Technocracy Inc. Predicted Oil Crisis Over 50 years ago

I thought I would re-post this article here, as it is buried deep in my RedBetweenTheLines blog at Modblog. And given how often Modblog fails, which is why I no longer post there, I thought I would republish it here. Just in case it disappeared into the cyberabyss. And it is still relevant since it was published in January 2005. Wow way back then.

Recently a discussion on M.K.Hubbert arose on the marxism discussion list. This in itself was rather surprizing since Hubbert is a technocrat, and Technocracy Inc. is usually dismissed by the left as being some utopian scheme, or some kind of strange sect or cult. They were the original scientists and engineers for social responsibility, and being ahead of their time their theories appear to read like science fiction.

Hubbert is a favorite reference for my uncle, John Gregory, a professional engineer and geologist who worked for the National Research Council of Canada and is a long time member of Technocracy Inc here in Edmonton. As a social democratic technocrat living in the energy capital of Canada, his promotion of Hubberts therom was downright heresy. I grew up with a political understanding of technocracy as a progressive movement thanks to my uncle. Technocrats in Edmonton have always been activists appearing at all the progressive rallies and forums promoting their form of planned industrial/energy economy.

M. K. Hubbert predicated the Oil Crisis of 1972, waaaay back in the Fifties. He predicts that we will face a further oil crisis in the early part of this Century as reserve stocks decline along with increased demand.
Hubbert was dismissed at the time as a technocrat and his work is still villified in some circles today.Hubbert's work however has gained further legitimacy as oil prices have rocketed, and the Imperialist oil wars have drawn attention to this ongoing crisis.

Hubberts solution to this crisis was his theory of steady state economics. What was once thought of as crackpot theories of Technocracy, Hubbert has gained with new respect for his predictive analysis. Especially now that the impact of oil culture on the biosphere has been documented. Hubbert had already predicted that increasing reliance on oil would lead to an evironmental crisis in 1974.

Before dismissing Technocracy, one should review their work on economics needing to be energy based, actual credits based on the total value of physical energy available in an industrialized society. Not wage based, in other words they call for abolishing the wage system! Technocracy opposes capitalisms m-c-m formula (money-capital-money, or as we would call it today the Casino Capitalism of the Stockmarket) they oppose this money economy or price economy as they call it and propose replacing it with an energy economy.

Technocracy is a left wing industrial/social planning model , once banned at the same time as other left wing groups in the US and Canada. They promoted the theories ofthe Icelandic/American socialist Thorstein Veblen, author of the Leisure Class which gave us the term 'conspicious consumption'. Spefically Technocracy was influenced by his work: The Engineers And The Price System, regarding the social responsibilities of Science and Engineering which were direclty linked to the radical workers movement of the 1920's. The opening chapter is about Sabotage in the work place, the workers dissastisfaction with work and their alienation in industrial societies.

Technocracy Inc. from its beginings had friendly relations with the IWW, and was influenced by its unique form of North American syndicalism. Howard Scott was a friend of IWW General Secretary Vincent St. John, who got him to write articles for the union. Like other brain workers Technocrats viewed themsleves as workers, not a professional managment class as scientists and engineers have become today.

Unfortunately like left wing ideas of workers control, or self management which have been recuperated by capitalism and its managment theorists, technocracy and the term technocrat have been used as a prejorative for years. The reality is that technocrats are not just social engineers but socialist engineers, and an open organization to everyone, except politicians. Why thats downright anarchist of them.

Which may explain why politicians use technocrat as prejorative, they don't like being left out of anything.

Modblog stories on Peak Oil

Le Revue Gauch stories:

Thorstein Veblen

Technocracy

Peak Oil



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Another Free Trade Deal

I must have been sleeping through these talks....but note why they take on importance now...more open markets to importing not just goods and capital, but skilled labour into the Tar Sands.

Canada and South Korea are in the midst of negotiating a free trade agreement and have just wrapped up the fifth round of bilateral talks aimed at signing a comprehensive deal by the end of 2006.South Korea is interested in expanding its presence in the Canadian oilpatch and the country's state oil firm, Korea National Oil Corp., will be opening an office in Calgary. The country is also interested in providing skilled labour

Time for Alberta's unions to begin to organize their own globalization campaign by working with unions in Korea, the Phillipines and Venezuala and anywhere else that the capitalists are planning to import temporary labour from.
Also See Waugh


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Hockey is Violence

So ask your self this, why does boxing on ice skates; hockey result in riots on Whyte Avenue. Could there be a connection between this violent sport, one the fans watch for fights, as Don Cherry has made a video career out of, and fans on Whyte getting rowdy and violent? Nah.

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Neil Waugh Moves Left

Yep its true the right wing crumdgeon Neil Waugh,business columnist at the Edmonton Sun, has become the friend of the workingman and gasp building trades unions!

Though he still manages to get his digs in on the AFL and the divide in the house of labour over the issue of CLAC and CNRL brining in temporary workers, and whether the house of labour should salt CNRL or boycott them.

In his latest column he blasts the Alberta government making him sound like he signed up with the NDP. Move over Brian Mason there's a new pinko in Redmonton.

Alberta unemployment rates are at "near record low levels. The demand for manpower exceeds the available supply of skilled workers in many sectors of the economy," the CAPP document noted. (Unless you are an Alberta Building Trades Council tradesman sitting at home while Chinese and Filipino boilermakers, welders and electricians are showing up at two, maybe more, Fort McMurray jobs.) CAPP's "solution" is "training and immigration."

Sooner or later someone must be asking, if Albertans are giving up billions in forgone royalty (oilsands plants only pay 1% until payout), why are we wreaking environmental havoc in the boreal forest with this massive buildup in production? Especially if the "immigration" solution is to import crews from the Third World?

Why aren't energy companies being forced to build their value-added facilities in Alberta, rather than sending the stuff down bullet pipelines to American refineries? This huge ramp-up in oil- sands production maybe CAPP's agenda. But remind me again, what's in it for Albertans?

More on Waugh

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Howard Visits Canada

The Australian media covered the labour union protests outside Parliament opposing John Howards visit, better than the Canadian media which was largely silent on the matter. Except for brief notes in the Globe and Mail

Howard sings U.S. praises in Ottawa
Australian leader's laudatory remarks win Tory applause, NDP, Bloc silence

and Macleans.
Australian prime minister addresses packed Commons, lauds U.S.

Which mentioned the labour protests in passing, while the Australian media gave it more coverage.

The Australian Press:

CANADA PROTEST GREETS HOWARD

Howard visits Canada amid Afghanistan row

PM hailed conservative 'elder statesman'


The real meaning of the visit was given good indepth analysis in the media about the common agenda both Howard and Harper share regardless of the names of their political parties. Howard leads the Australian Liberal Party and Harper of course the Conservatives. But Howards Liberals are like those in B.C. and Quebec provincial politics, conservative.

Howards influence on Harper was noted as;

Political wizardry by the man from Oz

For it is no secret that Howard is one of Stephen Harper's political heroes. The Harper Conservatives studied Howard's first big electoral win in 1996, imported one of his key advisers (Brian Loughnane) to help them with their platform and, many observers say, patterned their most recent election after Howard's. The techniques: Promising easily understood tax cuts and baby bonuses targeted directly at the middle class in particular; getting tough on crime; talking up social conservative values (against gay marriage) that harkened back to simpler times; backing the U.S. wherever possible on the international scene; and promising a made-in-Canada solution to climate change that even has Ottawa now trying to get in to the Canberra-inspired Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, what critics call Kyoto-lite. Consider that Howard, in his earlier day, was the outspoken "boy treasurer" who had to learn to curb his more libertarian views and is still a vigorous opponent of gay marriage, Islamic asylum seekers and elite opinion. Overlay Harper's history and training as a classical free-trade economist and there are many similarities.

Harper looks up to his 'mate' down under

Prime Minister John Howard and Harper met last year at a conservative event in Washington, and Conservative insiders say the two have been mates ever since.

Howard has lent Harper the expertise of political operatives, the same people who helped Howard win four consecutive terms of office. One of Harper's key advisers is a close personal friend of one of Howard's advisers.

Around Ottawa, Conservatives spoke reverently of Howard's masterful grasp of what voters want to hear.

In the last Aussie election, that meant a direct pitch to "mainstream" Australians with middle-class tax cuts, a tough stance on illegal immigration, and a determination to bar same-sex marriage.

"He's provided stable government, low taxes, an unapologetic sense of where Australia is in the world," said Tory MP Scott Reid, who once lived in Australia as a visiting scholar.

"Those things are not dissimilar to the type of things we're talking about doing."

Added another MP: "They've got the smartest communications strategy in the world."

Aussie political commentator Michelle Grattan wrote in the middle of Howard's first mandate that the prime minister regarded the media as "a problem to be handled."

"What we have now, in a nutshell, is an ever-more elaborate media management system, and an increasingly limited amount of direct, regular and in-depth media access to the leader making the decisions," Grattan wrote.

Sound familiar? Just Thursday, Harper indicated he wouldn't participate in the age-old tradition of press gallery dinners. And his first months in power have seen repeated skirmishes with the national media over access to the prime minister.

The real significance of the this meeting was around Kyoto and the environment, in particular in the development and promotion of greater use of nuclear energy as Australia and Canada are the largest sources of uranium in the world.

Talk govt considering nuclear power

What is often overlooked is that Australia and Canada share alot in common, not only as commonwealth countries, but in joint intelligence operations, such as Echelon, etc.

As Jeffery Simpson in the Globe noted;

The Canada-Australia relationship is a quite brilliant and unique one. It flies under the public radar. Leaders seldom visit each other's country. The media here and there largely ignore the other country. And yet, in many walks of life from federalism to law, from social policy to immigration, from intelligence to diplomacy, Australians and Canadians are in contact, sharing experiences and sometimes borrowing from each other in ways that illustrate that Australia, notwithstanding the proximity of the United States, is the country that most resembles Canada.

A cozier relationship with Australia, a Free Trade Agreement with them, and access to the Asian Pacific region which was already underway with our involvement in APEC is a strategy that is win win for these two conservative governments.

Australia would gain access to the US market via Canada and Canada would gain access to Asia via Australia. The fact we are both the largest resource miners in the world, share a common agricultural base, and are syncophantic partners in Empire, whether it was the Brits or Americans, will lead to a new economic and political partnership as was signaled by Howard with his visit here.

Should environmentalists and unions be worried. You bet. We all should be. Australia was the model for the Klein revolution in Alberta. Now that same Calgary gang rules in Ottawa.






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A Lesson For the Workers Movement

Something Buzz and Georgetti, the CAW, the CLC, CUPE and all the other unions in Canada should remember as they lobby to ameloriate the nasty brutishness of capitalism.

The same is true of the workers' movement: it does not come forward like a valiant knight moved by ethical indignation, who seeks to free the human race from the immorality of capitalism; rather it fights capitalism because it must, because for it there is no other way of salvation, because otherwise it will quite simply be pulverized by the enormous weight of capitalism. - Anton Pannekoek

The whole quote is an excellent refutation of the moral indignation of liberals versus the historical materialist outlook of libertarian communists. Check it out at Boredom Won't Get Me Tonight



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Banks Screw You Again

Ellen Roseman reports today; Savings rate lags interest rate on loans

The Bank of Canada has raised its overnight lending rate six times since last September. So, you might expect that high-interest savings rates have gone up as well.Think again. Banks seem to be tightening their spreads — at the expense of savers.

Oh the banks screwing us again. That's news?! Yep as I have said before the Peoples Bank, credit unions, once again beat the banks. As does the Alberta Treasury Branch the other Peoples Bank in Canada.

The best savings rate I found was 3.85 per cent, offered by two online banks owned by credit unions in Manitoba, Achieva Financial and Outlook Financial.

Hey that's a better rate than ING the online bank. But they offer a GIC without a minimum and NO Service Charges unlike Achieva and Outlook.
See GIC Rates


Also see:

Proudhon

Tory Bankers

Bank Charges

Service Charges

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No Need For Sheriff Dodge

Canada April inflation lags
In the U.S., core inflation was 3.6%, whereas the Canadian number was reported at 1.6% . This morning's tame inflation numbers belie the other stats and may result in the Bank of Canada being forced to the sidelines, for if inflation numbers continue a trend that showed today, there will be little need for the Bank to be in the market.

So when will David Dodge retire, there's nothing for him to do. The economy takes care of itself.

``The Canadian dollar is keeping inflation relatively tame,'' Kwan said. That ``may be reflected in the statement.''Canadian Prices, Excluding Gas, Unexpectedly Decline in April

Only the Globe and Mail could turn this good news story on its head.
Canadian inflation edges up


Also See

Loonie

Petro Dollar

Monopoly

Monopolies


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Harpocrite Redux

Meet the New Boss Same as the Old Boss.

Harper says he's not bound by results of Kyoto vote

Paul Martin, Ethics and Democracy

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Manning Made Right Decision

He said he wants to continue his work on his Calgary think-tank, the Manning Centre for the Building of Democracy, rather than enter the leadership race.”

Because if you go to the Manning Centre For Building Democracy web page it doesn't open up to anything. Its disfunctional. Just like Mannings ideas for privatizing public institutions like healthcare. It is modeled on American Right Wing Leadership Institute.He needs to spend some time fixing his website, rather than running for the leadership of the Alberta Party of Calgary.


More on Manning

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Cops and Tasers

Bullies in uniform who are above the law because they enforce the law. There is something wrong with this picture. And then they are allowed to use a deadly weapon like the Taser. Bad enough they are armed and dangerous with guns and pepper spray. Here is another case just like the other case of Edmonton Cops outta control.

City policeman charged with tasering motorist

Florence Loyie, Edmonton Journal

Published: Wednesday, May 17, 2006

An Edmonton police officer, who was reprimanded in 2003 by the Law Enforcement Review Board for using excessive force, has been charged with assault with a weapon in connection with a traffic stop where a struggle ensued and a motorist was tasered.

Const. Aubrey Zalaski is to appear in court June 16 to answer to the charge.

Zalaski was one of three city police officers reprimanded by the province’s police service watchdog in 2003 for using excessive force during a struggle with a man and his daughter outside a Whyte Avenue bar in June, 1998.

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Criminal Capitalism: Xstrata

Here is another criminal capitalist enterprize that makes Enron look legitimate, and reminds me of the Mutual Fund Criminals around Bernie Cornfeld.

The primitive accumulation of capital has always been a criminal enterprize.

And of course these criminal capitalists are always opposed to unions. Just like regular capitalists.

The irony is that Xstrata is in a bidding war over Falconbridge, which includes Inco and Teck Cominco, all four are vying to create monopoly in the resource industry that is heating up. Timidity keeps corporate Canada off world stage


Oh yes thats the other problem with capitalism its inherent need to create monopolies and oligopolies.

Dark talk dogs CEO of Xstrata

Still, when Xstrata starts making big deals abroad, people start mentioning words far removed from mining, or from anything having to do with Mick Davis: Saddam Hussein, CIA, international fugitives, presidential pardons.

This has nothing to do with Xstrata, a public company traded on the London Stock Exchange, and everything to do with the private company that created Xstrata in 1990 and that is still its largest shareholder. Glencore International AG, one of the most secretive and most profitable private companies in the world, is both the source of Mr. Davis's success and the albatross around his neck.

Glencore was created by Marc Rich, the billionaire commodities trader who became the world's most-wanted white-collar fugitive in the 1990s, when he was sought by U.S. authorities for tax evasion and tax fraud, and for breaking UN embargoes by trading with countries such as Iran and apartheid-era South Africa. In 2000, in the final weeks of his presidency, Bill Clinton granted Mr. Rich, a Democratic Party donor, a controversial pardon.

Both Xstrata and Glencore are headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, a tiny canton that claims to have the lowest corporate tax rates in Europe. It also has extremely lax disclosure rules, and can serve as a haven for white-collar fugitives — as it did throughout the 1990s, when Mr. Rich made it his refuge.

“Glencore was created as a shadow company to divert attention from Marc Rich & Co. in New York when the feds were going after Rich for fraud,” said Craig Copetas, the Bloomberg News reporter whose book Metal Men investigated the history of Mr. Rich and Glencore. “They were trying to hide all the bad stuff from Rich, but the judge didn't have anything to do with it.”

A few years earlier, in 1990, Mr. Rich had created Xstrata as a mineral exploitation subsidiary of his metal trading firm. They are separate now, although Glencore controls 38 per cent of Xstrata's shares either directly or through its wholly owned subsidiaries. The two firms share a chairman, Willy Strothotte, a long-time colleague of Mr. Rich's.

Mr. Davis and other Xstrata executives argue that the taint of Mr. Rich is unfair. According to U.S. media reports, Mr. Rich sold his major stake in Glencore for $500-million more than a decade ago, and while it is widely believed among metal traders that Mr. Rich still has his hands in the operation, there has never been any evidence of such control.

Glencore continues to be a controversial company: In 2004, the CIA charged that the company had received millions from the Iraqi oil-for-food program after paying millions in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime (Glencore denied these charges)

Who is Xstrata, anyway?

Is bid for Falconbridge a tad Rich?

Swiss offer puts PM to test

Xstrata's Falconbridge Bid Opposed by Canada Lawmakers, Unions

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Gwyn Morgan Union Buster

Here are exerpts from Gwyn Morgans speech to the Fraser Institute. He says more, on immigration, crime, coloured folks, etc. But this is his anti-union rant.Oh and in being anti-monopoly he is of course not speaking of corporate monopolies, but of the public sector.

Which reminds me of when Michael Walker of the Fraser Institute at a Labour Arbitration Conference in Calgary referred to unions as parasites on the back of workers. Really I thought the parasites were the bosses and the ruling class. But then as I told Mr. Walker he really was a wannabe Ayn Rand in drag.

Oh and Gwyn Morgan is from Calgary. Why is that no surprize.

Tonight, I will follow the Fraser Institute's example of calling a spade a shovel by looking at facts. Now that I've got the shovel out, let's dig down to the root cause of some key issues.The first one is the relationship between unionization and economic competitiveness. It has been demonstrated time and again that private sector unionization eventually leads to an uncompetitive business. One only has to look at the union vs. non-union auto plants in North America and the rest of the world for proof of this ... The highly unionized auto sector in Germany is in deep trouble, while auto plants in eastern European countries are thriving. The former industrial heartlands of the United States in upstate New York and Michigan are in deep trouble, while non-union plants in the Carolinas thrive. The "big three" unionized auto manufacturers in Ontario are in trouble, burdened by uncompetitive cost structures and rigid work rules. The downward drift into the abyss continues, while union leaders and politicians focus only on the symptoms. It's sad to see people who have put in decades of dedicated service put out of a job, when their own unions have made their employers uncompetitive. How can an organization that is fighting with itself compete with organizations where everyone is aligned to outperform the competition?The reason that the private sector has become less and less unionized is because a lot of unionized businesses fail ... Unions thrive on monopolies. Monopolies rarely go out of business — they simply pass on their increasing costs and inefficiencies. And the public sector is, by definition, brimming with monopolies. So we see the phenomena of spiralling public sector costs combined with inefficient and low-quality public sector services. Now let's get our shovel out again and dig into another issue that is crucial to both Canadians' social stability and productivity — the immigration system.

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Northern Sovereignty

An interesting column in Todays Globe and Mail by Lawrence Martin;

'The future of this country is going north," Brian Mulroney said recently in Ottawa with Stephen Harper listening in. "It is time for a new northern vision." He stressed the need for leadership on global warming (was Rona Ambrose listening?), but the heart of his speech was the need to realize Canada's northern ambition. From someone viewed as one of our foremost American integrationists, it was a striking declaration.

Shortly thereafter, another former Tory prime minister, Joe Clark, followed with an article on these pages that said it's time for Ottawa policy-makers to look beyond the United States. The debate in this country, he said, is too narrow.

The New York Times' Thomas Friedman said last week that the years of America as the megapower -- the "belle époque," as he called it -- were drawing to a close. "The post-post-Cold War is a multipolar world," he wrote, "where U.S. power is being checked from every corner." From China, from Russia, from producers of black gold that form "the axis of oil."

In Ottawa, it's hard to get a sense that many see things the way the aforementioned observers do. If the future is north, as Mr. Mulroney says, you'd never know it by listening to the Liberal leadership candidates or -- though it has made some promises on Arctic sovereignty -- the Conservative government. China is paid little heed. And rather than go international, as Mr. Clark recommends, the Harperites were being accused by the opposition parties this week of being more inclined to bed down with a besieged America.

Also See:

Petrocan's Arctic Sovereignty

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Conservative Anti-Kyoto Alliance

It is interesting that the same alliance in Iraq is also the Alliance Against Kyoto. That is the Conservative Government of Australia, the US and now the Conservative Government in Ottawa.

Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell says Australia should be talking to Canada about joining the Asia-Pacific climate change partnership. Prime Minister John Howard is flying to Canada from the US later today to meet the new Canadian Prime Minister.It is expected they will discuss the Asia-Pacific Clean Development and Climate Partnership, which was set up in January.Campbell talks up Canadian climate change deal membership

The Tories seem fixated on "voluntary" compliance, which may explain their interest in the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate. It includes such non-Kyoto signatories as China and the U.S. Like Kyoto, it favours research on clean technology. Unlike Kyoto, it doesn't require members to live by greenhouse gas reduction targets. If Harper thinks "voluntary" works, just try it with income tax. Diluting Kyoto recipe for crisis

Oh by the way ask yourself this; why is our Environment Minister Rona Ambrose who heads the UN Kyoto Conference not in Bonn. The conference is two weeks long. It's a question that Canadian delegates are asking.

She came, she spoke, she hastily departed. What an embarassment.

I am not an environmentalist but I play one

More on Kyoto



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social ecology

Confined Space Kills

One of the most common and deadly killers of workers is confined space. As this shows. It is a classic case of a confined space tragedy. The killer in the space was H2SO4, hydrogen sulphide. The failure to treat this mine as confined space, complete with atmospheric testing led to the unecassary deaths of four men.

RENO--(Mineweb.com) As of deadline Wednesday evening, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Government of British Columbia were trying to determine if hydrogen sulfide gas had killed four people at the old Sullivan lead, zinc and silver mine near Kimberley, British Columbia.

Teck Cominco said it learned early Wednesday morning that one of its environmental consultants was missing. The RCMP contract employee, who was testing water at a pumping station as part of reclamation of the Sullivan mine, may have died two days ago.

Teck Cominco then began the search for the individual who was found floating in the well of the above-ground pump house by another contract employee. Unfortunately, the employee, who was attempting to rescue the consultant, entered the shed with two paramedics, and was also overcome. Two paramedics, who were not wearing protective gear when they tried to rescue the victims, also were overcome, according to the RCMP.

The question here is why the RCMP were once again involved, not as police but as contract workers. If this was the case and not a misprint. If it is the case then it is not unlike the case in Mayerthorpe Alberta last year when four RCMP were killed acting as repo-men on contract.

And why were these 'contract' employees entering a confined space with no protective equipment, and no air samplers in violation of confined space legislation? After all a MINE is a CONFINED SPACE. And Hydrogen Sulfide gas occurs in Zinc and Copper mines. Especially abandoned ones.

The fact the mine is leaching acid is itself a testament to Teck Comincos bad environment practices. Bad environmental practices, bad health and safety practices. Anything for a buck gete folks killed.

Ogilvie said while the lead zinc mine was closed in 2001, Teck Cominco continued to do reclamation work on the site. He said the pumping station where the four died was being used to treat acid which leaks from the mine site.

But it could have been far worse if the Kimberly fire fighters had not treated this as a confined space operation.

The victims were found by Kimberley firefighters who had followed up the initial emergency call. "When they got to the site of the emergency ... they found there were four people down at the time," said Ogilvie. "They donned their gear to go into hazardous atmospheres and confined spaces .... They removed three people and one was left. The other three were transferred to hospital but I understand now that all four have been pronounced dead." Toxic gas kills 4 in mine `horror'

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Why This War

Last night the Oilers defeated the Sharks.

Unfortunately for Canada the Conservative Sharks in Parliament, with aid of the rats in the Liberals, defeated commonsense and peacekeeping for war making and being a surrogate to the American Empire. In a vote that was damn close 149-145 a bare majority supported warmaking.

A vote that close would of course NOT allow Quebec to Separate, but it allows Canada to go to war.

In an editorial the Toronto Star asks;

What's known is this: Canadians will be in the front lines of George W. Bush's war on terrorism until 2009 and perhaps far beyond.

A strong case can be made for that continuing commitment, including that the military needs a firm, long-term mandate and that the Canadian effort there may eventually make a lasting difference. As Harper argued before bolting the Commons after his speech, interests and values are at stake in a country that warlords, opium and fundamentalism make so fragile.

Still, that doesn't fully explain how Afghanistan evolved into Ottawa's offshore priority, why the military favours the model showcased there and when extended intervention became important enough to warrant yet another election. Most of all it doesn't justify the suggestion — the Big Lie — that questioning the mission's merits undermines morale and comforts the enemy.

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Every Cop is a Criminal

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah
But whats puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, oh yeah, get down, baby
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah
But whats confusing you
Is just the nature of my game
Just as every cop is a criminal
And all the sinners saints
The Rolling Stones - "Sympathy For The Devil"



No hearing for 'no rats' officers

Sergeant who made, distributed T-shirts faces discreditable conduct charge

EDMONTON -- An Edmonton police officer accused and later exonerated of assaulting inner-city residents is one of four officers who wore "no rats" T-shirts to a police function during an investigation of him and his downtown squad.

But Const. Elvin Toy and three other officers who wore the T-shirts in June 2005 will not face an internal disciplinary hearing.

"The clear message from those T-shirts was, 'keep your mouth shut,' " Engel said.

Boyd determined there was insufficient evidence to charge Toy with assault. Toy was suspended with pay for a year during the investigation.

After the story about the racist e-mail was published, da Costa said there was no place in the Edmonton Police Service for racists.

"The e-mail was racist, discriminatory, disgusting and offensive," da Costa told his officers in an internal newsletter.

The Journal has learned that Radmanovich was selected by the EPS to give a presentation to the Citizens Police Academy, an informal seminar to help residents understand how the police service functions.

Sources said during his presentation, Radmanovich made statements about inner-city people, and his use of a Taser, that shocked some in the audience, which included Crown prosecutors and several members of the Edmonton Police Commission. Some commissioners later voiced their concerns about Radmanovich to da Costa, several sources say.

Also See

The Crime of Privatization

Death by Taser

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There's Still The Green Party

Manning won't run for Alberta Conservatives: CTV

But there is still the Leadership of the Green Party open.

Anyone want to draft Preston?!


A tip o' the blog to Calgary Grit


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Canadian Labour Says NO Troops In Afghanistan

The Canadian Labour Congress has issued an emergency Press Release over the debate and vote on extending the Canadian Armed Forces mission in Afghanistan.

CLC: Working Families Want Withdrawal from Afghanistan

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(CCNMatthews - May 17, 2006) - The Canadian Labour Congress calls for the withdrawal of Canada's troops in Afghanistan and an increase of our commitment to the reconstruction and development of that country. At its regular spring meeting earlier this week, the Executive Council of the Canadian Labour Congress commended the courage and bravery of all the men and women serving in Afghanistan. The Executive Council, which brings together the senior leaders of the country's largest unions along with the presidents of the provincial and territorial federations of labour, adopted a statement that also denounces the fact that our federal government "has moved beyond the NATO mission of humanitarian relief and peacekeeping to an active combat role in support of the US military mission in Afghanistan. In so doing, our government has put Canadian troops in harm's way in an unprecedented manner." The Executive Council of the Canadian Labour Congress does not "accept the argument that Canadian presence is intended to bring democracy to the people of Afghanistan. Nor do we accept the premise that our presence is intended to put Afghanistan on the road to sustainable development or improve women's equality in that country." That is why the Canadian Labour Congress urges the government to: - take the necessary measures to ensure the safe and immediate withdrawal of Canadian troops from Afghanistan; - increase significantly our resource and financial commitments to UN-led multilateral peacekeeping and humanitarian initiatives such as is needed in Darfur; - strengthen developmental aid to Afghanistan so that reconstruction efforts are achieved and engage civil society in developmental programs fostering good governance, and respecting human rights, gender equality and internationally-recognized core labour standards; - ensure any future deployment of Canadian troops is debated and voted on by the representatives of the citizens of Canada in the House of Commons.

More on Afghanistan



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Liberals Free Vote on Afghanistan

I got this response from the Liberals in regards to my emailing them to oppose the vote today to extend our operations in Afghanistan.

Thank you for passing along your view. We have received many similar emails this morning. We will look closely at the proposed extension. I will be passing along your views to Mr. Graham's office where the decision will have to be made.

Liberal Leader Bill Graham announced two hours ago that the Liberals will allow a free vote for their MP's, due to the overwhelming opposition in Caucus to the Conservatives rushed up and down no amendment allowed motion. That now appears to have been based on NATO asking us to run the mission, and the UN calling for action on Darfur.

Liberal House leader Bill Graham said MPs "have had a gun put to our heads" and Liberals were free to vote with their conscience.

Information that the government had but did not share with the opposition parties. The NDP and BQ will oppose the motion, if enough Liberals do to, it will be defeated. Keep up the pressure, keep those emails going.

You can send them to the Opposition parties here

And to the MP's here



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What's the Rush

The Conservatives rush to push through an up down vote, no amendments, you are on the bus or off the bus motion to extend Canada's military adventure in Afghanistan could be because of this;

Canada asked to lead in Kabul NATO wants Ottawa to assume command of entire Afghan mission starting in 2008

and this;

UN decides to send peacekeepers to Darfur Troops to come mostly from South Asian, African and Islamic nations, diplomats say




Also see:UrgentAction-NO Troops In Afghanistan Email your MP email contacts



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Too Popular

This is what happens when you become to popular.

This site is temporarily experiencing traffic that far exceeds capacity.

Please note that the online questionnaire operates beyond May 16. We encourage you to try again before May 23rd. This will satisfy your obligation to complete and return your Census questionnaire.

The census online application now accessible to Linux operating system

In response to demand, Statistics Canada has removed the restriction for Linux. This change takes effect May 13th, 2006.

This broadened access to open-source users is available to those who have a valid browser and JVM. These minimum requirements are necessary in order to maintain the same level of data encryption with Public Key Infrastructure (PKI).

With the addition of this new operating system, the capacity of the Census Help Line operators to respond to technical calls from open source users may be limited. However, we expect this will not be a major obstacle for the vast majority of these users.

A tip ' the blog to ViveleCanada.ca


Also See:

Correction

Census Beer

Jack Fights Back Over Census

Census 2006 Count Me Out

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Ward Churchill Slagged

To the joy of the right wing, and the perennial sore loser David Horowitz (I coulda been a professor but all dem lefties got the jobs) Ward Churchill has been found wanting as an academic.

He has been sanctioned in campaign of vilification that we have not seen since the McCarthy hearings. Churchill's Wife Resigns CU Post

I suspect it's really because they don't like his sunglasses.

With this report it appears that it is encouraging more folks to pile on the 'get Ward Churchill train'.CU Professor Hit With Another Allegation

Ward Churchill committed multiple, “deliberate” acts of academic misconduct, according to a review by a faculty panel, released today by the University of Colorado at Boulder.

While the panel was unanimous in its findings about Churchill’s conduct, it was divided about whether he should lose his tenured position as professor — as politicians and many others have been demanding for more than a year. Three of the panel’s five members believe that the violations of academic standards are severe enough to make dismissal “not an inappropriate sanction.” But only one of those three members believes that dismissal is the “most appropriate sanction.” Two others favor suspension without pay for five years.

Two other members of the panel said that they did not believe that the violations were serious enough to merit dismissal. They recommend a suspension of two years without pay and say that they fear dismissal would “have an adverse effect on other scholars’ ability to conduct their research with due freedom.”

The committee was created last year, after Churchill’s comments shortly after 9/11, in which he compared victims in the World Trade Center to “little Eichmanns,” set off a nationwide furor. A Colorado panel concluded last year that however offensive those remarks may have been, they were protected speech. The panel that reported today investigated research misconduct charges that surfaced after the 9/11 comments made Churchill so widely known. Churchill has consistently denied wrongdoing, and said that the committee’s work is tainted because it was created by those determined to see him lose his position because of his outspoken views.The faculty panel acknowledged that the allegations it examined surfaced “in the wake of the public outcry concerning some highly controversial essays by Professor Churchill”

Ward Churchill articles a ZNET


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Rona Ambrose Lied

Rona Ambrose the Alberta Petro Industry apologist disquised as the Minister of Environment lied when she said that to meet our Kyoto commitment; "would mean that today we would have to take every train, plane and automobile off the streets of Canada. That's not realistic." Not so says the Parkland Institute in a web comment at the Globe and Mail Today.

Environment Canada, a unit in Ms. Ambrose's own ministry, tells a different story. It is oil production, not oil consumption, that is the fastest growing source of Canada's emissions. "Growth in oil and gas exports, almost all to the United States, contributed significantly to emission growth between 1990 and 2003."

And tar sands production is scheduled to at least triple to three million barrels a day in the next 10 years. Most of that increase is for export to the United States. So, the refusal by the new Conservative government to meet Kyoto targets is due in part to Canada's role in feeding what President George Bush called America's "addiction to oil." To meet its Kyoto targets, why does Canada not just reduce oil and natural gas exports to the U.S.? Then, instead of building more tar sands plants at $10-billion a project, provincial and federal governments could adopt policies to reduce energy usage for a fraction of the cost.

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Gun Nutz

Blue Grit asks "This issue really baffles me. I cannot for the life of me understand why any reasonable person would oppose registering guns. "

The problem is that those opposed to the gun registry, are not reasonable. They are gun nutz. They are Canadians who wanna be Americans, they view gun control and the gun registry as attacks on their right to bear arms. Though we have no such rights enshrined in Canadian law or the constitution.

They are right wingers, red necks, psuedo-libertarians, social conservatives, cheerleaders for the NRA.

Not all gun owners fall into this group of politicos, nor do all shooters (such as sports shooters), but these are the kinds of gun-nutz that oppose gun control.

Gun control. Not just gun registration. They have opposed gun control since it was expanded by the Trudeau government. Oh and they hate the liberal state. Liberal, they drool passionately in a pavlovian manner, spittle forming on their lips as they relish the thought of blasting away at all politicians.

I know I have met most of them at one time or another. Don't believe me go check out a gun show. They are proud of the fact that their politics are to the right of Attila the Hun. And they will tell you so.

Take Dave Tomlinson of the National Firearms Association (NFA), who modeled this organization on the US NRA. He is as fuzzy a thinker as the fuzz on his face. This grizzled would be mountain man spouts all the rhetoric of those gun nutz south of the border.

Consistency is not part of their platform. They want law and order, more cops, and their guns. Yet the cops don't want them to have guns, want gun control and the gun registry. So ya gotta scratch your head and say huh?

These gun nutz helped create the Reform Party, and they are also the folks who want to get tough on criminals, you know lock em up, bring back the lash, throw away the key.

Bring back the lash. Yep they like that idea. Except then they go on talk shows and say how they will break the law and not register their guns. No way, can't make me, pry my gun from my cold dead fingers.

So if they go to jail for not registering their guns can we give em the lash and throw away the key.

There is no logic to their argument. Its political. Its Republicanism in Canada. Its stupid. Its unreasonable.

We register our cars, we have drivers licenses, we can register our guns, and carry our Firearms licences. Anything else is right wing loonie whining.


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