the same sex. There is no discrimination here, nor does such a policy deny anyone the 'equal protection of the laws', since these restrictions apply equally to every individual." Aha now I get it Mr. or Ms. Individual regardless of sexual orientation may NOT engage in pedophilia, incest, bigamy or gay marriage. The first three are 'criminal acts' under the Criminal Code of Canada. So what Lifestyle is saying is that gay marriage is not a human right for Mr or Ms. Individual it is a Criminal Act apparently banned by the Criminal Code.

To further clarify this important point, in case you didn't get it Mr. or Ms. Individual, they say; "The fundamental 'right to marry' is a right that rests with individuals, not with couples. Homosexual individuals already have exactly the same 'right' to marry as anyone else. " As long as you marry Mr. or Ms. Individual of the opposite sex. FRC points out that "Many people who now identify themselves as homosexual have previously been in legal (opposite-sex) marriages. On the other hand, many people who previously had homosexual relationships have now renounced that behavior and married persons of the opposite sex." So Mr or Ms Individual can marry someone who is or was gay as long as they are of the opposite sex.

Yep see what I mean irrefutible logic. I am convinced. I will now go marry my dog cause it's not specifically banned by the Criminal Code. Its my individual right according to the logic of FRC.

Contradictions of the Security State

So explain this, Canada and the US are looking at imposing passport identification for cross border travel. US passport plan gives way to cross-border ID Meanwhile the government says Canadians are NOT entitled to passports. Hmmmm...... The Charter of Rights and Freedoms doesn't entitle any Canadian — including Abdurahman Khadr — to a passport, a government lawyer argued yesterday as the man with family ties to Al Qaeda fought for the right to have the travel document"There is no authority suggesting such a right (to a passport) exists in Canada," said Morris. "It doesn't guarantee you a right to travel and it's not necessary for it." Oh really, tell that to US and European Customs!

Better yet the current Toronto Centre Liberal Candidate Bill Graham bungled this case, and denied Khadr his passport.....Government lawyers admitted yesterday that former foreign affairs minister Bill Graham bungled the handling of Khadr's failed application. Court documents reveal that the passport office withheld information from Khadr and his lawyer related to the decision because the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service requested secrecy. Yep I smell another Liberal Scandal happening here, just in time for the Election.

Blame 50 Cents

Carrying guns has become trendy, Vancouver police fear
Vancouver police say they're worried about a new trend, as more young men with minimal gang or criminal connections are carrying handguns - that packing a gun appears to have become an "in" thing. Yep it's all that ultra violent motherf***** n****, yo ho, you bytch, Gangsta Hippty Hoppy music thay all listen to.....Gangsta Hip Hop is to Black Community Resistance as the Iraqi Resistance is to Freedom for Iraq. It's all about guns and money, and money and guns, and money for guns, and guns for money.......and I just realized that in Canada 50 cents is two bits...as in two bit punk...or two bit gangster...or two bit thug.....We waz ahead of our time.....