Bambi's BlogAssSphere

Iran Must Not Have Nuclear Weapons? Why?

noreply@blogger.com (Bambi) — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 17:08:00 +0000

I mean this in all sincerity. Why is everyone so adamant that Iran getting a nuclear weapon would be the absolute worst thing on the planet? Don’t get me wrong; I think there should be NO nuclear weapons held by any country, but since 9 countries (1 of which still ‘pretends’ that they don’t) already have them, I’m not sure that they should have the right to dictate that other countries should not.

Perhaps a look into the past (although I know that might not be convenient to some, or relevant to others), would be required. America’s relationship with Iran is over two hundred years old. Much of that time, they were allies. Iran shared a border with what was then the USSR, and during the Cold War, that was of value to the US. Relations with England and the USSR were tense at the time, but America had their backs… as long as it was convenient to the US.

During WWII, Iran was a conduit for aid from the UK and US into Russia. It also was key in helping Polish refugees and Polish Armed Forces to escape ahead of invasion by the Axis countries, so much so that Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill issued the Tehran Declaration, guaranteeing both self rule and territorial rights for Iran.

In 1953, however, Mohammad Mosaddegh was elected Prime Minister of Iran. The oil industry in the country had been nationalized just two years earlier, basically taking over the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and slapping the UK in the face in the process. Britain wanted to retaliate, but good old Harry S Truman said no… until he said yes. Suddenly ‘Communism’ was too much of a threat, at least to the oil industry there, and so MI6 and the CIA decided it was time for some regime change. Here is where the wheels come off.

To be fair, by this time, the US and UK were getting pretty handy at trying to force leadership changes in other countries – handy at trying, but not succeeding. The US reportedly tried to force regime changes 72 times just during the Cold War. So, what gives the US the right to think that they can just disregard the choices made by the people of a country, and override them, to the sole gain of the US? According to the Cline Center at the University of Illinois, 72 is just a drop in the bucket. They point to 350 coup attempts initiated by the US, 191 of them just since 1982.

So why, out of all the countries of the world, is the US so adamant that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons? Well, they have a cultist leader. Human rights mean not a lot to the Iranian leaders. Their administration is perhaps unstable. There is major corruption at the top. Now look at some of the countries who do have nuclear capabilities and tell me how they are any different than Iran. Russia, China, India, North Korea, and Israel all tick all of those boxes. The USA also does now.

There was an agreement with Iran to allow the rest of the world to monitor what they were doing, in an attempt to cool off hostilities, and as a small show of faith between two countries that have a tumultuous history, but that didn’t matter to the latest administration in America. Israel was the one to start bombing in Iran, just because they could, and because Netanyahu needs every distraction he can create while committing his plethora of hideous crimes and genocide, and the Orange Felon bought into it, hook, line, and sinker.

Be honest about this: the illegal bombing of Iran this last weekend was not about anything that Iran was doing. As Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, ‘Forget the intelligence.’ It was about two other governments who are horrible corrupt, who have leaders who are adjudicated criminals, who have created unmitigated disasters in their own countries, and will now resort to damned near anything just to save their own skins, and if they can line their pockets in the process, then so much the better. Creating this new global crisis has removed the scrutiny of their own illegality, their cruelty to their own people, the mountain of human rights violations they commit on a daily basis, their willingness to sacrifice human lives, and the environment, and world peace and stability, without batting an eye.

Perhaps our efforts are better spent on demanding (or forcing) regime change in Israel and the US, and leave Iran alone. The world would be a better place for it. Demanding that Iran go to the ‘negotiating table’ to hash out a penalty for crimes they have not yet committed, is no different than the rest of the world trying to ‘negotiate’ their way out of illegal tariffs that they never implemented. There is no negotiating with a lying madman.

Back in the Saddle, Riding Past Mountains of Horse Shit

noreply@blogger.com (Bambi) — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 15:30:00 +0000

If I am dusting this thing off after these years, I want to do it properly. I will try not to do the long editorial shit (like yesterday) unless I am really really pissed off. Note: That seems to happen more as I age and as I witness the rising of the Fourth Reich.

For those keeping track, as we watch The Fuhrer and his BeBe Buddy getting ready to strike the match for the powder keg that is the Middle East, Israel has been bombing civilians in Gaza for 1 year, 8 months, 1 week, and 3 days. Of the 251 hostages that were taken by Hamas on October 7, 2023, 53 are still being held, and at least 20 are believed to be still alive. Apparently blasting the everloving hell out of Gaza wasn’t such a great strategy for getting hostages back, but it’s one hell of a plan for getting a few seaside ocean resorts in the area. Apparently, the loss of life isn’t the issue at all anymore; now it’s just a couple of wrinkly old dogs having a pissing match despite the inability to hold up a hind leg.

~*~

The G7 meeting in Kananaskis, Alberta has ended. One of the results of the meeting was a concerted, united effort to (finally) offer more substantial support to Ukraine by way of sanctions against Russia, money and munitions for Ukraine, and an ultimatum. It seems that in the massive vacuum left by a bloviating bully leaving early, the adults were allowed to actually do some work. This has gone on way too long, and there is no way that Ukraine should be compromised in any way to get a peace deal. They didn’t start this shit, they didn’t want this shit, and it was 100% unnecessary, other than for the greed and ego of what is quickly becoming pathetic and paranoid Putin.

~*~

As Heir Fuhrer is denouncing criminals and sending his jack-booted, pussy-whipped, mask-wearing thugs to pick on Senators and city Comptrollers, one wonders what it will take to get law enforcement to turn their attention to the real criminals in the US – the ones sitting in the GOP caucus rooms. Now, before you get all pissy with me about it, I know, they aren’t all criminals, but come on, the ones who are just sitting there saying nothing and going along to get along are as criminal as the ones actually doing the shit.

~*~

Bill C-5. Why is it that politicians cannot create laws that don’t have other more nefarious crap buried inside them. Carney’s C-5 is intended to break down some of the trade barriers that exist between provinces in Canada. Now, this is a good thing, but it is only one step. The rest of the work has to be done by the provinces, but this clears away some of the red tape along the way. But then, it goes on to enact the Building Canada Act, a delightful little ditty that allows the federal government to ignore whatever regulations or procedures or restrictions that might exist for a project, if they deem it an issue of ‘national interest.’ This overreach potentially means that any First Nations land claims, any environmental issues, any health concerns, can be totally disregarded, and there is no recourse to stop it. Of course, a bill like this should have proper debate and discussion before being passed, right? Hell no. Of course not, because then all the things wrong with it would be exposed. How do I know this? Because any time the conservatives agree to limiting debate on a liberal bill, you know there is shit in there that ought not be, and here it is. This is how the shit starts. Write your MPs and tell them that this bill is bullshit. If the project is in the national interest, then there is a way to make it work with discussion and agreement, not just ramming this shit down our throats.

~*~

Yesterday, a young woman from Georgia passed away. Well, actually, she passed away 4 months ago, but because she was a few weeks pregnant, the government ordered that she be put on life support until the baby was viable. She was a government-sanctioned baby incubator, and nothing more. Her life didn’t matter. Her dignity didn’t matter. Her family’s wishes didn’t matter. After four long, expensive months, it was determined that the baby was viable. They cut her open, pulled out the 1-pound baby, unplugged the ventilator and let her die… again. Please someone explain to me (actually, that’s rhetorical because I really don’t give a crap about your stupidity) how this is pro-life. This is pro-birth. The government made the demands, the family now has to deal with the hardships, not the least of which will be the medical bills. In a time when the Trump government is more than happy to deprive living people of the medications they need to keep on living, when they find it entertainment to see how seniors juggle between paying for prescriptions or paying for their food, and really not being able to afford either, they just dumped absolutely smothering debt onto the shoulders of a family who has been put through a very special, very sick hell. Oh, but there will be social programs to help this family, right? Fuck no! Those are all being cancelled as well. Food stamps? Lunches at schools? Help with daycare? I mean, come on, you had the baby, so now you deal with it. If any of these people were prolife, they would also be all in on social programs to help all children, all families, all seniors, instead of vilifying them. If they were really pro-life, as Jesus intended, then they would want the same rights for colored people, for immigrants, for gays and lesbians, for trans people, but noooo, they are only pro-birth, and then, well, you call all fuck off, unless of course you are a white Christian conservative.

Time to Play Taps for America?

noreply@blogger.com (Bambi) — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 00:57:00 +0000

I have held my tongue for a long time now. When Heir Trump showed up on the scene, I figured that irony was dead, and what was the point in trying to talk about something so completely unhinged. I figured that our friends to the south would eventually figure it out, but here we are. Now, I do think they are figuring it out (FAFO baby), but is it too late?

Take the G7 meetings these last three days. You would think, in the event of a war breaking out in the Middle East, the leaders would want to work together, to provide a united front. The Fuhrer had most of the main heads of state right there to discuss it with, but no, Captain Ego couldn’t do that. Instead, he does the ‘I’m too important’ crappola, and with the poise of a tantruming five-year-old, he stomps off to his plane and fucks off back home.

This administration is like a masterclass in hypocrisy. The Secretary of Defense is too busy defending his stupidity and drinking to actually know anything about his portfolio. The Secretary of Education wants to shut down public schools. The Secretary of Commerce is head cheerleader for the destruction of the economy… the sous chef of the old TACO truck, if you will. And the Secretary of Health is determined to kill as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, using his worm-rejected atrophied brain to the best of his ability.

They screamed about Hilary’s emails, but when it comes to the Sec Def sharing attack plans on an unsecured device, using an unsecured platform, and including unsecured personnel (although thank you for that incompetency), they offer crickets. They claimed that Biden was suffering from dementia, but apparently the moron who cannot stand straight, who cannot read, who blatantly shows the sans-worm devouring of his cranial grey cells is totally okay.

So now as we are on the verge of war with Iran, for who knows what possible reason, we hear them saying that Iran cannot be trusted to have such powerful weapons, like nuclear warheads. We hear about how regime change would be a good thing for them, so perhaps dropping a few bombs on them would help. They talk about the cruelties of an Iranian regime on their own citizens. Now change the word ‘Iran’ to ‘USA’ in that paragraph.

The thing with ‘conservative values’ is that they are not about values at all. They tell you who to hate, who to point fingers at, and how someone else is ripping off the system by being poor, or having health issues, or being the wrong color or religion. Hate the gay people, the trans people, the immigrants, the special needs people, the seniors because they are robbing you of what you should and could have. Don’t look at the corporations or the millionaires who are making millions under the guise of creating a strong economy. Remind yourself that there is only one thing that trickles down, and it sure as hell is not money from the rich. The cruelty of the rules don’t matter, as long as they don’t impact your own perfect little Christian life. The cruelty is the thing that they crave, because it helps those at the top stay at the top.

So, amid the assassinations, the depriving of healthcare and education, the ignoring of judicial decisions, the protests and parades, the arrests, the lies, the bloviating, the hypocrisy, please tell me how the US now differs from Iran. Change has to come from within. Watching the reactions of the GOP these last few weeks, I am not sure that’s possible anymore. Perhaps it truly is time to break out the bagpipes, and squeeze out a plaintive rendition of Taps for the world’s greatest experiment in democracy.

~ * ~

The G7 is taking place in Kananaskis, Alberta this week. If you catch nothing else of the festivities, be sure to catch the absolutely magnificent eyeroll from Italy’s Giorgia Meloni as she responds to Macron whispering in her ear, almost assuredly about some asinine thing that the US Fuhrer said or did.

GETTING A WORKPLACE REALITY CHECK

noreply@blogger.com (Bambi) — Thu, 13 Oct 2016 14:13:00 +0000

DATELINE: GETTING A WORKPLACE REALITY CHECK – After days of watching news coverage of the election campaign for the leader of the most powerful country in the world, I can no longer sit silently. No, I was not grabbed or kissed by Donald Trump, and no, Bill Clinton didn’t drop his drawers for me, BUT for every woman who has been through that experience with any man, it is once again visceral for them. Old wounds, long thought scarred over, are red and raw once more.

This morning I listened to commentaries and pundits talking about being skeptical about the timing of these things, and why it’s coming out now. How could these women have remained silent for so long? How could they even remember what happened that long ago. It was years, so is it really relevant now? Well, let me enlighten you.

First, imagine being young, idealistic, energetic, with a whole world in front of you, but each morning, as you get dressed, you look in the mirror and wonder if you are making the right choice. You know, as a young woman, your clothes, nylons, shoes, hairstyle… everything… will be up for scrutiny. You consider what lies ahead of you that day, what’s on your agenda, and which co-workers you will be working with, knowing that if it’s this one, you should be wearing slacks because otherwise you will be in a wrestling match again when he tries to slide his hand up your skirt. You weigh in your mind how much photocopying you will have to do that day, because you know the photocopier is across the hall from an office of a man who seems to think that bending over to reload paper is his personal invitation to be an ass. You have to think about all these things, every day, before you even consider walking out the door… all just to do the job you are hired to do (at less money than your male counterparts, who obviously are considered more worthy than yourself).

So, you get to work. One of your male supervisors leans up against the wall when beside you, looking at your chest as he talks to you, not even making an attempt to hide the entitled expression on his face. You dressed for him. How nice. Well, not really, but that’s what he says, and you know if you say anything to correct that, you will pay for it. Another leans over your desk, invading your space with his halitoxic (yes, patent is pending on that word) breath because how could you get through the day without him stopping by to say hello. You have to put up with wolf whistles as you walk down the street and strangers yelling at you to smile; you worry about who might reach out to touch you, both on the street and in your work environment. This is all just in the first half hour of your day – every day.

There are few women, over the last forty years, who have not experienced this to one degree or another. A torn dress, a ripped sleeve, a broken heel on a shoe: those are just the cost of being a woman in the workforce. It’s simply a fact – a sick, sad fucking fact. You have no recourse, especially in decades past. It was the entitlement of the men in the office to be assholes to the women. Not all the men were; there were many who were absolute gentlemen. They were generally the ones who had their work done first. That was our only show of protest at the time.

Women didn’t complain. They couldn’t. If you complained, your job changed. You got demoted. You missed out on promotions. The men talked about you more, viciously, hurtfully, lying about you among themselves, but making sure you knew what they were saying. They talked about their conquests. They talked to each other. They gave you a bad job reference when you tried to leave. That was all just for asking them to stop. You wanted it, but couldn’t handle it. You were a child playing an adult game. You dressed like you wanted it. You stayed through your coffee break so that must clearly mean you wanted that attention. It was just fooling around anyway, nothing was serious. If you laid a complaint, it would cost you your job unless you could prove it, and prove that you hadn’t instigated it. Not only did it cost you the job you were at, but it cost you any future ones as well. This isn’t rocket science, assholes. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t demand that we say nothing at the time then condemn us after the fact for remaining silent.

You didn’t report this behavior. You had no one to report it to. You didn’t ‘lay charges’ *insert riotous laughter here* because how were you to prove your case… not the case that it happened but that you didn’t ‘provoke’ it. You had absolutely no recourse then. To change jobs just meant you had to learn all over again who not to trust and who to avoid, and what to wear each day. In many ways, the old ‘devil you know’ thing definitely comes into play.

So, Morning Joe and the rest of you, why are women speaking out now, with just weeks until the election? Well, for starters, they probably didn’t believe that Trump would go this far, that people would wake the hell up and see this monster for who he is. Maybe when he lied in the debate and stated that he never does anything like this, it was the last straw. Maybe it was his surrogates stating that ‘no women were hurt’ or that it was just ‘locker room banter’ or that it really didn’t count because it happened anywhere from 1-50 years ago. Hearing those things from Trump is expected; hearing those things from other people, especially women, is infuriating and hurtful as all holy hell, because those people should, and I would argue that they do, know better. These are the truly vile individuals in this debacle.

I will state, without any doubt at all, that at least 80% of women in the workforce in the last 50 years have experienced inappropriate advances from their male counterparts. I will also state with the same confidence that every one of those women, over the last two weeks of watching coverage of the election for President of the United States, is reliving those experiences, can remember every detail, can remember the names of the men involved, what they were wearing, and how they felt about it afterwards. It doesn’t leave you… EVER.

They didn’t come forward earlier because they hoped they wouldn’t have to. They didn’t want to relive the experience. In case you’re wondering, yes, at the time and every time you think about it afterward, it is degrading. They didn’t want to go there again. They didn’t want to be judged by family, friends, co-workers, just like before, but now they also get to be judged and persecuted for it, by an entire nation. We have been told for centuries that we don’t count as much, that we are to blame, that we have to provide ‘proof,’ that we have to defend OUR behavior before any man is held to account for his.

Why is this an issue in this election? Because Donald Trump wants to be the most powerful man in the world. He felt entitled before. Imagine now. Imagine the women he will abuse. He did so shamelessly, proudly even, for decades. It’s about his character. It’s about how he will treat female world leaders, female corporate leaders, any female he has to deal with. It’s because he is not mentally fit for the job. He wants to complain about Bill Clinton’s abuse of office in that way, yet he expects to be handed the same opportunities on a platter. If anything, if the Trump campaign had any brains at all, they would want the entire Bill Clinton issue to go away, because it should at the very least teach us that if they do it outside the office, they definitely do it inside, and that means a road of legal impairments and probably impeachment for Trump… at least if he is held to the same standards as Bill Clinton was – and let me say, those weren’t very high standards even then. Riddle me this, though: Why is it okay for Trump to bring up Bill Clinton’s behavior 30 years ago, and Hillary’s reaction to it, but not okay to mention Trump’s behavior even in the last week? Why is it okay for Trump to attack the women who are now his accusers, but not for Hillary to do likewise 30 years ago? None of them were right then, and it sure has hell is not right now to do either.

Oh, and Billy Bush… we know all about wingmen like you. We know that you are right in there with the rest of that basket of deplorables. Living your sexual fantasies vicariously through others, and helping to set women up for just this purpose, makes you as much a lowlife and the wanna-be presidential prick you stroked.

O-R-L-A-N-D-O. Find out what it means to me.

noreply@blogger.com (Bambi) — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 18:59:00 +0000

People standing outside Pulse during attack, Orlando, Florida

The names are being read. The final text messages from people trapped in a nightclub are being made public. This is what happens after a mass murder… and once again, I find myself sitting back as a mother, aching inside for what the families and loved ones of these victims are feeling. With Sandy Hook, I was heartbroken for those victims, for their families and for society. That has been my response to most of these shootings… because honestly they all start to blend into one for the observer. How very sad is that. Most of those shootings/bombings were carried out by very disturbed, misguided people who had access to guns. They were done by men filled with rage, misplaced rage.

Pastor Steven Anderson. If this doesn't scare you,

then nothing will.

This shooting made me mad. Actually, ‘mad’ doesn’t come close to what I felt inside that first day. Yes, this was again someone who clearly had mental health issues, but it was the result of absolute hate. This hate, over the last six months, has moved from the back burner where it has been smoldering for the last decades. Newly unleashed by political and religious machines, hate is modeled every damned day for us on television. Religious people stand on their pulpits decrying women, calling for the execution of gay people, damning and instilling abject fear of those who practice other religions. They demand freedom of speech, freedom to practice their religion, but they refuse to respect those rights in others. How can you preach the word of any God while not modeling respect for others… all others?

We have political people, screaming about the need to control women and what they do. They cheer when people are thrown out of rallies. They make open, blatant statements of what is wrong with other people, while offering absolutely no solutions to help anyone. They hide their nefarious activities required to do whatever they have to in order to obtain and/or maintain their position of authority. They have sprinkled water and a whole lot of fertilizer on those little seeds of hate, saying that it is okay to harbor that hate, and to act on it in whatever way necessary. Ask any child. They see this on television – the bigotry, the hate, the thuggery… and the fact that respect has been lost for all.

Websites make hobbies out of shaming people. We laugh at the pictures of the poor people shopping at WalMart, and their less than fortunate choice of clothes, but we don’t stop to think that these people have no choice but to shop at WalMart, that they are for the most part the disenfranchised of society, and that they are forced to shop at a place that prides itself in paying such low wages, their own employees have to live on handouts from others. Yet this is okay? They are a good corporate citizen? Do these religious and political leaders give a damn about these people? There is no respect shown for the employees there, or for the people who shop there. They are less fortunate than we are; it sucks to be them.

Brock Turner, Rapist... No, we won't forget about you.

You're not off the hook yet.

How can we be surprised that a white boy can rape a young woman and, because of his whiteness, his athleticism, and his clean-cut appearance he gets nothing more than a slap on the wrist – then has the audacity to complain about his sentence. (Yeah, it’s the last part that really gets to me – the plea for pity for his misguided ’20 minutes of action.) If he had been black, or poor, or Muslim, would he have gotten that same sentence? Fuck no. Not a chance. Rape is about control, about power, authority at any cost… and is a lifelong sentence to the victim. When are we going to respect the victims enough to stop making it about them, and start to focus on the rapist? When are we going to start looking at the disparity in a system that treats white different than black, rich different than poor, Christian different than Muslim?

Machine Gun America... a theme park, no less, ironically

(or not) in Orlando Florida.

How can we be surprised when a young man goes into a club that he had frequented himself for some time, pulls out a gun and opens fire, killing 50 people, injuring 53 more, shattering countless thousands of lives? You cannot turn on the television anymore without someone telling you who to hate and why. Now they want this act to be considered religious terrorism because the man screamed out religious phrases as he carried out this heinous act. Lemme ask you this. If he had been Christian and was quoting Leviticus at the time of the shooting, would people still be calling for it to be a religious terrorist attack? They should. I would like to think they would, but I know better. If this slaughter had been done by a right-wing fundamentalist Christian, his religion would not be an issue.

The day after the shooting, after the anger had waned, I felt nothing. My soul felt like scorched earth, because something more happened this weekend. Like Brock Turner last week, like the San Bernardino shootings before, and Sandy Hook before that, and Columbine before that, the interest will fade. Politicians will block bills to make changes. Mental health issues will still be ignored. Donald Trump will still exude hate and bullying. Hillary Clinton will still defend her right to destroy government emails. The GOP will continue wringing their hands at the clusterfuck of a mess they have now found themselves with their extremist sellouts and because they chose to dance with the devil to make some points over the last 8 years. The Democrats will continue to play games with primary results and their convention in their determination to ensure that Hillary is on the ticket. Gay people will quietly step back, many of them looking at that closet door and wondering if that isn’t the wiser choice. Mothers will send their babies, be they 5 or 25, out the door, never to see them again because some other person with some other gun has been listening to the hate-filled, take no prisoners rhetoric that is spewed every day by religious, political and pundit figures.

Pro-Life? No, not at all. Pro-Birth. What happens after the

baby is born is absolutely no concern of theirs.

I am devoid of feeling, because we have long passed the tipping point, and that realization has nestled in my heart. There is one thing… one thing only… that is needed to fix all of this. It sounds so simple. It should be simple, but apparently it is unattainable. That one thing is respect. We need to show respect for others, for their political beliefs, their religion, their sexual choices, their life choices, and their problems. We need to start to take ownership of our global community, and that requires us to accept and respect each and every one of us. If you want freedom of religion, then you must allow others to enjoy that same freedom even if you do not share the same religious tenets. If you want to lead the country, you must show respect for the people you wish to lead – ALL of them. If you want to cover the news, you should do so respectfully, with balance and without agenda. Regardless of color, religion, mental capacity, physical ability, race, or sexual orientation, it all comes back to one simple little thing: treat others as you wish to be treated. Walk a few steps in someone else’s shoes before you belittle them. Remove the excuses for hate.

I am scorched earth… because no one is addressing the elephant in the room. The shooting in Orlando was a hate crime. It was not ISIS. It was not Muslim terrorist. It was a man who was Muslim who hated gay people. His hatred could have been based on his religion. It could have been triggered by the MANY Christian leaders who spew the same hate from their pulpits every week. The religious aspect is nothing more than an excuse to keep us from talking about the reality. Hate runs rampant; respect for others is gone. By all means, fly your flags, light up your buildings, change your profile photos to show solidarity, but please, this time, do not let it stop there.

Back to the Future

noreply@blogger.com (Bambi) — Tue, 29 Mar 2016 18:25:00 +0000

Bernie Sanders has changed me. No, I am not an American. No, I have no vote in the upcoming election. I am registered as neither a Democrat nor a Republican. I am a Canadian... but nonetheless, I have been changed by Bernie Sanders.

I’m not sure how it happened, but am equally unsure of why it doesn’t happen to more people. I find Bernie to be infectious, in such a good way. He is like the coming of spring, when we pull back the curtains, throw open the window, and breathe new life. I find myself taking mental walks in fresh fields, brimming with potential, seeing possibilities where none existed before.

(Yes, I know it's photoshopped, but
how could I resist?)

I wax poetic? Well, maybe. I admit that. But I also have to admit that I see ‘patriotism’ differently. It’s not waving flags, or wearing the Stars and Stripes, or in my case a maple leaf, on the arse of my jeans, or as a bikini top to cover my far-too-ample bosom. Love of a flag means nothing. Putting a hand over heart while reciting empty platitudes is insulting to others, especially if that is all you do. It absolutely is not a catchword to be used to justify sending young men and women to war that is intended only to benefit corporate campaign donors. ‘Patriotism’ is a love not just of country but of the people who live in that country – ALL of them; the poor, the sick, the challenged, the lost, and yes, especially those who would put on a uniform and protect the rest of us. It is respect for the people who make up the country, and a respect for their struggles and their sacrifices. It is a desire to see that the ideals that created the character of the country are attainable by everyone.

While I like to think of myself as progressive enough to not buy into the general social opinion of people, because of Bernie, I see that I can and should do more to ensure that this general social opinion changes. I didn’t think I looked down on the poor, or that I avoided people of a different culture, but I know now that I also didn’t do enough to make a difference to them. We all get wrapped up in the struggle to make it through another day when the corporate and institutionalized deck is stacked against us, but now I have a new appreciation of the fact that in order to make MY struggle easier, I have an obligation to help lessen those struggles of others as well.

We do need banks and corporations, but we do not need them voting in elections, while more of the people are shut out of the process. We do need oil companies, but they need to respect and be responsible to the people and the environment, not demand those entities continue to sacrifice that which is essential to life. We do need people who govern and who bring differing opinions and insights to the table, but we absolutely do not need those who care about nothing but their own bank accounts and raising money for the next election, and who will cut off their own noses to save their far-too-partisan faces. Governing should be about doing what is right not because of party lines, but because it is right, but right is a concept that has been totally sacrificed on the altar of maintaining power at any cost. Elections should not be about who has the most money. They must be about the ability, integrity and character of the person whose name is on the ballot, and nothing more. None of these revelations are new to me, but they are now, perhaps, seen with new perspective – through that newly opened window. Two months ago, I would have said no, it’s pie in the sky, but now? Hell yes, we do have it in us. We do have the strength, the conscience, the ability and now the means to see a change.

So why do I care about who wins the election in a country that is not mine? The close proximity is one reason. The fact that our economies are so closely linked is another. But the real reason is because we see this hatred, strife, self-centered leadership in so many places, in the governmental institutions of so many countries now, in schools, in companies, in the workplace – Bernie is the first domino, the most important one, and once allowed to take action, his words and logic, his integrity and passion to do the right thing, his love of and respect for the people he wishes to represent, and his inherent desire for equality, will be contagious. It will set the standard for others. It will show that all of us – companies, governments, people and establishments – can work harmoniously together. It will show that good can triumph, that bullies and fear-mongers have no place leading others. This is George McFly come to life, putting Biff back in his place. This is the modern developed world getting back to business, back to the future, because now, as Bernie changes us all for the better, we once again have a future to plan for.

Dear Conservative Party of Canada

noreply@blogger.com (Bambi) — Wed, 21 Oct 2015 03:33:00 +0000

Dear ‪Conservative Party of Canada

While you spend some time ‘studying what went wrong’, let me offer some insight. Canadians were tired. We were tired of the bullying that Stephen Harper had perfected, the behind-closed-door deals, the lying, the contempt of Parliament, and the contempt for democracy. While I absolutely believe you went to Ottawa with nothing but the best intentions to serve your country, you all allowed one man to control you, control your thoughts, control your message and sadly, to control your actions (or lack thereof). You not only turned a blind eye to the indifference that Mr. Harper showed for Canadians, you mirrored his behavior. You never once stood up for your constituents, the people who elected you – who were essentially your board of directors, who offered you a mandate to speak on their behalf – when Mr. Harper told you to toe the party line. You ignored the hypocrisy of a leader who was elected to be honest, transparent and accountable, who then broke every one of those promises daily. We saw it. I have absolutely no doubt that you saw it as well, but it was not in your best ‘political’ interests to call him on it.

Yours was a government that refused to be accountable. You refused to talk to the media. You refused to answer questions. You passed massive omnibus bills – something that Mr. Harper adamantly opposed when he was on the other side of the aisle – knowing what odious deals were contained within them and then you upped the ante by refusing to allow discussion or debate. You then even blatantly tried – yes, you tried – to destroy the integrity and equality of our electoral system with your 'Fair' Elections Acts and your gerrymandering.

You willfully participated in election fraud, among you were people who participated in criminal activity, yet your arrogance did not allow you to stand up to do the right thing. You were dishonest with Canadians continually, and when someone dared to attempt to hold you to account, you ignored, then you redirected – to issues that had the sole intention of creating hatred and fear.

Here is the saddest aspect of the last 10 years. You may well have had some good ideas. You may well have had good intentions, at least when you arrived in Ottawa, but with all of the arrogance, dismissiveness, divisiveness, patronage appointments, indifference and lies, not one of you could be trusted. You all sold out to one man who was, at best a megalomaniac, and who may well have been a sociopath... and YOU DID NOTHING TO STOP IT OR TO HOLD YOUR PRIME MINISTER ACCOUNTABLE. You were active, willing participants in the destruction of a once-proud, credible, honorable party. Shame on all of you.

This election was about morals, about standing up for those who need someone to stand up for them (yes, this would include all missing and murdered women), about honesty, and saying we are Canadians who are compassionate, involved, open, welcoming, peace-loving and proud – all things that you have spent the last 10 years proving you were not.

Take heart though. The effort to determine what went wrong should not take long. Start with the gutter-crawling you did in your campaign, and with the fact that you spent the last four years campaigning to keep power instead of doing what you were supposed to do with the authority you were given by the voting public. You forgot who you worked for, who you were to answer to, and it was NOT the Prime Minister or the PMO. You allowed Stephen Harper to be a party of one, so yes, this is on you. Hopefully, Canadians have now seen what can happen when elected politicians become too entitled. Hopefully it will never happen again. Stephen Harper and ‘His Conservative Government’ will be a stark reminder of this for many years.

On Terror

noreply@blogger.com (Bambi) — Sat, 28 Feb 2015 15:11:00 +0000

It’s time for a little reality check, people. It’s time to talk about terror... just a few home truths for you to mull over, because pretty soon, if we don’t pull our heads out of our asses, it will be too late.

Terrorism is the only thing we hear about on the news now. It’s all politicians are talking about, spewing their excuses for a new bill that will rob us of our privacy and our rights. You think it won’t impact you because ‘you’ve got nothing to hide’? Well, think again, and start paying attention. Get a copy of the bill and see what it does, what it allows, how it tromps merrily on your legal and human rights even if you are doing nothing wrong or you have nothing to hide. Read about how it offers nothing to enforcement that isn’t already there (other than demanding accountability). For Christ sake, we know that 6 kids just went to the Middle East to join ISIS. How much more do they need to tap into our privacy? Obviously what is already in place is working.

We have not had a terrorist attack, in the political parlance, in Canada. Neither of the two events of last fall, though tragic and horrifying, were ‘terrorism’. Murder? Absolutely. Heinous? Without doubt. Terrorism? Absolutely not! Actually, let me correct myself – we HAVE experienced terrorism in Canada. More than fifty women experienced it at the hands of Robert Pictin for years until someone actually decided to pay attention. More than 1300 Indigenous women have experienced it, and the rest live in terror, because no one is prepared to do one damned thing about them or who is murdering them with impunity. Apparently terrorism against First Nations, something that is very real in this country, takes a back seat to hype and political posturing to pass draconian laws, making us the new Russia. There’s a handle we really want to bear. Harper/Putin, Putin/Harper – sort of makes no difference now, does it?

Instead of buying into these red herrings that are intended for two purposes, and two purposes alone (neither of which involves giving a damned about you, by the way), pay attention to what they are trying to get you to not look at. That’s the first step. This ‘war on terror’ is about having a means of ruling through fear and distracting us, and it supports the old adage that war is money. If you think that there aren’t about a dozen people in North America getting extremely rich out of all this hoopla, who aren’t sitting there rubbing their hands at every mention of the ISIS or ISIL, because it means the taps are free-flowing cash into their bank accounts, then you really are not paying attention. Today’s wars are about money, and nothing more. Just check out the accounting ledgers for Dick Cheney and Halliburton if you have any doubts about this truth.

But let’s also consider the terrorists. Yes, ISIS does exist. Why? And why does no one ask why? If... and this is getting to be a pretty big if... if we had true journalists, they would be learning and sharing the basics. They wouldn’t be beating the same story over and over, telling us how scary these people are, glorifying them and their cause in the eyes of young people searching for something... anything... to explain the hardships they face in their own lives. Who supports ISIS and where do they get their money? Hmm, yeah, they won’t bother with that one because of the deal struck with the Saudis years ago. We send weapons and military supplies over there, despite our own laws that state we cannot provide those things to any country that has a poor human rights record. Where else do they get their money? It’s time to look into that, and no, I don’t mean the $15 bucks someone sends them because their mosque got vandalized and they are upset. They have real money, and they are getting it from somewhere.

But again, let’s look at why. Why is this happening? Well, for starters, we have judges now in Canada who partake in religious persecution, refusing to allow a woman to wear a scarf over her head in a courtroom... even go so far as to say that it is the same as sunglasses or a ball cap. That would NEVER happen to a Catholic nun wearing a wimple in the same damned courtroom. Obviously the first battle in this fight against terrorism is to beat down our own ignorance. How about we learn something about these different religions so we understand the purpose of a hijab or why men wear a turban? Seriously, it’s a bad day when you don’t learn something new, so let’s start. Instead of taking religion out of the classroom, bring them ALL in, teach about all of them, because in understanding them, the fear goes away. When the fear goes away, all of the asinine prejudices also go away. Hatred and fear go hand in hand. One is the tool of the other. Education goes a long way to stopping both. It’s not an attack on Christianity to learn and appreciate other religions. If you are that insecure about your own faith, you have bigger problems than terrorism. You think there is a war against Christianity in North America? Yeah, well, that’s really just a convenient excuse to justify your hatred. Don’t try coloring it any other way, because you are fooling no one.

How about we demand our politicians deal with some of the other issues that feed terrorism? How about we demand that they deal with the outdated and prejudicial laws that result in the overcrowding of prisons? How about we guarantee that people of other religions and cultures are STILL entitled to the same human and legal rights we are? How about we demand they address the issue of affordable education, housing, and child care? Create programs for children to help them express themselves and to help them learn even more, so they don’t end up in gangs or prison. Teach inclusiveness; it has to be better than the platter of divisiveness and hatred the politicians and media serve up every damned day. How about we start easing the tax burden on regular people, and insist in fair pay for a day’s work? Keep giving corporations their tax cuts, but for keeping jobs at home and demanding they pay a wage that people can truly live on. We’re all struggling, as costs of energy, housing, food, clothing all go up, and wages stay stagnant for years.

How about we start worrying about the environment, if for no other reason than it will cut back on health care costs and on time lost at work for sick days? You want a fiscal reason to give a shit about what we drink and the air we breathe? There you go! What about getting rid of the GMOs and chemicals in foods – you know, the ones the government shoved down our throats with their asinine, self-serving deals with companies like Monsanto? Why is someone who wants clean water called an ecoterrorist, but the people who fill our food and water with harmful, unnecessary crap are not considered terrorists at all? How many people have died from poisoning or cancer from what is in their food, water, or air? One hell of a lot more than have died from terrorism here. Young people are robbed of hope right now, and who can blame them? They know there needs to be change and trying to work within the political system just isn’t doing the job anymore. They see politicians for what they are, they see the examples of extremism set by politicians and religious leaders, and they figure that’s the only way to combat the problems.

Yes, there are huge issues in the Middle East. If we stop playing the petroleum game, though, a lot of those will stop. If we start caring about poor countries without oil, and help them to develop, there is another nail in the ISIS coffin. If the Canadian government follows through on the pledges of aid that were promised, instead of conveniently putting that money into their ‘slush’ ledger to then claim as money raised against the deficit, we again help others fight ISIS, or Boko Haram, in their lands. We have more than enough oil here to be self-sufficient, especially if we start to embrace green energies, implementing them to take that much more pressure off fossil fuels. When the hell did the principles of green energy and environmental awareness make us the enemy of a whole nation? Think about this for just one minute. Why is it wrong to want to protect our planet and our lives? No one is saying that there can be NO oil or gas, but it should be done reasonably and responsibly. We’re going to look pretty damned dumb when we have oil spurting everywhere, but we’re all dead because we have nothing to drink, or we all have cancer from our polluted waters that are used as toxic dumps for mines.

Start paying attention to these little basic facts, and all of a sudden we won’t have the issue of terrorism raising its head. Start to deal with health issues and mental health issues, add some respect and tolerance, have a media that spends as much time on stories about the environment as they do right not on terrorism (and yes, they do cherrypick which stories they cover. Don’t let the bamboozle you otherwise), and suddenly you have no reason for people to want to go to the Middle East to join radical organizations. Toss in some compassion, education, and not looking at every god damned shiny bit of foil the government tosses at us to be distracted – that’s how we combat terrorism; not with bills that rob us of our own human rights and put us at even more risk. When ANY government proposes that there are only two extremes to an issue – you either support them unquestioningly or you are ‘soft on terror’ – they are being 100% disingenuous with you. They are lying to you, and that is why they feel the need to rely on extortion. What we’re doing right now, with talk of the war on terrorism and C-51 and the fear mongering our government and media has gotten so good at, is ensuring that this battle will go on forever, and the taps of cash will flow non-stop into those dozen bank accounts in perpetuity.

Enough is Enough for Our Canada

noreply@blogger.com (Bambi) — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 15:08:00 +0000

Remember being in school and learning about how horrible it was that the Russian government controlled the media? We heard the word Pravda, and learned it was about propaganda and a corrupt government. Remember how horrified you were when, a few years later, you studied about how a man named Adolf Hitler was elected to public office, and about how under his regime the poor and challenged were persecuted, how books and scientific data were destroyed, about how people were persecuted because they weren’t part of the perfect race? We shook our heads in disbelief because in our world, in our Canada, this could never happen. Remember when elections were discussed, and how in some countries the process was fatally flawed, making a mockery of the entire exercise as blatant election fraud ruled the day? Canadians were called in to help organize and oversee elections because of this, because we so valued the ability to make that little X on a piece of paper. Remember learning that in some places in the world, to speak your mind or to stand up for what was right was a sure death sentence, or at the very least a ticket to jail, with no legal process, for a lot of years? We actually scoffed at that. In Canada, individual voices and opinions would always be welcome, and if someone stepped out of line, if someone broke the rules by trying to silence us or lock us away, we simply would not let that happen. We were Canadians. We were proud, and we had reason to be.

Canada had the model health care system. We had one of the best education systems in the world. We were innovate, warm, caring members of society. Other countries talked the talk about equality and inclusion, about fairness, welcoming the downtrodden, feeding the tired and hungry; Canada walked the walk. When we said we would send disaster aid to countries in the midst of disaster, we actually sent the money. When we sent Canadian men and women to protect and defend, promising to take care of them and their families because of our respect and gratitude for their sacrifice, we lived by our bond. When other countries needed peacekeepers and mediators, we were the go-to guys, because we respected human life and humanity. We said those horrible things that happened in other countries, in those backward countries run by greedy war mongers and thuggish dictators, could never happen here, because we knew daily, intimately, thoroughly that the rights and the lifestyle we enjoyed had been secured for us through the blood, sweat, and lives of other Canadians, and there was no way in hell we would let them down, or gamble with that precious gift they gave us. No, this could not happen; not in Our Canada.

Well, now it’s all reality. The mere fact that I write this blog, once bill C-51 passes, means that I am... wait for it... a terrorist. Let that soak in for a minute then consider how we got to this point in our world. The mere mention that our government is wrong, and that we should not sit idly by as absolutely everything Canada has stood for, and that Canadians have died for, makes me... a terrorist. Because of this, once bill C-51 passes, I will not be entitled to any of my legal rights. They can tap my phone, bug my house, park drones outside my windows, intercept my emails and every private conversation I have now, requiring no legal justification and with absolutely no oversight from any judge, because I am involved in terrorist activity. The government, when asked for a definition of terrorism, thuggishly told us we should ‘look it up’. Stalin would be giddy! When it was said that ‘of course legal protest’ would not be included, then why is that not stated in the Bill? When asked questions about the bill, we are called unpatriotic and it is claimed that we love terrorists... because we are their brethren. How better to silence anyone who disagrees with your policies or what you are doing to Our Canada than to create a law that allows you to circumvent all other laws. We ridicule countries where bloggers are sent to prison for blogging, where kangaroo courts are the order of the day because the judges are in the despots’ pockets. We marvel that there are still countries where people are imprisoned without cause but because they state to someone else a truth, yet we now allow this in Canada?

Terrorism is a political red herring. Wake the hell up, people. The attacks in Ottawa in the fall of 2014 were NOT terrorism. The provisions in Bill C-51 are NOT about terrorism and will do nothing new to stop it. The authorities already have the tools, the laws and the means to do their jobs. C-51 is about silencing Canadians, about making us completely impotent to change our situations or to hold the government to account. C-51 is about controlling people, allowing them to be locked away without cause, without a warrant, without regard for any legal right or precedent. Yeah, ISIS exists. Ask yourself why. In your answer, you will find a large part of the solution. ISIS exists because our governments let it. War is money – governments know this. Yes, it costs you and me, the taxpayers a lot of money, and yes, there are those who pay much more with their lives and their limbs, but war exists because there is good, easy money to make. All you have to do is fling around the word ‘Patriotism’ and you can shame people into letting you do anything.

If the governments wanted to stop ISIS, they would simply turn off the tap. That’s the first step. Stop supplying our ‘friends’ in Saudi Arabia with weapons, money, and military equipment. Oh, wait... even though we KNOW they are providing supplies to ISIS, we just signed another deal with them... even though it is supposed to be illegal for people in our country to sell any of this shit to any country that has a questionable human rights record. We did it anyway... brokered by our government... despite our own laws and our own intelligence. Stop giving these countries money for their oil – invest in green and alternate energies. This one is a no-brainer. If they don’t have the oil money coming in, they shrivel up and die. The investment in alternate energies and green energies, also creates jobs at home, and that works a long way to the other key component – respect. Respect other religions, other people, and they have no reason to hate us. Address the issue of disenfranchisement, of mental health care, of environmental destruction, of a rapidly growing poor population and give them a reason to now look for alternatives to survive, other than to take drastic steps to stop the government. Take away the reason for people to want to terrorize us, instead of adding a dozen more reasons for it.

Terrorism is convenient though. It scares people, and scared people are blind people. We’re so busy running that we can’t take the time to turn around and see what the hell we’re running from. It’s convenient for governments to rule through fear – there is a long list of thugs who have done that through the centuries. It’s a well-known tactic. If we look at the scary terrorists, we don’t see the failing the economy, the growing cronyism, the patronage, the abuse of power, the disregard for human and legal rights, the destruction of democracy, the lack of jobs, the lack of education and health care, the growing prisons and the money they generate for so few, the burgeoning profits of the banks and the oil companies. We so busy being afraid of beards, and gathering places, and pieces of clothing, and books, that we absolutely are not looking at what we should really be fearing, before it’s too late. Sadly, the process adds justification and feeds the terrorists, and the new definitions of what terrorism now is absolutely insults those who have lost their lives fighting real terrorists.

Not in my Canada? That was the dream. Now it is the nightmare, The only way to stop it is to risk everything – by speaking out.

Stop The Presses

noreply@blogger.com (Bambi) — Sat, 07 Feb 2015 15:41:00 +0000

I am done with the mainstream press. It’s as simple as that. I will no longer allow puppets to set the agenda for my life. Amid the intricate cogs required to keep the wheels of democracy turning, the one labeled Fifth Estate is seized. It’s FUBAR. A free, independent press is the cornerstone of democracy – without it, the rest crumbles to ashes. Well, look around you. That ship has sailed, and in large part that is due to the fact that the press was nothing more than a cheap whore standing on the corner, wearing a short leather skirt and letting her boobs hang out, reminding politicians and the corporate elite that absolutely anything, even cornerstones and democracy, are up for grabs. It is this fact, and this fact alone, that has destroyed democracy, and is to blame for the loss of countless thousands of lives.

Gone are the principled, tenacious Woodwards and Bernsteins who, despite being ordered to back off, could smell the blood in the water and demanded of themselves to find out where the bodies really were. Of course, having done that and discovering that there was a bigger payoff in movie and book residuals... These two men were my idols growing up. They did what was right. It was an unrepeatable event, I know – that thing that happens only once in a lifetime, but I am so very thankful that I saw it at least once in my lifetime. I am not so sure that my children will ever see something like that in their lifetimes.

Now our mainstream media is nothing more than the paid propaganda machine, the Joseph Goebbels of our time, telling us what they want us to hear. They aren’t totally to blame. We have made the choice to listen, despite knowing that what they are saying isn’t totally accurate, or that the main part of the story is neatly tucked away where we’ll never find it. We have Brian Williams admitting to lying about a story, and perpetrating that lie for years. We have Amanda Lang keeping secret a massive conflict of interest, and allowing that to skew the true story. We have CNN and, well, every other media outlet, looking for the best, catchiest, cutest title for whatever story they have decided will own the day, and they will cover nothing else but that story. We have Peter Mansbridge selling his soul to ask the most ridiculous, softball questions of a crooked Prime Minister, and challenging absolutely none of the blatant lies he is offered in response. We have Fox... well, let’s not even go there; this is about news media, and anyone who does not or will not see what Fox is doing then deserves the crap that will befall them. Even Sarah Palin readily accepts and states that Fox is – ‘a quasi or assumed Conservative outlet’. The press is not doing its job when it can be labeled as supporting one side; you know, it’s that pesky unbiased, fair thing that catches them up in this regard.

We have a lot of problems in this world. Funny thing, though, is that all of them work to the advantage of the corporate elite. All of it makes money for them – the war on terror in particular. Listen to politicians and the media talk about this. They work overtime to inflame the situation, daily widening the chasm between two groups of people. Ask yourself who benefits from all of this. It’s the people who make the weapons. The more they can stir up shit, the more weapons they sell, and they stack the deck, because they arm both sides. Where did ISIS get their weapons? When are we going to learn? In every conflict the same shit happens, and we sit on our sofas and allow this BS to spew forth from our sets, lapping it up and fearing the Russian, Cuban, Columbian, Mexican, North Korean, Muslim – you pick – hoards. The biggest winner in the Gulf Wars was Haliburton. There is no question there. Look back on other conflicts and see where the weapons came from. I’ll give you a hint – there will only be a few names that pop up.

Canada just signed a deal to give more military supplies to Saudi Arabia. We have a law here that says we are not to sell arms or supplies to countries that will use those arms or supplies against their own people. I guess that only applies when the people are women – then it’s open season. I guess those laws also don’t apply when we know that Saudi Arabia is passing some of those supplies on to our own enemies, either directly or through back door deals. War is guaranteed income. If we don’t fight, there is no more money to be made. That means, to the puppet masters, war is essential because people like the Bush family will never have enough money.

The other benefit though, is that while we are being inundated with looped video of beheadings, the stories we should be hearing are ignored. We’re too busy fearing that ISIS is going to knock down our door and cart us away. We’re too busy giving up our freedom to speak, to write, to think. We’re too busy allowing the government to have access to everything we do, without cause or oversight. The governments are doing this because to them, there is nothing more important than being in power. They love it. Hey have to be there because no one else could do it as good as they do, and because there are definite financial benefits to paving the roads for the beautiful people to drive on. Voters? Who needs them? Democratic elections are nothing more than fraud now. The gerrymandering, the money raising, the robocalling... none of this would be accepted in a democratic, free world.

The politicians, though, aren’t controlling the string. The media has been bought out, and has sold us out, pretty much across the board. Why don’t they cover the slaughter in Nigeria? Because there is no economic plus to it for the people selling weapons. Why, at the time of every school shooting, are people not asking about the guns? Well, you know why. You know the way to solve the problem, but instead it’s just so much easier to allow the NRA and fear screw with your judgment. Why are we hearing every day about Christianity being threatened? Because it’s how you make war. Say what you will about religion, it is sure to always and forever be a money maker for fear mongers and arms sellers. Why are there still people debating the science of climate change? Because it’s not convenient to those who want to make the money from war and oil. Why are people like Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee still given air time? Because they are morons and easily led, despite the absolute utter hypocrisy of their words and ideals: they are fear mongers of the finest kind, and critical to keeping the rest of us cowering and looking in the wrong direction. Why are we being told to panic about the economy right now? Because it’s all designed to make us believe that the only way to salvation is pipelines, pipelines that will do nothing for us. It’s a bit of a Hail Mary pass on the part of the oil companies, but put the value of a barrel of oil into freefall, watch currency fall, watch jobs disappear, and watch the people come running begging for a damned pipeline, giving the oil companies everything they want and more.

The media isn’t the pawn in this game, though. They aren’t being moved around on a whim. They are controlled from within, and are now masters of prestidigitation, their sleight of hand never better as they dazzle us with Snowmagedons or Shock and Awe. It's about stacking the deck against us, against the small business, the upstart, the working man. It's about keeping us in our place, and the best way to do that is to keep us distracted, poor, and working our asses off so we're too tired to notice. We listen to the rote answers, repeated dozens of time, word for word, in an attempt to make us not question, or not think, reminding us that we’re really nothing more than petulant puppies and that whacking us with a newspaper enough times will get the

message through to us. The truly criminal part of all of this, though, is that we’ve let them. The only chink in the armor, for the last 80 years, has been the exposure of Watergate. It’s the one thing that we should remember, daily, because the press did what it was supposed to. It hasn’t happened since. I suspect it never will, at least not in the mainstream media. Mission accomplished? Oh yeah, a lot of missions accomplished, just not the ones the rest of us were privy to, and certainly not ones that are intended to help us. They play us well.

CRUD OIL

noreply@blogger.com (Bambi) — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 18:15:00 +0000

DATELINE: ALONG THE NORTHERN GATEWAY PIPELINE ROUTE, DROWNING IN DILBIT -- It is hard to believe that this is possible, but then again, we are living in the world of Stephen Harper, so nothing should amaze us anymore. The federal government has approved Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline. It's amazing how easily bought politicians can be when there is big oil money on the table.

Let's play a game. Let's say we all live in the Mount Royal area of Calgary -- we all come from old money and live in big houses. It's a great life. We have beautiful parks to play in, we spend hours soaking up the sun, we live the high life with everything we want right within our grasp. We are in paradise.

Then one day one of us discovers that by opening up one of the parks -- just one of them -- so that the local sewage rises in great bubbling delight, easily accessible and available to all of us, he can solve all the world's problems. This one person tells us that they have made a startling discovery -- he has learned how to turn this effluent into food that he can then export to all the starving people of the world. It will be a wonderful thing, because it will create jobs because other people will want to learn how we do it. It will boost the economy, put the people who aren't working into gainful employment, and will fill an international need for jobs and food.

None of the rest of us are totally pleased about the smelly mess, and many of us have our doubts about what this might precipitate, but it fills needs, so it must be a good idea... plus we can all make a little coin in the process. We learn that there is a flaw in the plan -- that the bacteria found in the effluent isn't totally removed from the finished product, but we tell ourselves 'what's a little bacteria in the grand scheme of things' and continue to act like this is a wonderful plan. The money we're making proves that.

Some of the water of the coast of BC where large tankers are expected to
navigate. This is one of the four most treacherous water passes in the
world, and has some of the most protected, pristine species in the world.

We then discover that the effluent, while in a quasi-liquid state, won't move down the pipelines we have built, because it is just too thick and sticky, so we add some chemicals to it -- some naptha, perhaps some of the chemicals and ingredients used to help get the effluent from the ground, like arsenic and strychnine, but we really aren't allowed to know what exactly is used to help make the effluent flow. We see evidence of how it eats through the metal of the pipelines, but we tell ourselves that's just the cost of doing business, and when it lands on the ground at one of the spills, we pretend that it really isn't such a big deal, even though those things added to it to make it flow (and that eat the walls of the pipeline) have now contaminated the land, the water and the air all around the spill. It really isn't our concern that no one knows for sure how to stop the leaks, especially when they happen under water, or how to clean up the mess so that the land and water can be reclaimed. After all, it's not in our backyard, and we still have water and food to eat... and money still rolling in. Secretly, though, we shudder at the realization that the bacteria-filled effluent is now being used to water the crops and livestock in the area so they too will be contaminated from it, because the people who live there have no idea what they are doing, and if they do, they have no options because there is no other source of water.

People along these pipelines start to get sick. They get aggressive cancers and ulcers. They find it hard to breathe and they bleed when they go to the bathroom. They can see effluent in their water, but still they are told that it's not a problem -- they just have to trust us, because we would never lie to them, especially while we are still raking in the money. Scientists and medical specialists start to point to the effluent, saying that it is making us sick, so we make laws that say they cannot speak about it anymore... because the money is now flowing like never before, and we have actually convinced people that they NEED our effluent. They WANT it, both the money from it and the jobs it will create to put the pipelines through their towns, because there is really no other source of food for anyone. They have heard the stories about the heinous diseases and sickness associated with it. They have heard about the waterways that are destroyed, and the wildlife and plant life destroyed, about the homes that are inhabitable and standing empty for years because no one can return there; the air, like the water and the land, is toxic from all the things put in the effluent to help it flow down the pipelines. None of that matters, though. They have been told they need this, that this is the holy grail for society, that with this pipeline all their worries and needs will be solved and they too will live in paradise.

If this was a children's story, it would be totally unbelievable. A child would laugh at the stupidity of it, mocking the possibility that people would actually allow something like this to happen. These are educated people, smart people, who plead for shit to be pumped over their land, spilled on their land, and injected under their land. There is unrefuted evidence that the chemical cocktails used to extract and to move this shit cause cancer and cause death and destruction to people, plants and animals, and that it makes the water completely undrinkable, yet they still want it. They have evidence that the scientific community and the medical community have been legally silenced, and that the exact details of what is in the chemical cocktails are kept secret by law to protect the companies making them... yet they still want it. They logically know that the huge number of jobs is a gross misrepresentation, that the jobs will be there for one year, or at the most two, then will be gone because once the pipeline is built, there is no need to build any more... yet they choose to ignore this fact as well, because the shit is manna from heaven.

Yes, I drive a car. If I could buy one that ran on something other than gas, I would. As it is, my vehicle is parked 27 days out of the month. Yes, I know that we need oil for plastics and manufacturing, and we probably always will need oil, but there are safer, better, cleaner ways of getting it, and we all know that. There are incredibly innovative programs and plans, some proven and in use already, but we all want one solution that is 'easy'. Wind generators are ugly (but greasy smelly oil derricks are not?) and they don't work where there isn't wind (well, duh) so they are no good. Scrap that plan. Solar energy is good, but expensive (how much do you think the pipelines, the tar sands and all that goes along with it costs?) and won't work where there is limited sun, like in the north, so let's scrap that entirely as well. Sadly, this innovation and research would put many more people to work, for a lot longer, than any pipeline will, but we don't want to see that either. I suppose it doesn't really matter anymore, though. We have come so far, and are so hoodwinked by politicians and their campaign-funding oil chroneys, that the damage is done.

It is a very sad day when the government of a country sells out it's people. it's health, it's food supply, it's water and it's ethics for the sake of a pipeline that has been decried by experts in every field, from around the world, as a disastrous project.

My friends in the United States, please please please understand that it is NOT oil that will be pumped down those pipelines. It is NOT crude. It is dilbit, a cocktail concoction that eats at pipelines, that cannot be contained when spilled, that cannot be stopped once it is in water or land or the air (the chemicals, when a leak occurs, leach into the air making it toxic). Spend some time looking at the dilbit disaster that is still ongoing in Kalamazoo four years, and $1B after the fact. Understand that the driving force behind the politicians and the oil companies is that they are making not millions, not billions, but trillions of dollars while you are taking ALL the risk as their poison, their shit, moves across your land. Please take some time to learn about what is involved with this process, and what harm it does, and what jobs it will truly create. Weigh their gain against your loss. Research the number of leaks that have occurred in these pipelines, and the damage done -- you will be amazed at what you have not been told, and at the lack of commitment and honesty shown by the oil companies, especially when money is on the table. You still have time... not a lot, but enough that you can stop this stupidity from going any further into your country. Canada once was a paradise. Don't destroy yours as we are so intent on destroying ours. Don't risk another dance with this devil.

We're On The Eve of Destruction

noreply@blogger.com (Bambi) — Sun, 30 Mar 2014 17:09:00 +0000

DATELINE: IN A FRONT ROW SEAT FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF DEMOCRACY – By May first – in 32 days, for those of you without a calendar – the Fair Elections Act will pass in Canada. Well, ‘pass’ is a rather inaccurate term, as it will be more a case of it being shoved down our throats, not unlike hemlock in ancient Athens. Of course, the title of the bill is akin to referring to laws regarding rape as the Demand for Love Act. You can put lipstick on a pig, but… well, you know how that one goes. Of course, the Harper Conservatives don’t see it this way. Nooo, they see it as the only way possible for them to win another election – by hook or by crook, as they say. They will steal the House of Commons, because there is NOTHING that is more important to Stephen Harper than being Boss.

Never in the history of Canada has one party changed the rules of election without thorough consultation with the other parties and without agreement from the heads of Election Canada. That is because we are a democracy, and the prime tenet of a democracy is the ability to have fair, honest elections. Without that, democracy is a farce, a cheap façade worn by power mongers who give not one single damn about the people who elected them, and who care even less for those who did not. Of course, there is the valid argument to be made that the current government, the one making these changes, is illegitimate anyways, and God knows this is not their first ‘never in the history of Canada’ achievements.

They were the first government in Canada to be found in Contempt of Parliament. That alone should have been signal enough to the electorate, but what did Harper do? He prorogued parliament in order to avoid scrutiny or asking questions (another first). In fact, he prorogues Parliament whenever the kitchen gets a bit too hot for him. His was the first government to set fixed election dates then was the first government to break that rule as well. His was the first (and second) election in Canada’s history to involve voter fraud – fraud that WAS determined to be committed by the Conservatives. In fact, this government’s record for respecting and working within the bounds of democracy is absolutely abysmal, the rules of democracy and elections discussed by them with derision, offering more than enough proof that they cannot and should not be trusted to unilaterally change the way in which they are elected.

My rage about this, however, is not at the Harper government any longer. That rage is pointless. I have written to the Governor General – a textbook definition of ‘waste of time’ since Rideau Hall is so far up Harper’s anal cavity that they have given up polishing those austere marble floors anymore and have just accepted the brown slime on said floors as a byproduct of Harper’s ravenous appetite. It’s understandable. The man gobbles up people and poops out oil – well, dilbit, to be exact, so undoubtedly they believe the floors of the GG’s mansion to instead be christened with black gold. Certainly the perks and benefits received by the government of the day, including the GG, have that rancid stench of oil clearly attached to them.

I have written to every member of the Senate. When the Fathers of Confederation dreamed up this country, they saw a bi-cameral house, where no one side could run amok with the country they so lovingly created. The Senate was to be non-partisan, a home of the wise, the worn, the well-seasoned, who would provide sober second thought and stop any monkey business should the government of the day attempt some. It’s as if they had a premonition of Stephen Harper taking a chainsaw to their glorious architecture, and wanted to have checks and balances in place to stop it before it could happen. Of course, they didn’t see that corporate greed and obsession for power would override absolutely every other principle involving government, or that their beloved Senate would be completely bastardized, turned into nothing more than a house of government whores working for a pimpish PMO.

My rage is wasted on Harper. It will change nothing. He is what he is – another in a long line of megalomaniacal (misogynist) power mongers, who dreams of more authority every night, and works for more money in his bank account every day… and the people of the country (and the country itself) be damned.

So, what can we do? Do we sit back, raise a glass to the Canada we once knew, and thumb through boutique catalogues from new corporations like Surviving Hitler, or Fascism International, hoping to find something we can use to make our ‘new’ lives more tolerable under this new regime? Our middle class has been decimated, our upper-class has been more empowered, and as we all sink to the depths of the impoverished and enslaved, we find out that this very oppression is what will prevent us from having a right to vote. Harper is creating a self-fulfilling prophecy that will crown him king of his own country in time. Is my explanation extreme? Perhaps… for now. Give the man some time.

Instead, I now ask ‘What the hell are the other parties doing about this?’ Well, I do see some of them on television, arguing the bill, but so what? What are they going to do? When it comes to stopping it, they are in the minority. As government representatives, they are completely impotent to stop this train wreck, and it shows. Flapping lips; sinking ships. I am astounded and dismayed at their lack of actually ‘doing’ something. I have waited for over a month now for them to figure it out, but it seems they just can’t. Party alliances – partisanism – runs too thick in their blood, and the need to be ‘in charge’ is too all consuming for them to be able to see beyond the trees. Because of that, all of us, and our country, and our country’s amazing stellar reputation hang in the balance.

Instead of sending out emails every fecking day of the week asking for more campaign money because ‘we have to collect more than the other guy’, how about doing something to educate the people across this country? How about doing something to organize them? Media pundits say that the public is lazy and indifferent. No, assholes, they are not! They do, however, need some guidance to get organized, and the word has to reach people who don’t have computers in their homes (yes, there still are some, and they are the ones who will be disenfranchised the most from these changes). Why are the local arms of the political parties not getting out there and talking about this to everyone? Why are they not in front of the media locally? Why are they not holding town halls, sending out fliers, AND talking it up on the social media and every other place possible? Why are the provincial arms of the political parties doing nothing like this to inform and organize? Why are the federal offices doing nothing? This is not a time to JUST sit in front of Robert Fife, Rosie Barton or Evan Solomon to pitch the same party lines and listen to the same BS spewed by Conservative members who have no intention of answering a question or providing an explanation. Is it up to just the likes of Katy O'Malley and Andrew Coyne to try to explain what is at stake here? Why are the parties doing more? Well, because they can’t go into those election coffers to spend money prematurely on THIS because then what will they campaign with next year.

This is no longer a situation where political dichotomy can rule the day. WHY ARE THE PARTIES NOT JOINING TOGETHER IN THIS FIGHT? That’s where my anger is. Get the Liberals, the NDP and the Greens together, because the stakes are pretty fecking extreme. Show the people of Canada that you can work together, that you DO care about Canada. Forget raising money for the next election, because if this bill passes, the next election is moot. It’s like saving money for a child’s college fund, then watching that child die because you didn’t want to spend the money saved for college on the medicine he needs now. Canada needs the medicine now!

There was a time when Canadians were proud of what we did. We were the peace brokers, the calming influence. If there were elections to be held in other countries, where democracy wasn’t as entrenched in their psyches as it was here, WE went to help, to oversee, to teach them about the beauty of casting a ballot, knowing that it was done on a fair, level playing field. Canada, like Rome, wasn’t built in a day, but like Pompei, the Canada we know can be wiped out in one fell blow. For us, it will be Mount Harper that will be our demise, and I have no doubt that he’s up to the task. I only wish our opposition parties were as well.

Canada is under attack… from within.

Perspective and Priority

noreply@blogger.com (Bambi) — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 04:21:00 +0000

Washington, Illinois November 18th, 2013

I came to the realization that today is a very sad day. It’s sad for a number of reasons, all of them calamitous, some for many, some for few. Years ago, I recall reading the riot act to a young RCMP constable I worked with, who blew off a young boy who had come in to report that his bike had been stolen. The boy was about 8. A stolen bike is not a career-making case for a police officer but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a tragedy to the child.

I remember being barked at by a nurse in the hospital one day when I was very pregnant for the first time. I reminded the doctor when he chimed in that while he might deliver babies every day, I didn’t, and it would be nice if he could remember that. I also reminded him that I took car accident reports every day, but never once did I minimalize his trauma when he was in a fender bender. That same doctor, several years later, held my hands and cried when he told me that while he had delivered the news to someone about a diagnosis of cancer, he never really understood what those words meant to the patient, until he heard them himself. He thanked me for helping remind him from time to time about perspective.

When I was a telephone operator, we were taught to cut in to a call in case of an emergency, but that we had to confirm it was a real emergency. The problem is, as our supervisor was careful to point out, emergencies are not always what we think they are. Her experience had been that she cut into a call for an emergency call to be put through to that number. As required by the phone company, she stayed on the line to ensure it was, in fact, an emergency. The caller who requested her to interrupt the current call was in tears, but her emergency when she finally got through was to beg for someone to bring her some curlers for her hair. An emergency? Well, maybe not in our everyday worlds, but it was definitely one for the caller. It was her wedding day, she had one hour to get ready, and her steam rollers had died. Her hair was a disaster on the most important day of her life. Even emergencies, I suppose, can be relative.

The point about all of this is that all of these stories are about perspective and priorities. Each story, each situation, has several perspectives and each has to be looked at according to priorities. Why is that so hard for us to remember or respect these two facts? Why is our judgment of what is important so skewed?

Last night, in Washington, Illinois, disaster struck. It blew into town, hell bent on destruction. Homes were ruined, livelihoods were destroyed, some lives were taken. It happened in winter, where night temperatures, even in what I might consider a southern climate, can be brutal, especially when you have absolutely nothing left. Unfortunately, instead of talking about this disaster, the story fell in line after twenty minutes of Rob Ford, the infantile over-indulgent mayor of Toronto in his mid-life Justin Beiber wannabe crisis.

Tacloban, Philippines Nov 18, 2013

Last week, there was a typhoon of epic proportions in the Philippines. Bodies are still being uncovered. Aide is still desperately needed. Entire communities are lost, and the prospects, like in Illinois, are not promising for the families touched by these storms. It will take weeks, years in fact, before life can possibly turn to something sort of resembling normal for these people, who will forever be haunted by what can happen in the fury of a storm in the blink of an eye. Instead of telling us how to help, what organizations actually move the aide forward instead of using it to line their own pockets or to pay for their high corporate first class flights and five star executive offices, we have to hear more about... Rob Ford and his lunatic ravings.

Radioactive sea water from Fukushima Nov 2013

Last year, there was an earthquake and tsunami in Fukushima, Japan, that caused extensive damage to the nuclear reactors there. Ten days ago, they started work to try to get the reactive cores out of the plants, a task that is so fraught with danger, one slip of one fraction of an inch could result in an explosion many times that of the bombing of Hiroshima. While this is going on, though, radioactive contamination is spilling into the pacific at about the same speed as a BP oil leak. The nuclear contamination is spreading hundreds of thousands of square miles into the ocean, already almost on the shores of that ecological gem, Hawaii. It is less than a year away from the shores of North America. There is no contingency plans, no assistance being accepted, no protocol for dealing with what is happening in our water, something that could destroy the majority of ocean life on half of the globe. What is the news covering? Rob Ford, his crack and his wife's bountiful attributes.

Today, the Center for Global Development released their statistics, stating that Canada was at the bottom of the barrel – the very bottom of the barrel – in their commitment to providing aide, in various forms, to the poor of the world and in our commitment to protect the environment. Our Environment Minister also stood up today and knowingly, unabashedly lied about Canada’s commitment to the UN Climate Change Conference, stating that we are making progress that even documents from her own department show are false. One has to wonder at the sad irony of these news stories all playing out right now, where climate change and record-breaking weather anomalies, caused by climate change, are destroying lives by the tens of thousands. What did we hear on the news today about this story? Nothing. We were watching Rob Ford knock down fellow city council members and proclaiming his Jesus moment that made him turn over a new leaf (however temporarily that leaf may be turned).

No Mo Ro Fo -- Rob Ford, Mayor of Toronto

I readily acknowledge that the claims made against the mayor of Toronto are news, and do need to be taken seriously. It is abhorrent to think that a public official at such a high level in the largest municipality in Canada has opened the doors, putting his family, his council and his co-workers at what could be immense peril because of his criminal connection and business. He has opened his children up to ridicule, and to danger. He is dealing with a criminal element, by his own admission, on more than once occasion, in a manner that is absolutely not acceptable. He can play his word games, he can thunder around and bully, because that is what we seem to reward in politics and business these days, but it doesn’t change the fact that because of his actions, people could have been killed, kidnapped, extorted, injured, or illegally financially rewarded. Yes, this is news, but it is not 20 minutes at the top of every news show for days on end. We know what he has done, we are aware of the allegations. Let the city council now do their job to mitigate the damage this moron and his brother can do, and relegate them to where they belong in the news cycle – after the serious, new news. The people of Toronto deserve better. The people who live off the ocean, or eat the fish, or swim in the water deserve better. God knows, the people of Washington, Illinois and those in the Philippines definitely deserve better. It’s time for the media to step up to the plate, own their share in this mess, and get back to being reporters of news.

Perhaps the Horse Needs Obamacare?

noreply@blogger.com (Bambi) — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 19:10:00 +0000

DATELINE: THE HORSE IS DEAD BUT WE ARE STILL WATCHING THEM FLOG IT – On March 23, 2010, in the United States, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) became a reality. That’s how it works in politics – bills are proposed, presented, voted on and either passed or rejected. Not everyone is happy about it; that’s also how it’s supposed to be. Those who saw problems with the bill should accept that the majority had spoken, and turn their attention to helping make the program as effective and efficient as possible. That’s their job. That’s what they are paid to do – for bills they like and the ones they don’t like. Let’s face it, there is nothing that will be passed through any political body that makes everyone happy; that’s simply not possible. Those opposed have perspective, though, and should then use that to help make it the best possible.

Since March 23^rd, 2010, there was a presidential election. Because that election returned Obama to the oval office, his PPACA was, in essence, given majority approval by the population of the United States. Nevertheless, also since March 23^rd, the US Congress, led by John Boehner and the GOP, has voted AGAIN on the Affordable Care, not once, not twice... but 42 times. This by itself is inconceivable. No other bill in no other government has gotten 42 do-overs, still losing every one, yet still insisting on one more kick at the cat.

While they are doing this, issues of banks run amok are not addressed (then again, with Mrs. Cruz being a regional director for Goldman Sachs, Teddy certainly doesn't want to see the banks regulated). Issues of unemployment and underpay are not addressed. Issues of national security are not addressed. Issues of paying the military are not addressed. Instead, these petulant children are still stomping their feet, throwing a temper tantrum that they did not get their way. This sort of dedication is not impressive; instead it begs the question ‘what is really motivating these morons?’

Now though, the GOP has attached a rider to their attempt to quash PPACA. They have decided that if they don’t get their way, they will refuse to make available the money necessary to keep the country running. That means that, first and foremost, those people in the military will again take it on the chin. It means that those who depend on their pension checks are out of luck. It means that crime will run amok as prisons are unattended. Think about what your government does... then imagine no one doing any of that. This is a tactic that will not hurt any corporation and it will not hurt anyone sitting in Congress or the Senate because, well, they have already taken care of themselves.

Ted Cruz stood for 22 hours in a very deliberate attempt to stop the wheels of congress, to stop debate and discussion. He talked about the outrage of the people of the country because nothing is being done. HOW THE HELL DARE HE! He said that the people of the country are getting frustrated. HOW THE HELL DARE HE! He is reading Green Eggs and Ham, a book about trying things that you are 100% opposed to, as he throws his tizzy about having to swallow ‘Obamacare’. Wow. Absolutely everything he is doing is blatantly a slap in the face to the working, struggling people of the country, and he knows it.

Ted Cruz’ actions would be less disingenuous if he offered options to the problems he sees with PPACA. He would have much more credibility if, rather than supporting the gouging insurance companies and taking political contributions from big pharmaceutical companies. If he wasn't firmly and comfortably ensconced in the pockets of Corporate America, people might give a shit about what he has to say. His objections have nothing to do with the working people, the sick people, the tired people, the struggling people or the retired people of America.

Conveniently enough, issues like oil pipelines can’t be discussed or debated – they don’t want that because that might mean scientific and statistical information might come out that doesn’t support their position. They can’t discuss GMO’s and fracking, things that can and will kill hundreds of thousands of people, while politicians sit back and plead ignorance about letting the companies doing these things run roughshod through peoples’ lives. There are too many issues that they just don’t want to deal with, so let’s waste time flogging an already long-dead horse.

So, neglecting their duties for two years, while pulling in huge paychecks and donations from their corporate sponsors, while people continue to suffer in ways that they should not be suffering, wasn't enough. Playing silly-bugger with the government finances, imposing even more hardships on retired people and the military while they carry on with this charade of legislating FOR the people was not enough. That wasn't enough of a threat. It didn't work, so now they threaten to shut down the entire country. I guess you don’t have to look very far to find those new-fangled American home-grown terrorists, because they ARE playing with peoples’ lives, they are threatening livelihoods and ways of life and they are using fear and trying to force capitulation. Beware the enemy within.

The GOP has more than proven themselves to be nothing more than self-serving thugs. In essence, all thugs are self-serving; the only way to stop them, though, is to have someone with the balls to stand up and be counted, to say ‘Enough!’ Washington is, apparently, infested with thugs – corporate and political. Sadly, I have no idea who the hero will be in this scenario, who will stand up for the people, who will actually do what he/she took an oath to do. All evidence so far, though, shows that it will not be Obama. He was a man who talked the talk, but he sure as hell doesn't walk the walk. More’s the pity, and good hardworking Americans continue to foot the bill.

Another Stellar Political Performance

noreply@blogger.com (Bambi) — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 03:50:00 +0000

Scandal! Caught playing iPhone game at

3+ hour Senate hearing - worst of all I lost!

DATELINE: KNOWING WHEN TO FOLD EM - I sat for three and a half hours yesterday, watching the US Senate hearings regarding a response to the crisis in Syria. I did this because, as a Canadian with many attachments to people on the southern side of the 49^th, I believe this is a very critical point in history. I did this because I recognize that the results of this decision WILL impact me – it could result in more threats to security to all of us, it could require that friends and their loved ones will be required to serve in Syria, it definitely could set a precedent for future diplomacy around the world and it very much will have an impact on the global economy, especially if the wrong decision is made. I felt it was important because trillions of dollars and tens of thousands of more lives, Syrian and American, could be at stake. I watched because I wanted to know if there was more information, more learned opinions who are familiar with the situation offering possible alternatives or different insights as to whether or not someone should interfere. I watched this because it could change how regimes are dealt with, how civil wars are dealt with in the future. I needed to know more because I am concerned about the credibility and efficacy of the United Nations, and in particular the UN Security Council, that appears farcically impotent at best. There were many reasons to watch, or to at least keep tabs on the discussions and questions.

I was not paid to be there, as every one of those people in that senate chamber were. In fact, they are paid damned handsomely for sitting in there. As I listened, though, I thought about family members who had fought in wars, who had been injured in wars... I have interviewed many over the years in the course of doing research, and I thought about every one of them, and how they talked about war. I thought about their perspective of war – the perspective of men and women who agreed to defend the country, who are paid peanuts to do so, but who nonetheless do as they are ordered, despite their own personal concerns or disapproval of the action. There was none who didn’t have a story about an asinine order issued from a commander. Now, commanders are human, and they make mistakes. Some of them do what they think is best for the right reasons. Overall, they accept that the person one rank higher than them always had their backs, that someone would be watching out and making sure the stupidity was cut off at the knees. It is imperative for those in uniform to know, to be able to trust, that those making decisions are doing so in a dedicated, informed, responsible manner.

So, enter Senator John McCain. This is a man who wore a uniform, who spent time as a POW, who has tried to become President of the United States, and probably, sadly, will try again. Not only does he disrespect... blatantly disrespect... the people of the United States, the people in the countries around the United States and around Syria, the people of Syria, the men and women wearing uniforms but he also disrespects... blatantly disrespects... the other people in that senate chamber, by playing god damned games on his cell phone instead of paying attention. It was three and a half hours. He can’t sit and pay attention for that long? Well, then, Mister McCain, it’s time for you to check into the senior’s home and see if you can handle a whole game of scrabble in one sitting. God knows the troops who could end up involved because of a misstep by the US government would be committed to something a hell of a lot longer than three hours.

So, while I was incensed by McCain’s indifference and disrespect, his tweeted response and all his subsequent responses today should have him standing in a dock facing treason charges. He blows off the concerns by flippantly complaining that he lost pretend money? We’re talking lives and potentially trillions of dollars, and a global economy, and this moron is seriously making comments about his poker money? He is implying that people have no right to be mad or question him. He is implying that a three hour meeting is more to expect from any human being... what with their crystal water glasses, plush chairs, and minions waiting on you. If I was paid to sit in a meeting for three hours and I pulled out my phone to play a game on it, my ass would be out the door so fast, my head would be spinning, so how the hell dare you, Mister McCain, how the hell dare you criticise people for expecting that you at least pay attention.

It is to be hoped that the next time John McCain next appears on a ballot, that those who support him are too damned busy playing on their cell phones to be able to find their way to the voting booth. It’s hard to believe, though, that they would not just laugh him out of the state.

I HAVE A DREAM; IT SURE AS HELL ISN'T ABOUT WAR

noreply@blogger.com (Bambi) — Sun, 01 Sep 2013 01:52:00 +0000

DATELINE: SITTING ON THE AIRRAFT CARRIER, WAITING FOR THE 'MISSION ACCOMPLISHED' SIGN TO UNFURL... AGAIN -- This, on the week where we watched, celebrated and remembered the words and deeds of Martin Luther King Jr, is unbelievable. You simply can't make this shit up. Those who know me, know that I am not heartless. Seeing an image of a child sick or hungry will bring me to tears. When researching history, I am sickened by the horrid things man has done to man, for the sake of power, for the sake of some asinine religious ideal, for money and fame. I have made no secret of the fact that I believed that there was a need to diplomatically intervene in the situation in Syria, to work towards stopping the brutal regime of Bashar al Assad. That said, it sickens me that there is any sort of discussion regarding any other country using military force. It astounds me that, again, we haven’t learned.

What is to be accomplished by a military response in any fashion? Only strategic military targets will be attacked? Well, that’s nice, but Assad is not a fool. He has moved his targets, left nothing but empty shells of buildings for anyone else to aim at. Munitions will be in hospitals, schools, residential areas where he can use his people, the people who were demanding change from him two years ago, as his shields. He has moved some supplies out of the country, with the help and under the protection of whatever bat-shit crazy despot of the day is calling the shots in Iran, and with the support and assistance of Putin. There is no reason to believe that other countries are not also supporting Assad, whether or not they agree with what he does but because they have to on principle – they cannot afford to have other countries interfering in what they do, and they will want to stop that before it happens again. Iraq is still fresh in their momories.

So there is no effective target to take out. It requires an escalation, so more missiles are fired, more bombs dropped, more guns fired. Why is going to be hurt by that? Well, the people who are living there, just wanting this to end. Yes, technology makes aiming a weapon more exact, but even with that, please look at the number of people who have perished in Iraq and Afghanistan. Adding more weapons, and more soldiers, puts more people at risk. How, then, does all this end? Well, if it’s Afghanistan or Iraq, it doesn’t. Every other war has ended with diplomatic negotiations. Why can’t we skip the middle-man, avoid the extra deaths and thousands of maimed people, and cut right to the chase?

Wait! Let me answer that. We can’t because our politicians are in the pockets of the people who are sitting back with shit-eating grins on their faces, applauding the President of the United States for taking the bait – and yes I really do believe it’s bait; Obama, through his own self-righteous stupidity in drawing ‘a red line’ that was unenforceable, backed by a lot of bullying in the media, is walking into a trap from which there is no escape. Think about how much one plane, one missile, all the technology, the bullets, the guns cost. It shouldn’t be hard. The last two wars have cost billions of dollars each year, and countless lives that should not have been on the bargaining table in the first place. The people who own those companies, who also support their political party of choice (which tends to be whichever one is in power, because they like to hedge their bets) are over the moon about this. Ka-ching, Ka-ching, they can hear those new cars rolling up and those new mansions being built, with no regard for the hard work of taxpayers who foot the bill, or for the blood that will be spilt. Missiles are their blood diamonds.

But there is another equally as pertinent reason for not going into Syria. It’s not anyone’s business. Harsh? Hell yes, but this is not a time to be pussy-assed about it. The Syrians are using chemical weapons on their own people. Well, the US government used Agent Orange in Vietnam, exposing civilians and their own soldiers to an incredibly cruel, heinous death. They didn’t know it would do that? Bullshit. They knew it would do that, because it did that to the people exposed to it ten years earlier in Korea. They then buried the crap in landfills, near water supplies, still knowing what it would do, hoping that by forbidding anyone from talking about it, things would be perfectly fine. Weapons of mass destruction? Does that include Napalm? Where the hell does the US or any other country, get off in condemning anyone for doing what they have already done with impunity.

Don’t get me started on the allowing of the contamination of water, which is no different than throwing Poison in the town well, and their back-pocket association with companies who daily add poisons to our food, genetically modifying it so that it has no nutritional value but does keep the coin rolling in for Monsanto.

The other reason it is no one’s business is because this is a civil war. The people of Syria wanted change, and they stood up, impassioned, determined, wanting to own their freedom and their future. It is no different than what black people did in order to get to sit on any bus seat or eat in any damned restaurant they wanted to in the US. It was no different than the American North going to war against the South over a principle. What would have happened if France had lobbed bombs and put soldiers on the ground in America during that war? What if Germany had said ‘we are opposed to that, so we are going to come in and pick sides’? Would there be an African American US President if the country had not been allowed to deal with the issue the way they had to?

Yes, war is ugly. It’s ugly on the battlefields and in the homes of the people caught in the middle. It is even uglier, yet better disguised, in the back rooms, the marble halls where decisions are made over cognac and caviar, while businessmen dream of counting the cash they will have in their vaults. It’s time people wake up. War IS hell and it should always, and forever, be a last resort when a sovereign nation is threatened by another. The people of Syria have the right and the need to deal with this, to cause the changes they need and demand in their lives, and it is no place for anyone else to try to pick sides.

One again, we hear that this is necessary for international security and safety. Sorry, that ship sailed. The argument has no credibility. The last time, we found out the argument was nothing but a string of lies. The argument is stronger that for the sake of international security and safety, military involvement must be avoided. Declaring war on Iraq because of their WMDs did nothing to make the world a safer place. Now Mr. Obama is referring this issue to Congress, that austere body of politicians who cannot even agree on the purchasing of a damned stapler, and talk of reinstituting the draft raises its ugly head.

So, do I want to sit here every night and look at the torture Al-Assad unleashes on children and families? No, absolutely not, but what I want in this regard is not germane to the discussion. The answer, though, is in diplomacy and in legal avenues, not war. If Al-Assad is guilty of crimes against humanity, charge him, lock him up, try him and deal with it, while letting his country heal and rebuild. Provide him a place to meet with HIS enemy, broker the deals, do the backroom diplomacy that proves the worth of a real leader. A real leader works to keep his people OUT of harm’s way, works to make the world better, and he does that by example, through dialogue, through empathy, through patience, and through tolerance, exampling all these things along the way. We have created international laws and international courts; why can’t we give them the opportunity to work?

Bashar Al-Assad is evil. There is no debate about that. There are a lot of evil men in the world, and the way to deal with them is through the courts. He should have been reined in two years ago, being held accountable to international courts. Instead of adding more lives to the cost ledger in this civil war, fix the United Nations, which is nothing more than a pathetic, sick joke. There is much that needs to be done, and much that can be done. More military involvement is not one of them.

Dear Mr. Harper

noreply@blogger.com (Bambi) — Thu, 30 May 2013 21:37:00 +0000

I am sharing my letter to the Prime Minister of Canada with you. Please feel free to copy it, use it, share it, whatever you like with it. I sent this to Mr. Harper, his entire cabinet, the leaders of the opposition, their deputies, and the media. Unfortunately, it is already out of date, because of the conservative scandal du jour.

Dear Mr. Harper:
I am writing to you to request that when you speak in the house and to the public, that you no longer use the phrase ‘what the Canadian people want’ or any variation thereof. I can attest to the fact that you do not speak for me, nor for any member of my household, and therefore, you are not speaking with knowledge of what ‘the Canadian people want’. What THIS Canadian wants is for you to explain to me where the transparency and accountability lies in the following issues:

Archives ‘cleansing’ – The Harper government is working through the Canadian Archives, destroying things that don’t quite agree with their position, effectively politically rewriting our history.

- Consultation Fees -- $2.4Billion was spent on unspecified, undefined, unaccounted for ‘consultation’.

- Lost money -- $3.1Billion was ‘lost’ dollars designated for National Security.

- Illegal contributions – this time from those receiving patronage appointments (ie IE directors) who are legally forbidden from making political contributions, but who made $37,000 of them anyway.

- Duffy Affair – Senator Duffy charged excessively on his expense accounts, was found to be dishonest in his claims yet he faced no consequence. The repayment does not negate the offence.

- Nigel Wright payment – where did the $90,000 come from, who ordered it, who knew about it, why was it allowed, why was a senate report doctored to hide the fact that Duffy had been fraudulently charging taxpayers and why has no one been fired over this situation? (Not some $30,000 a year PMO worker; someone with authority and substance)

- Legal counsel for Nigel Wright – who drew up any documents used with regard to the loan/gift/payment to Michael Duffy, and was any PMO counsel resource used for this purpose.

- CBC Control – The Harper government announced that they will be taking over the appointing of staff to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, effectively taking control over the news and the way it is presented to the public, providing them with more political spin at public expense.

- Temporary Foreign Workers Scandal with Royal Bank and other large corporations for the importing of foreign workers to replace Canadian workers with Canadian government oversight approval.

- Bail-In Provision snuck through to allow government access to personal savings accounts to settle government debts (2013)

- Long Gun Registry – stopped then reinstated (April 2013) with increased registration fees for restricted weapons and the yearly renewing of license for long guns

- Robocalls (2012) – issuing fake, misleading calls to actively interfere with voting public

- Canada Action Plan ad campaign Part 1 -- $26M taxpayer dollars over 3 months for programs already ended in order to promote conservative party interests.

- Canada Action Plan ad campaign Part 2 – while unemployment, particularly student unemployment, rises steadily, Harper continues his Canada Action Plan ads at high-cost events, for no purpose other than pre-campaigning.

- ETS Scandal – An IT contract was unfairly awarded to CGI, a known association of Michael Fortier, the then PWGSC Minister in a clear conflict of interest. No fairness monitor was appointed to oversee the process, reported scores by evaluators did not coincide with what they had issued, the evaluation team was advised to destroy all records relating to the evaluation, the government refused to debrief companies that had lost the award, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal ruled against the government, and the government’s response was angry denial and to appoint a new federal crown prosecutor (a former Conservative candidate) to charge the unsuccessful companies involved in the bid process with big-rigging – a charge still unproven but the case continues four years after the fact.

- CFIA (2012) – food inspection services cut, listeriosis outbreak, Minister Gerry Ritz’s tasteless jokes about deaths from outbreak.

- Prorogation – Part 1 (to avoid Contempt of Parliament fallout)

- Prorogation – Part 2 (to avoid NDP/Liberal coalition government)

- Shoe Store Project (2007) – plans for a $2M government controlled media center, run by the PMO to replace the National Press Gallery, run by the national press.

- Julie Couillard Scandal (2007) – Maxime Bernier leaves sensitive NATO documents at ex-girlfriend’s house, a woman with known ties to the Hells Angels

- In and Out (2007) – Circumnavigation of election finance rules in 2006 election. $230,000 in fines issued for violating spending laws

- Plagiarizing – Part 1 (2007) you plagiarized Australia’s John Howard’s speech about Iraq

- Plagiarizing – Part 2 (2008) from Ontario Mike Harris’ speech

- Repatriation scandal – issued orders that military personnel killed in combat would not receive repatriation attention or coverage and no flags would be at half-mast

- Scrums – all media scrums in Parliament were forbidden. Press statements would be issued when the government feels they are necessary, effectively stifling the press.

- Chuck Cadman scandal – offered a bribe for the vote in parliament, then lied under oath about it and the tape evidence of the bribe

- Senior Federal Scientists Gagged – they are not allowed to speak to media without government permission... still in effect

- Long-form Census stopped, cutting access to valuable statistics

- Unfair labor conditions for government workers -- Suspended Federal civil servants’ right to strike

- Abuse of RCMP during election -- Limiting access of press to PM during election by misusing RCMP to restrict access at private events

- Omnibus bill to pass non-financial bills with budget, making it impossible to reject pieces of the overall bill, thereby circumventing parliamentary process in the passing on individual bills. (Ironically something Stephen Harper as leader of the opposition was adamantly opposed to as being undemocratic)

- Afghan Detainees Scandal

- Military planes scandal -- Withheld financial information from parliament and parliamentary committees about costs of military planes

- Improper procedure for fighter plane procurement -- Neglected the bid process in awarding of a contract on fighter plane procurement.

- Whistleblower scandal – Christiane Ouimet, integrity commissioner, turned down investigations into 227 whistleblower allegations. She was quietly dismissed with a $500,000 exit payment and gag order.

- Rebranding Canadian Government as Harper Government on communications documents

- Interference in the 2008 US Presidential election

- $54,000 taxpayer money spent on 2-day oil lobby retreat in UK (2011)

- Withdrawal from Kyoto

- G8/G20 Fake Lake Scandals

- Interfering with collective bargaining -- Ordering striking unions back to work: Canada Post, Air Canada,

- Breaking your own new set election date law

- Over 1700 patronage appointments

- Pulling Canada out of UN anti-drought initiative

- Contempt of Parliament – refused to turn over documents on Afghan detainee affair and later refused to submit to a parliamentary request regarding costing of his programs

- Issuing a 200-page handbook to committee heads advising them on how to disrupt their committees.

- Reneging on promise to allow parliamentary committees to select their own chairs.

- Dictating an order that staffers to cabinet ministers do not have to testify before committees

- Ordering all government communications to be vetted by his office or the Privy Council Office

- Putting Conservative party logos on stimulus funding cheques that were paid out of the public purse.

- Had party affiliates write on-line posts, using false names, to attack journalists.

- In Charlottetown in 2007, he had the police remove reporters from a hotel lobby where a party caucus meeting was being held

- Attempted to tar the reputation of diplomat Richard Colvin for contradicting their position on the afghan detainees situation.

- Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor mislead the House regarding the afghan detainees situation, had to apologize and later resigned

- Terminated Peter Tinsley, the Military Police Complaints Commissioner, when he started to investigate the afghan detainee situation.

- Mudslinging -- Before his leadership, personal attack ads were used, relatively sparingly, only during election season instead of every day regardless of election cycle.

- Fossil of the Day awards (x3) were awards to John Baird, as minister of the environment, at the UN Cancun climate conference (Dec 2010) awarded by more than 400 leading organizations, to the countries that do the most to disrupt or undermine UN climate talks, citing that Baird and the Canadian government were ‘working against progressive legislation to address climate change” by “cancelling support for clean energy and for failing to have any plan to meet its very weak target for reducing Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions.”

- Bev Oda – misleading Parliament, mishandled CIDA requests for KAIROS group, overspending (has paid back $4,025.26 to taxpayers)

- Maxime Bernier – 2 ethics investigations for conflict of interest

- Peter Penashue – election overspending, ineligible donations

- John Duncan – improperly lobbied a tax judge

- Bruce Carson – violating lobbying regulations/influence peddling

- Dimitri Soudas – Communications Director for PM questioned over kickback scandal involving Montreal Port Authority

- Jim Flaherty – Finance Minister improperly interfered with CRTC regarding the issuing of a broadcast licence

- Dean Del Mastro – Elections Canada investigation of overspending, etc.

- Arthur Porter – Harper appointee as Canada spy agency watchdog wanted for $1.3B fraud

- Lisa Raitt – left sensitive documents in public AND made the‘cancer is sexy’ comment

- Jason Kenney – used MP stationery for party fundraising

- Rahim Jaffer and Helene Guergis – aids writing letters to papers pretending to be citizens, influence peddling (him), letting her husband use her office, mortgage transgressions, and the Charlottetown Airport meltdown

- Peter MacKay – using military transportation for personal use

- Vic Towes – abusive language and ‘you’re either with us or against us with child pornography’ statement

- Sebastien Togneri, Agop Evereklian, Giulio Maturi, Dale Saip and Kasra Nejatian all involved in ethics transgressions

- Rona Ambrose – told a parliamentary committee that Canada had paid its debt under the Kyoto Protocol but it was later pointed out that it was still unpaid. She refused to add spotted owls, of which there were only 17, needed no special protection. As Minister responsible for the Status of Women, voted for a motion to revisit the Canadian Criminal Code regarding abortion.

- John Baird – Used his cabinet post to interfere with the 2006 Ottawa city mayoral election and the light rail transit system in that city.

- Tony Clement -- $50M originally intended for the G8 meeting and border issues was used instead in his riding, with no supporting paperwork

- Mike Duffy – improperly collecting housing allowances

- Patrick Brazeau – improperly collecting housing allowances and facing assault and sexual assault charges

- Pamela Wallin – travel and other expenses being audited for irregularities

- 58 senate appointments, 100% from the conservative party despite election promises of not appointing any senators or other patronage appointments.

- In a variety of punitive ways, Harper moved against NGOs, independent agencies, watchdog groups, and tribunals who showed signs of differing with his intent. In some cases he fired their directors or stacked their boards with partisans. In others, he sued them or cut their funding. The targets of such tactics included the Rights and Democracy group, Elections Canada, Veterans’ Ombudsman Pat Stogran, Budget Officer Kevin Page and many more. His party’s smear tactics included labelling the Liberal party anti-Israel, calling Dalton McGuinty the small man of Confederation, trying to link Liberal MP Navdeep Bains to terrorism, and calling for reprisals against academics such as the University Ottawa’s Michael Behiels for questioning their policies.

- Two months after the federal election, Stephen Harper privately met with Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe and New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton in a Montreal hotel. On September 9, 2004, the three signed a letter addressed to then-Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, stating, “We respectfully point out that the opposition parties, who together constitute a majority in the House, have been in close consultation. We believe that, should a request for dissolution arise this should give you cause, as constitutional practice has determined, to consult the opposition leaders and consider all of your options before exercising your constitutional authority.” – you can never raise the issue of coalitions again with derision. You used that ticket yourself, so any mention of it is entirely disingenuous.

- "When a government starts trying to cancel dissent or avoid dissent is frankly when it's rapidly losing its moral authority to govern." -- Stephen Harper. You, Sir, need to apply this to your own leadership.

- “We don't think as a party that patronage has any place in the Parliament of Canada." Stephen Harper, Calgary Herald, March 22, 1995 -- see the above noted 1700+ patronage appointments you have made.

- "We don't support any Senate appointments." Stephen Harper, Winnipeg Free Press, January 29, 1996 -- Singing a different song now, Mr. Prime Minister?

- "Stephen Harper will cease patronage appointments to the Senate. Only candidates elected by the people will be named to the Upper House." Stephen Harper Leadership Website, January 15, 2004 – patently a lie told in order to win votes.

- "… the Upper House remains a dumping ground for the favoured cronies of the Prime Minister." Stephen Harper Leadership Website, January 15, 2004 – You wrote the book on this one, sir.

- "I don't plan to appoint senators; that's not my intention." Stephen Harper, Cornwall Standard-Freeholder, January 14, 2006 -- I won’t flog this dead horse any longer.

- “I, too, am one of these angry westerners ... We may love Canada but Canada does not love us ... Let's make (Alberta) strong enough that the rest of the country is afraid to threaten us.” Report Newsmagazine, December 2000. – you do love this east vs west scenario. It’s growing tired. The only discourse between east and west is the one you are creating in your spin room.

- “You've got to remember that west of Winnipeg the ridings the Liberals hold are dominated by people who are either recent Asian immigrants or recent migrants from eastern Canada: people who live in ghettoes and who are not integrated into western Canadian society.” Report Newsmagazine, January 2001 – this explains a lot.

- “Let's face it, the average backbench MP is little more than a bench warmer for his/her political party.” Letter to The National Post, February 1998. – just the way you like it, Sir? It seems you still want your backbenchers to only follow the party line and who cares what their constituents might want or need.

- Then… there was this: The time for accountability has arrived. Canadians will soon be able to finally hold the Liberals accountable. After 12 years in power, the Liberals must be held accountable for the stolen money; accountable for the broken trust, and accountable for all that they failed to accomplish because of this government’s total preoccupation with scandal and damage control.

For those Canadians seeking accountability the question is clear: which party can deliver the change of government that’s needed to ensure political accountability in Ottawa?

We need a change of government to replace old style politics with a new vision. We need to replace a culture of entitlement and corruption with a culture of accountability. We need to replace benefits for a privileged few with government for all.

Everyday Canadians – the hardworking people who pay their taxes and play by the rules – want and deserve a new government that will put the people’s interest ahead of self-interest. And this election provides them with a chance to tell Liberal Ottawa that they’ve had enough; that they’re tired of being forgotten; that it’s finally their turn.

It’s time for a new government that will get things done – for all of us. Our priorities are clear. We will clean up government, cut the GST, offer parents help with child care, cut patient wait times for medical procedures, and crack down on crime.

Our plan will help individuals, families, seniors, and small business. A new Conservative government will strengthen national unity and advance our interests on the world stage.

This platform presents a clear choice for Canadians. A clear choice between old and new; entitlement and accountability; benefits for a few and leadership for all. Only one party can deliver the change of government that’s needed to bring political accountability to Ottawa.

Join me and stand up for Canada.

Stephen Harper, Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada (election 2006) The sad irony is that THIS Stephen Harper had it right. I wonder what happened to him. The Stephen Harper we have now is EVERYTHING this one campaigned against.

These scandals, situations and questions have gone completely unaccounted for by this government. In fact, other than for an almost non-existent percentage, no one has been fired, reprimanded, replaced or investigated criminally. The only action taken to account for these situations is to obfuscate the truth by cutting off access of media and police -- a truly fascist and arguably treasonous move. Sadly, I have debated this letter for some time, out of fear for my family and myself, because it seems to be a pattern for this government to steamroll over problems and issues rather than to acknowledge them. I realize that I am throwing myself under the steamroller. What a sad sad commentary about what this country, the envy of every other country in the world because of its moral and ethical values, has become.
Mr. Harper, in light of your complete and total lack of transparency and accountability, indeed you absolute disdain for those two qualities that you clearly, repeatedly campaigned on, I had no choice but to write to you. The only purpose you have is your own megalomaniacal lust of power and authority at ANY cost. There is no transparency and there is no regard or respect for the laws of our Parliament or of our country when applied to you and your government. Based on the fact that your party did participate in election fraud, and did obstruct investigation into said election fraud, along with the rest of this very long list (and whatever else will be coming out today and in the days to come of your questionable, at best, practices) I would respectfully request that you attend the Governor General’s residence either to ask for this illegitimate government to be dissolved, or to file your resignation as Prime Minister of Canada... or both.

Harper’s Bizarre: The Litany Continues

noreply@blogger.com (Bambi) — Tue, 21 May 2013 23:17:00 +0000

DATELINE: TAKING OUT MY PEN AND WRITING A LETTER: I recently posted a list of Prime Minister Harper’s Scandals. It’s hard to imagine that it could have grown at all in such a short time, but each day we hear more about his abuse of power, his unaccountability of our money, his complete disregard for laws. Just when you think it can’t get worse, that he has to have sunk to his lowest level, he surprises you. There is apparently nothing he will not stoop to in order to maintain his hold on the big seat.

Case in point... it recently has been revealed that he has been ‘rewriting’ history, changing or deleting what he doesn’t like or what doesn’t suit his purpose. In a way, I was glad to hear this, because I was sure I was losing my mind when I accused him of this three years ago. I had been researching information regarding the Vietnam war for a book I was writing. The Vietnam War, you say? Well, yes, because while we were not officially involved, there were tens of thousands of men, Canadian men, young men, who went down to the United States to enlist, because they thought they were doing the right thing. They were labelled as mercenaries up here (seriously, considering what the military here and in the US are paid, this is either laughable or pathetic... I’m not sure which) but they had the power of their convictions and the desire to help others, so they joined up. There were more Canadians who went down to help in Vietnam than there were Americans who came up here to avoid the draft. Chew on that fact for awhile.

These men, if they were hurt or killed in action, were disavowed by BOTH governments, and they still are to this day. There are no health benefits, no assistance plans. Neither the US government nor the Canadian government recognizes their sacrifices. Those Canadians who perished in Vietnam were denied any proper burial, because they were pariahs. Finally, though, there was some headway being made to help these men. I know. I read about them in the Canadian government archives on the internet, on the official Canadian Government website. There was information about the numbers of men who went to the US to enlist, and what happened to them. There was information about the money that was made by Canadian entities who, while not supporting the war and remaining completely neutral, lined their pockets with the blood of other men.

Today that page no longer exists on the government website. It’s not convenient. It might mean that perhaps a crack could have been closed, some help could have been arranged for those men and their families, that some recognition and assistance might be forthcoming, but god forbid that happen in Stephen Harper’s Canada. Today it is the story of our boys who fought in Vietnam; tomorrow will they erase the history of my uncle who fought in Dieppe? Where does he stop? How much of our history will be destroyed, how many lives complete disregarded and disrespected, in his efforts to pave the way to political supremacy? We are waiting, sure that the trickle-down dregs of the 1% will boost the rest of us. Beyond that, and his attempts (however illegal or immoral) to maintain power, nothing else matters. The world revolves around the Harper Government and his ability to keep a stranglehold on it. That is much easier to accomplish with a poor, underfed, undereducated and uninformed population. He is taking great strides to ensure that. To this end, I present the updated (at least as of this morning... God only knows what else has happened today, but if it involves this government, it can’t be good) litany of Harper’s scandals. When you have read it, perhaps you will join me in writing to the Governor General, requesting that he do what he is mandated to do -- dissolving this Parliament and calling a new election, before Harper is so out of control, there is no turning back. Each day we wait, more of our history, and our future, is being systematically and systemically destroyed.

Archives ‘cleansing’ – The Harper government is working through the Canadian Archives, destroying things that don’t quite agree with their position, effectively politically rewriting our history.
Consultation -- $2.4Billion spent on unspecified, undescribed, unaccounted for ‘consultation’.
Lost money -- $3.1Billion ‘lost’ dollars designated for National Security.
Illegal contributions – this time from those receiving patronage appointments (ie IE directors) who are legally forbidden from making political contributions, but who made $37,000 of them anyway.
Duffy-Dipping Affair – It was first revealed that Pamela Wallin and Mike Duffy, Senators appointed by Harper, were filing false claims for expenses, stemming from being ‘unsure’ about the definition of ‘primary’ residence. Then it was revealed that Duffy had claimed $90,000 in expenses as both Senate costs, billed to the Canadian Taxpayer, AND Conservative Party campaigning costs, double dipping for twice the pay. Then it was revealed that the Prime Ministers Chief of Staff cut a cheque for the full amount, effectively paying back Duffy’s owings, thereby preventing another audit AND attempting to stop a criminal investigation into the matter. Then it was revealed that the deal regarding the payment of the money was fine-tuned by special counsel to the Prime Minister, constituting yet ANOTHER conflict of interest.
CBC Control – The Harper government announced that they will be taking over the appointing of staff to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, effectively taking control over the news and the way it is presented to the public, providing them with more political spin at public expense.
Temporary Foreign Workers Scandal with Royal Bank and other large corporations for the importing of foreign workers to replace Canadian workers.
Bail-In Provision snuck through to allow government access to personal savings accounts to settle government debts (2013)
Long Gun Registry – stopped then reinstated (April 2013) with increased registration fees for restricted weapons and the yearly renewing of licence for long guns
Robocalls (2012) – issuing fake, misleading calls to actively interfere with voting public
Canada Action Plan ad campaign Part 1 -- $26M taxpayer dollars over 3 months for programs already ended in order to promote conservative party
Canada Action Plan ad campaign Part 2 – while unemployment, particularly student unemployment, rises steadily, Harper continues his Canada Action Plan ads at high-cost events, for no purpose other than pre-campaigning.
ETS Scandal – An IT contract was unfairly awarded to CGI, a known association of Michael Fortier, the then PWGSC Minister in a clear conflict of interest. No fairness monitor was appointed to oversee the process, reported scores by evaluators did not coincide with what they had issued, the evaluation team was advised to destroy all records relating to the evaluation, the government refused to debrief companies that had lost the award, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal ruled against the government, and the government’s response was angry denial and to appoint a new federal crown prosecutor (a former Conservative candidate) to charge the unsuccessful companies involved in the bid process with big-rigging – a charge still unproven but the case continues four years after the fact.
CFIA (2012) – food inspection services cut, listeriosis outbreak, Minister Gerry Ritz’s tasteless jokes about deaths from outbreak.
Prorogation – Part 1 (to avoid contempt of parliament fallout)
Prorogation – Part 2 (to avoid NDP/Liberal coalition government)
Shoe Store Project (2007) – plans for a $2M gov’t controlled media center, run by the PMO to replace the National Press Gallery, run by the national press.
Julie Couillard Scandal (2007) – Maxime Bernier leaves sensitive NATO documents at ex-girlfriend’s house, a woman with known ties to the Hells Angels
In and Out (2007) – Circumnavigation of election finance rules in 2006 election. $230,000 in fines issued for violating spending laws
Plagiarizing – Part 1 (2007) plagiarizes Australia’s John Howard’s speech about Iraq
Plagiarizing – Part 2 (2008) from Ontario Mike Harris’speech
Repatriation scandal – issues orders that military personnel killed in combat would not receive repatriation attention or coverage and no flags would be at half-mast
Scrums – all media scrums forbidden. Press statements will be issued when the government feels they are necessary
Chuck Cadman scandal – bribe for the vote in parliament, then lied under oath about it and the tape evidence of the bribe
Senior Federal Scientists Gagged – not allowed to speak to media without government permission... still in effect in 2012
Long-form Census stopped, cutting access to valuable statistics
Suspended Federal civil servants’ right to strike
Limiting access of press to PM during election – misusing RCMP to restrict access at private events
Created a program to monitor and respond to online communications on internet bulletin boards, chatrooms and blog posts
Omnibus bill to pass non-financial bills with budget, making it impossible to reject pieces of the overall bill, thereby circumventing parliamentary process in the passing on individual bills.
Stopping debate on bills in legislature
Removed from UN Security Council seat for first time.
Afghan Detainees Scandal
Withheld financial information from parliament and parliamentary committees about costs of military planes
Neglected the bid process in awarding of a contract on fighter plane procurement.
Whistleblower scandal – Christiane Ouimet, integrity commissioner, turned down investigations into 227 whistleblower allegations. She was quietly dismissed with a $500,000 exit payment and gag order.
Rebranding Canadian Government as Harper Government on communications documents
Interference in the 2008 US Presidential election
$54,000 taxpayer money spent on 2-day oil lobby retreat in UK (2011)
Withdrawal from Kyoto
G8/G20 Fake Lake Scandal
Ordering striking unions back to work: Canada Post, Air Canada,
Broke his own new set election date law
Over 1700 patronage appointments
Pulls Canada out of UN anti-drought initiative
Contempt of Parliament – refused to turn over documents on Afghan detainee affair and later refused to submit to a parliamentary request regarding costing of his programs
Issued a 200-page handbook to committee heads advising them on how to disrupt their committees.
Reneged on promise to allow parliamentary committees to select their own chairs.
Dictated an order that staffers to cabinet ministers do not have to testify before committees
Ordered all government communications to be vetted by his office or the Privy Council Office
Impeded access to information systems, including the elimination of data base CAIRS, delaying responses to requests, imposing prohibitive fees on requests, putting pressure on bureaucrats to keep sensitive information hidden.
Redacted/blacked out excessive amounts of information.
Putting Conservative party logos on stimulus funding cheques that were paid out of the public purse.
Had party affiliates write on-line posts, using false names, to attack journalists.
In Charlottetown in 2007, he had the police remove reporters from a hotel lobby where a party caucus meeting was being held
Attempted to tar the reputation of diplomat Richard Colvin for contradicting their position on the afghan detainees situation.
Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor mislead the House regarding the afghan detainees situation, had to apologize and later resigned
Terminated Peter Tinsley, the Military Police Complaints Commissioner, when he started to investigate the afghan detainee situation.
He tried to withhold documents requested by Parliament regarding the afghan detainee situation
Before his leadership, personal attack ads were used, relatively sparingly, only during election season instead of every day regardless of election cycle.
Fossil of the Day awards (x3) were awards to John Baird, as minister of the environment, at the UN Cancun climate conference (Dec 2010) awarded by more than 400 leading organizations, to the countries that do the most to disrupt or undermine UN climate talks, citing that Baird and the Canadian government were ‘working against progressive legislation to address climate change” by “cancelling support for clean energy and for failing to have any plan to meet its very weak target for reducing Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions.”

In a variety of punitive ways, Harper moved against NGOs, independent agencies, watchdog groups, and tribunals who showed signs of differing with his intent. In some cases he fired their directors or stacked their boards with partisans. In others, he sued them or cut their funding. The targets of such tactics included the Rights and Democracy group, Elections Canada, Veterans’ Ombudsman Pat Stogran, Budget Officer Kevin Page and many more. His party’s smear tactics included labelling the Liberal party anti-Israel, calling Dalton McGuinty the small man of Confederation, trying to link Liberal MP Navdeep Bains to terrorism, and calling for reprisals against academics such as the University Ottawa’s Michael Behiels for questioning their policies.
Ministers, MPs, Staff
Bev Oda – misleading Parliament, mishandled CIDA requests for KAIROS group, overspending (has paid back $4,025.26 to taxpayers)
Maxime Bernier – 2 ethics investigations for conflict of interest
Peter Penashue – election overspending, ineligible donations
John Duncan – improperly lobbied a tax judge
Bruce Carson – violating lobbying regulations/influence peddling
Dimitri Soudas – Communications Director for PM questioned over kickback scandal involving Montreal Port Authority
Jim Flaherty – Finance Minister improperly interfered with CRTC regarding the issuing of a broadcast licence
Dean Del Mastro – Elections Canada investigation of overspending, etc.
Arthur Porter – Harper appointee as Canada spy agency watchdog wanted for $1.3B fraud
Lisa Raitt – left sensitive documents in public AND made the‘cancer is sexy’ comment
Jason Kenney – used MP stationery for party fundraising
Rahim Jaffer and Helene Guergis – aids writing letters to papers pretending to be citizens, influence peddling (him), letting her husband use her office, mortgage transgressions, and the Charlottetown Airport meltdown
Peter MacKay – using military transportation for personal use
Vic Towes – abusive language and ‘you’re either with us or against us with child pornography’ statement
Sebastien Togneri, Agop Evereklian, Giulio Maturi, Dale Saip and Kasra Nejatian all involved in ethics transgressions
Rona Ambrose – told a parliamentary committee that Canada had paid its debt under the Kyoto Protocol but it was later pointed out that it was still unpaid. She refused to add spotted owls, of which there were only 17, needed no special protection. As Minister responsible for the Status of Women, voted for a motion to revisit the Canadian Criminal Code regarding abortion.
John Baird – Used his cabinet post to interfere with the 2006 Ottawa city mayoral election and the light rail transit system in that city.

Senators
Mike Duffy – improperly collecting housing allowances
Patrick Brazeau – improperly collecting housing allowances and facing assault and sexual assault charges
Pamela Wallin – travel and other expenses being audited for irregularities
58 senate appointments, 100% from the conservative party

PUTTING MY MONEY WHERE MY MOUTH IS

noreply@blogger.com (Bambi) — Mon, 06 May 2013 15:34:00 +0000

DATELINE: PUTTING ON MY POINTY SHOES – I did it. I said ‘enough’ today. I am not going to sit noisily on the sidelines, yelling and preaching from my armchair while letting others do the work. It’s time.

In the last few weeks, I have thought about my father, his brothers, his uncles, all of whom were prepared to, and did, put their lives on the line to allow me the right to vote in determining the direction my country takes. It was at huge expense for some of them, and their friends, brothers in arms, colleagues, but democracy and the right to make a little X on a piece of paper was absolutely important enough for them to want to give their all. It’s not really about love of country; it’s love of family and hope for a future. That’s what a soldier is – our vessel of hope. They deserve our respect and gratitude at the very least, so I can no longer sit idly back and listen to the reports and investigations into voter fraud committed by our current government in not one, but two, elections and again watch as they then impede the investigation progress more.

In the past few weeks, I have thought about journalists and news reporting, watching stories from North Korea and Syria, Iran and China, and yes, those from the United States. We see the two extremes in both, one where the only news is what the government allows to be news, spun to their advantage, the other where the only news is corporate driven, allowing the same partisan diatribes that are based on commercial spin, one where the only news is what the corporations want you to know because it progresses their agenda. We have seen what happens in the fallout. Canada has never fallen into that quagmire. The standards of the press should be sacred, not bought and paid for. Without freedom of the press – free from both corporate AND political influence – democracy dies. Stephen Harper made early steps to muzzle the press. Now he is taking steps to control it, spin it, use it to his own purposes, and in fact has created a bully pulpit unlike any ever seen in this country before. At this point, news is no longer news, and he is no longer the leader of a democratic country; he has now taken another huge step towards dictatorship, and the people of Canada be damned.

Our parliamentary system is long-rooted in tradition... for a reason. It is meant to provide balance in judgment, consideration for all sides of a position, an opportunity to provide informed guidance and principles for our country. That is achieved through debate and dialogue – not the creation of pork-barrel bills filled with a multitude of little laws that have nothing to do with a budget but that cannot be debated or discussed. In true American style, this is done to pass bills that even the Prime Minister knows should not be passed because of their detriment to the public and the nation, but they cater to the needs of the 1%. Stephen Harper doesn’t need, or want, debate or discussion though. As so eloquently by from one of his puppets, ‘you’re either with us or against us’ and they make sure you know that. There is no balance in Parliament. There is, however, Contempt of Parliament, a historical first, and one that he again was able to sweep under the carpet through the abuse of procedure and authority.

The litany of offences... criminal, moral and ethical... is growing daily. I have other blogs that include detailed lists of years of criminal mismanagement by this current government. How does one ‘misplace’ $3.1Billion dollars so well that the Auditor General can’t find it? I suppose there are explanations that are plausible. The problem is that Stephen Harper and his band of thugs and bullies have lied so many times, always for the sole purpose of maintaining power, that whatever explanation he offers, if he deigns to offer any at all, will not be credible. Usually, his tact is to deride anyone for questioning him, refusing to give an account. As long as it helps corporate Canada, he feels justified, and presents it as him ‘curing’ our economy. (Actually, Mr. Harper, had it not been for Paul Martin and his financial foresight, we would have been destroyed in the last recession. You don’t get to take ANY credit for the shape of our financial structure, and we’re all pretty well intelligent enough to know that.) Apparently Mr. Harper’s definition of his repeatedly promised transparency and honesty in leadership doesn’t come from the same dictionary the rest of us use.

Fascism, however, is defined as ‘a system of extreme right-wing and/or authoritarian views’ in the Oxford Dictionary. Wikipedia further describes it as being ‘hostile to liberal democracy, socialism, and communism, fascist movements share certain common features, including the veneration of the state, a devotion to a strong leader, and an emphasis on ultranationalism, ethnocentrism, and militarism.’ It was this that my father, uncles and their uncles fought. It was to keep this sort of government off our shores that 45,000 Canadian men sacrificed their lives in Dieppe, Normandy, Arezzo and many more battles of World War II. It was to stop fascism from spreading that another 54,000 men were wounded. These men were prepared to walk through the gates of hell on earth to protect the principles of democracy in Canada. Perhaps the question we should be asking is ‘why, then, are we prepared to sit back and watch it eat us up from within?’

Today I am going to put on the pointiest shoes I can find. I am not doing it because of ‘patriotism,’ but out of respect for the sacrifices of my family before me, and for the future of my children. I am doing because I am a daughter, a niece, a mother... a member of many communities, all of home have suffered and will suffer more under this current regime. I will not be an army of one. I don’t need to be. In the meltdown of the government of the day over the last few weeks (yes, it was a Harper meltdown of Chernobyl proportions), hope has emerged. I am not putting on pompoms, intending to crown a king, or claim that Justin Trudeau is the savior of us all, but he is an option, a viable, hopeful option that the ideals we were raised with, that the Canada we knew as a humble, loving, supporting, thoughtful, democratic bastion to the world might still be in our grasp, and you’re damned right I can get on that train. Why are you NOT putting on some pointy shoes and joining me?

Corporate Greed Kills Again

noreply@blogger.com (Bambi) — Sat, 04 May 2013 23:52:00 +0000

DATELINE: WADING THROUGH BANGLADESHI RUBBLE – Today the death toll from this disaster hit 551. Give that some perspective… This is now more than one-sixth of the total number of people killed in the collapse of the World Trade Center Towers, which were one hell of a lot more than six times taller than the building in Bangladesh. These are people who, despite knowing it was unsafe to be in there, were forced in by their employer, who, by all accounts was nothing more than a criminal thug. How is this not, in essence, a terrorist attack?

This is a building where, from the get-go, there were many concerns. The land that the building was constructed on was reportedly obtained through less than legal means. The contractors were bought off, as were any regulators in the city. The sole intent of this building was to house slave labor, used to create crap to sell to Canada and the United States… and we took the bait. Stories were illegally, and unsafely added to the building, but did anyone who contracted this company demand to see that it was safe for the employees? No, because that would imply they cared and might hold slimedog millionaire thug boss to a standard that could increase the cost of a pair of underwear by a fraction of a cent. But we… as citizens… know this is happening and we demand no better of the corporations, despite the age old rule that the customer is always right. Like the corporate big-wigs, though, it’s easier to pretend it’s all fine or it’s someone else’s problem, or that we really don’t have all the details and perhaps these people are thrilled to work for less than a dollar per 12-hour day. Let me ask you this one question, though; had that building been built on North American soil, what would have been the reaction? We are accomplices in 551 deaths. That number is expected to rise further.

To be fair, it’s hard for many of us to make ends meet now. The banks make record profits, the oil companies are making record profits, but collective bargaining is quashed when it works to represent the laborer, and wages do not go up. Yes, we are all looking for a way to stretch our dollars, but we have allowed corporations run amok, stomping on the lifeblood of society, not just here, but abroad. Funny thing, but those CEO’s and boards of directors aren’t in any need of a bargain.

The last month in Canada has seen a huge uprising against the banks, primarily the Royal Bank of Canada, for bringing in what are essentially illegal Temporary Foreign Workers, using their Canadian staff to train them, then firing the Canadian staff and shipping the TFWs, and many more jobs, out of the country. It exploits a huge loophole, deliberately created by the Harper Conservative Government here, to line the pockets of corporations even more, because those jobs, once outsourced, are in crap buildings, with thug bosses, no benefits, slave conditions and clear consciences because the corporation isn’t ‘responsible’ for what happens there. They aren’t technically ‘our’ workers, so we can exploit them all we want, and the bank gets richer. It’s despicable, on every count. We have known it was going on, but we have done nothing because what can one or two people accomplish against corporate giants who control our money and our laws.

Now, because of the disaster in Bangladesh, those companies who have used this factory for making clothes, who have ‘toured’ it and ‘inspected’ it, who have met with the thug who runs the place with a god damned gun handy to keep people in line, are now running scared. Sadly, they won’t be legally responsible, but they sure as hell should be. Not only did they take jobs away from people right here, they contributed to the abuse and enslavement of thousands of others, in lands where they are absolutely desperate for any crumb the fat cats can toss their way, and who have no choice but to endure the abuse. This is the equivalent of Blood Diamonds in every way.

So, now Target, and Loblaws, and WalMart et al, cannot just wash their hands of this. They said they inspected and it all looked fine. Well, perhaps when they ‘inspect’, they might want to actually take off the fucking blinders and LOOK at what is around them. People who are wearing tatters at work, who are starved and dirty and emaciated, just might not be getting a fair shake from their employer, who works at your behest. Perhaps you should look at how long they work every day, how crammed they are in their work… talk to some, look at the lash marks they have for not working fast enough, check to see if that child you were told is 16 isn’t really 10, like he looks.

The reaction will be to pull out of Bangladesh. We all know that’s what will happen, and they will find some other country to exploit, leaving even more damage in their wake. We SHOULD be giving work to some of these people – but at fair wages in a safe workplace. Why are the standards there any different than what they are here? How in the name of all that is fucking holy can that be justified? Is there absolutely no moral compunction in any corporate head or politician anymore? What has happened to us, as a society, that we aren’t satisfied screwing over our own citizens that we have to go to other countries to do it as well, to make money. We see the gang wars, the drug wars, the thugs trying to gain control – corporations are absolutely no different, other than for the cut of their suits.

If workers make money, they spend money. That is how a capitalist society is to work. It is not meant to wipe out the lower classes, the working class, the middle class – it is meant to provide a comfortable, safe existence for all who live there. Man, have we missed that boat. How are we not guilty of a terrorist attack on foreign soil? I can’t see how the people of Bangladesh can see it any other way.

YELLOW? YOU CAN BET THE FARM ON THAT!

noreply@blogger.com (Bambi) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 16:49:00 +0000

There is one thing that sets a democracy apart from all other worlds, that makes it ‘better’. It is the thing that keeps public officials accountable, citizens informed. It is the one institution to which anyone should be able to turn for information, for guidance, for knowledge that is not shackled, that is unbiased and untainted. It is an institution that has caused corrupt governments to crumble and that has lifted hope for hundreds for generations. It is the institution that carries the most intense, civically-responsible load, and is vital to the health and growth of society.

Sadly, this responsibility falls on the press pool, and apparently this is a pool no one else would want to swim in, because it has been thoroughly pissed in. Yes, yellow journalism lives, abounds, and is not a small concern.

Ironically, journalism was my first calling. I wanted to help break the stories of corruption, to bring the stories of hope and strength, of human perseverance. I wanted to be the vessel that carries information – verified, accurate, true, unbiased information – to the people who needed to know facts in order to make the decisions that impact their daily lives. I wanted to make a difference, in an arena where no one could spin their own agenda, because the integrity of the press was sacred – no politician could buy us, no business could control our words, no thug intimidate us or keep us from printing reporting the truth.

Most people don’t know of my dream to become a reporter. It’s something I definitely don’t brag about, because I am completely ashamed to want to associate with an institution that now feeds off misery for a headline, who reports inane celebrity crap as a breaking news story that impacts my life, that ignores all precepts and practices of being a voice for the people by selling out to political agendas. There should be NO political agenda with any journalist. The individual’s political leaning should not enter into their reporting at all, just as a teacher’s religious leanings should not color the lessons they offer to their students. If they want to participate in religious or political agendas, they are more than welcome to when they are not wearing their professional hats. If they feel they want to lean more towards supporting a candidate, they are welcome to, but they should then make that their profession.

At what point did it become okay for news channels to ‘take sides’, reporting only what they want, that supports their agenda, only in a light that benefits that agenda? When did it become okay to sell out to politicians, to the political agenda, leaving principles and morals in the ditch? The media plays a critical role in our society, tending to everyone’s needs, impartially, because in order for democracy to work, that is required. Balance for all sides of a story are required, and in fact are the sole responsibility of the press. It is what they signed on it do. If they want to beat a particular drum, they should do it at their own expense, not presenting it as truth when it is tainted fruit from a twisted tree. The press should have the balls, and does have the responsibility, to not sell out to political pandering. I am absolutely unable to name any one media outlet who can today, right now, say they are not touting a biased agenda based on ratings, ad sales, corporate sponsorship or political affiliation, and in some cases, all these biases combined.

When did it become okay to celebrate the grief of a community or a nation in order to sell ad space? How can it ever be justified when a microphone is shoved into the face of a grieving family to ask absolutely asinine questions like ‘will you miss him’ or ‘was he a nice boy?’ Is that what we are now reduced to? A society where truth doesn’t matter, because lies and spin are what sell ad space? Let the damned politicians do the spinning – it’s what they are good at, but YOU, the journalists have a fiduciary responsibility, an inherent bond based on unconditional trust, to rise above that spin and report the truth. When did it become okay to report the childish behavior of a pseudo-star as a headline while the starving of a child or the killing of a person is relegated to the middle of the paper, below the fold – the placement a clear indication of their position in society?

Is there no source for verified, unbiased, unspun news anymore? The political climate has become incredibly polarized – because the truth had a price and the media could be bought. News channels and newspapers no longer inform. They instead fan the flames of hatred and fear, promoting the agenda of their puppet masters.

In the last week, we have seen tragedy in Boston, and we have seen reporters offering unverified information as breaking news, choosing the chance of a big scoop over the need to verify with more than one source. (Yes, CNN, I am talking about you, buying into the feeding frenzy of people changing to you as the twitterverse explodes with repeated chirps that you are reporting an arrest). In one case, the report was definitely based on an agenda of promoting fear and hatred (Yes, FOX news, I am talking about you, taking the easy road within hours to point the finger at a Saudi national, while having absolutely no fucking clue what you were talking about. Damn, those pesky fucking details about truth.) Last night, in the wake of a horrific explosion in Texas, even as authorities on site are pleading with media outlets to not speculate on the number of fatalities, the reporters STILL did, actually having the gall to preface it with the acknowledgement that they should not be saying this. Does that make it okay? Not only was it speculated on, it was built on, with absolutely NO foundation, and yes, it was sickening to watch as the speculation grew. (Yes, Rosemary at CNN, this one is directly intended for you!) Last night as the news broke about a fertilizer plant exploding and houses being destroyed in the blast, the media again speculated on why there would be a factory near homes. How frigging ignorant can you possibly be? It has nothing to do with the incident, was totally inappropriate and showed the narrow-mindedness of reporters (Yes, Erin Burnett of CNN) to ask a question that implies publicly that there was some irresponsibility on the part of the town planners, without even knowing the size or layout of the damned town or considering the magnitude of the explosion. It was again an opportunity to look for an angle that didn’t exist, someone to blame, some way to exploit people who are suffering, all for a non-story.

Journalism and the media are the cornerstone of democracy. They are the conduit to the public of what is happening, what they need to know. They have absolutely no business cherry-picking what aspect or angle, and they have no right to exploit the truth for their own agendas, be they political or monetary. Yellow Journalism – the reporting of information that is biased, unverified, or blatantly untrue for the sole purpose of selling the news. Yes, that is ALL we seem to have now. It is why our political system is crumbling, it is why our social structure is now sitting on a fault line. It is why I want nothing to do with the industry. It is an embarrassment, and unless and until they stop selling their scruples for the sake of money, democracy is doomed.

Stephen Harper: A Litany of Sins

noreply@blogger.com (Bambi) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:54:00 +0000

Well, it certainly didn’t take Stephen Harper long to start the mud slinging... barely hours, and we’re still two years away from an election. It’s going to be a long damned two years. The interesting thing is what the mud-slinging is about; personal records, trust, experience, qualifications...

Well, Dear Stephen, perhaps you might want to cool your jets a minute, because in the great swamp of life, you are the toad that sits on the rock of deceit. Let us, perhaps, take a stroll through St Stephen’s litany of sins. Better pull on your hip-waders for this one, because it might just blow your socks off.

Let’s start with some of those wonderful little promises and observations you've made over the years.
- "When a government starts trying to cancel dissent or avoid dissent is frankly when it's rapidly losing its moral authority to govern."
- “We don't think as a party that patronage has any place in the Parliament of Canada." (Calgary Herald, March 22, 1995)
- "We don't support any Senate appointments." (Winnipeg Free Press, January 29, 1996)
- "Stephen Harper will cease patronage appointments to the Senate. Only candidates elected by the people will be named to the Upper House." (Stephen Harper Leadership Website, January 15, 2004 – I especially love when he refers to himself in the third person. It’s hawt.)
- "… the Upper House remains a dumping ground for the favoured cronies of the Prime Minister." (Stephen Harper Leadership Website, January 15, 2004)
- "I don't plan to appoint senators; that's not my intention." (Cornwall Standard-Freeholder, January 14, 2006)
- “You've got to remember that west of Winnipeg the ridings the Liberals hold are dominated by people who are either recent Asian immigrants or recent migrants from eastern Canada: people who live in ghettoes and who are not integrated into western Canadian society.” (Report Newsmagazine, January 2001)

That’s enough to give you the drift… no point arguing the rock of lies thing, but read on nonetheless. Now we will venture into the realm of those quippy little scandals, something every journalist craves to uncover if only for the opportunity of the word ‘gate’ -- yes, I was going to call this Harpergate, but I just could not do that to the people of this country. These are in no special order… some he slammed the door on quickly, some he is dragging out in parliament and through the court system, so I figures ‘let’s just throw some shit at the wall and see where it sticks’. I give you The Harper Picasso in Poop, the man elected on the platform of promising accountability and transparency in government.
- Prorogation – Part 1 (to avoid contempt of parliament fallout)
- Prorogation – Part 2 (to avoid NDP/Liberal coalition government)
- Shoe Store Project (2007) – plans for a $2M gov’t controlled media center, run by the PMO to replace the National Press Gallery, run by the national press.
- Julie Couillard Scandal (2007) – Maxime Bernier leaves sensitive NATO documents at ex-girlfriend’s house, a woman with known ties to the Hells Angels
- In and Out Scandal (2007) – Circumnavigation of election finance rules in 2006 election. $230,000 in fines issued for violating spending laws
- Robocalls (2012) – issuing fake, misleading calls to actively interfere with voting public
- ETS Scandal – An IT contract was unfairly awarded to CGI, a known association of Michael Fortier, the then PWGSC Minister in a clear conflict of interest. No fairness monitor was appointed to oversee the process, reported scores by evaluators did not coincide with what they had issued, the evaluation team was advised to destroy all records relating to the evaluation, the government refused to debrief companies that had lost the award, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal ruled against the government, and the government’s response was angry denial and to appoint a new federal crown prosecutor (a former Conservative candidate) to charge the unsuccessful companies involved in the bid process with big-rigging – a charge still unproven but the case continues four years after the fact.
- CFIA (2012) – food inspection services cut, listeriosis outbreak, Minister Gerry Ritz’s tasteless jokes about deaths from outbreak.
- Plagiarizing – Part 1 (2007) plagiarizes Australia’s John Howard’s speech about Iraq
- Plagiarizing – Part 2 (2008) from Ontario Mike Harris’speech
- Repatriation scandal – issues orders that military personnel killed in combat would not receive repatriation attention or coverage and no flags would be at half-mast
- Scrums – all media scrums forbidden. Press statements will be issued when the government feels they are necessary
- Chuck Cadman scandal – bribe for the vote in parliament, then lied under oath about it and the tape evidence of the bribe
- Senior Federal Scientists Gagged – not allowed to speak to media without government permission... still in effect in 2012
- Long-form Census stopped, cutting access to valuable statistics
- Canada Action Plan ad campaign -- $26M taxpayer dollars over 3 months for programs already ended in order to promote conservative party
- Suspended Federal civil servants’ right to strike
- Limiting access of press to PM during election – misusing RCMP to restrict access at private events
- Created a program to monitor and respond to online communications on internet bulletin boards, chatrooms and blog posts
- Omnibus bill to pass non-financial bills with budget, making it impossible to reject pieces of the overall bill, thereby circumventing parliamentary process in the passing on individual bills.
- Stopping debate on bills in legislature
- Was responsible for Canada being removed from their UN Security Council seat for first time.
- Afghan Detainees Scandal- if you don't know this one, I am not going to explain it (Yes, that means you should know it!)
- Withheld financial information from parliament and parliamentary committees about costs of military planes
- Neglected the bid process in awarding of a contract on fighter plane procurement.
- Whistleblower scandal – Christiane Ouimet, integrity commissioner, turned down investigations into 227 whistleblower allegations. She was quietly dismissed with a $500,000 exit payment and gag order.
- Rebranding Canadian Government as Harper Government on communications documents
- Temporary Foreign Workers Scandal with Royal Bank and other large corporations for the importing of foreign workers to replace Canadian workers.
- Bail-In Provision snuck through to allow government access to personal savings accounts to settle government debts (2013)
- Long Gun Registry – stopped then reinstated (April 2013) with increased registration fees for restricted weapons and the yearly renewing of licence for long guns
- Interference in the 2008 US Presidential election
- $54,000 taxpayer money spent on 2-day oil lobby retreat in UK (2011)
- Withdrawal from Kyoto Accord after it had been ratified (said others were leaving. We were the only one.)
- G8/G20 Fake Lake Scandal -- again, if you don't know, you probably want to read and find out.
- Ordering striking unions back to work and quashed the collective bargaining procedure for several national unions (Air Canada, Canada Post, etc)
- Broke his own new set election date law
- Over 1700 patronage appointments (see quoted above)
- Pulls Canada out of UN anti-drought initiative
- Contempt of Parliament – refused to turn over documents on Afghan detainee affair and later refused to submit to a parliamentary request regarding costing of his programs. Much more was involved here. Suffice to say that this is the only government in the history of our country to be found in contempt of parliament. He use prorogation to circumvent the issue
- Issued a 200-page handbook to committee heads advising them on how to disrupt their committees.
- Reneged on promise to allow parliamentary committees to select their own chairs.
- Dictated an order that staffers to cabinet ministers do not have to testify before committees
- Ordered all government communications to be vetted by his office or the Privy Council Office
- Impeded access to information systems, including the elimination of data base CAIRS, delaying responses to requests, imposing prohibitive fees on requests, putting pressure on bureaucrats to keep sensitive information hidden.
- Redacted/blacked out excessive amounts of information, even when shown there was no reason for it to be considered classified.
- Putting Conservative party logos on stimulus funding cheques that were paid out of the public purse.
- Had party affiliates write on-line posts, using false names, to attack journalists.
- In Charlottetown in 2007, he had the police remove reporters from a hotel lobby where a party caucus meeting was being held
- Attempted to tar the reputation of diplomat Richard Colvin for contradicting their position on the afghan detainees situation.
- Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor mislead the House regarding the afghan detainees situation, had to apologize and later resigned
- Terminated Peter Tinsley, the Military Police Complaints Commissioner, when he started to investigate the afghan detainee situation.
- He tried to withhold documents requested by Parliament regarding the afghan detainee situation
- Before his leadership, personal attack ads were used, relatively sparingly, only during election season instead of every day regardless of election cycle.
- Fossil of the Day awards (x3) were awards to John Baird, as minister of the environment, at the UN Cancun climate conference (Dec 2010) awarded by more than 400 leading organizations, to the countries that do the most to disrupt or undermine UN climate talks, citing that Baird and the Canadian government were ‘working against progressive legislation to address climate change” by “cancelling support for clean energy and for failing to have any plan to meet its very weak target for reducing Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions.”
- Worked against NGOs, independent agencies, watchdog groups, and tribunals who showed signs of differing with his intent by firing directors, stacking the boards with his loyalists, sued them, cut funding, etc.
- Made unfounded accusations against the Rights and Democracy group, Elections Canada, Veterans’ Ombudsman Pat Stogran, Budget Officer Kevin Page, Dalton McGuinty, Liberal MP Navdeep Bains, Michael Behiels and more for taking positions contrary to that of the Conservative Party.

Of course, he is a man who surrounds himself with only the best, the brightest… those of his same ilk. I give you a peek at some of his swamp-rats:
- Bev Oda – misleading Parliament, mishandled CIDA requests for KAIROS group, overspending (has paid back $4,025.26 to taxpayers)
- Maxime Bernier – 2 ethics investigations for conflict of interest
- Peter Penashue – election overspending, ineligible donations
- John Duncan – improperly lobbied a tax judge
- Bruce Carson – violating lobbying regulations/influence peddling
- Dimitri Soudas – Communications Director for PM questioned over kickback scandal involving Montreal Port Authority
- Jim Flaherty – Finance Minister improperly interfered with CRTC regarding the issuing of a broadcast licence
- Dean Del Mastro – Elections Canada investigation of overspending, etc.
- Arthur Porter – Harper appointee as Canada spy agency watchdog wanted for $1.3B fraud
- Lisa Raitt – left sensitive documents in public AND made the‘cancer is sexy’ comment
- Jason Kenney – used MP stationery for party fundraising
- Rahim Jaffer and Helene Guergis – aids writing letters to papers pretending to be citizens, influence peddling (him), letting her husband use her office, mortgage transgressions, and the Charlottetown Airport meltdown
- Peter MacKay – using military transportation for personal use
- Vic Towes – abusive language and ‘you’re either with us or against us with child pornography’ statement
- Sebastien Togneri, Agop Evereklian, Giulio Maturi, Dale Saip and Kasra Nejatian all involved in ethics transgressions
- Rona Ambrose – told a parliamentary committee that Canada had paid its debt under the Kyoto Protocol but it was later pointed out that it was still unpaid. She refused to add spotted owls, of which there were only 17, needed no special protection. As Minister responsible for the Status of Women, voted for a motion to revisit the Canadian Criminal Code regarding abortion.
- John Baird – Used his cabinet post to interfere with the 2006 Ottawa city mayoral election and the light rail transit system in that city.

…And let’s not forget the old, over-privileged swamp-rats:
- Mike Duffy – improperly collecting housing allowances
- Patrick Brazeau – improperly collecting housing allowances and facing assault and sexual assault charges
- Pamela Wallin – travel and other expenses being audited for irregularities

In all, during the reign thus far of Stephen Harper, he has made 58 senate appointments, 100% from the conservative party. That sort of blows that whole no patronage/no senate promise thingy totally to hell in a handbag, don’t it. "Some of these things are just little mistakes" you say? Well, think of them as a whole, and think of them in terms of 'these are just the ones we know about'; you KNOW there are many more still hidden in the reeds and under rocks in Stephen Harper's swamp. You don’t need me to point out the obvious though – Stephen Harper and his conservative government has a record that speaks for itself, and that is more than worthy of as much mud as we can sling at it. The thing is, do we really want to crawl down in that gutter with him to use the same tactics he does? Perhaps we are better off to let his record, and this Bog of Bullshit, speak (loudly) for itself.

Dear Gordo

noreply@blogger.com (Bambi) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 19:12:00 +0000

A RESPONSE TO GORD NIXON, CEO ROYAL BANK OF CANADA -- So your kitchen has gotten a bit hot? That’s a damned shame. Too bad some of the $100,000,000.00 (ballparked based on published figures) you have personally made in the last five years didn’t allow for a cooling system in such situations. Obviously you were overpaid in relation to conscience or ethics.

I love how you refer to this situation as a ‘debate’. It is absolutely clear you have not yet learned that you are attempting to defend the indefensible. Instead you choose to insult us, treat us like we are totally ignorant of the games that you play, yet deny. You apparently have been taking some coaching from that uber-spin-meister Zabeen Hirji.
For starters, there is no evidence that you ARE in compliance with the regulations. Show us that proof. You said you have no foreign workers there. Then you said there was one. We have seen interviews with people who are working with many, and we have seen news interviews with people who actually are/were foreign workers employed in Royal Banks... so who the hell are we supposed to be believe? You? Lemme think... if anyone has reason to skew the details and split hairs, it would be you, so quite honestly you have absolutely zero credibility at this point in time.

‘Despite our best efforts, we don’t meet everyone’s expectations...’ Well, that might be true in all situations, but here is why this is the first of many insulting, obnoxious statement in your pitiful attempt to justify what you are doing – you are making NO attempt to meet anyone’s expectations other than your arrogant elitist Board of Directors... and of course tending to your own personal needs. You are making NO effort to meet the expectations of your employees, your customers, your communities or your country’s economy, but you know that.

You should have been more helpful to those being outsourced? Seriously? You actually said this? Shame on you! Here is what you are not getting; you should not be outsourcing any of the damned jobs that Canadians can do. Who the hell are you helping by doing this? Actually, that’s a rhetorical question. We already know (see previous paragraph).

Reviewing supplier arrangements? We are talking about PEOPLE here, Drill-head; not a god damned stapler or paperclip. This is probably the biggest offense, and this alone explains a whole lot of why this is happening. Unless you are one of the ‘beautiful people’ – aka so rich that loonies fall out your ass – you are not really a ‘people’ at all. When did it become okay to list employees as nothing more than furniture? This dehumanizing makes it possible to have people train their replacements, to have jobs go overseas leaving loyal employees with nothing and forcing many into early, unplanned retirement. This is what aids your ilk in getting a good night’s sleep – you don’t need to worry about how ‘supplies’ are treated in India, or how foreign workers here are treated, or who is being exploited just to line your pockets with another thirty pieces of silver.

Your call centers are located in Canada? Well, whoop-de-frigging-do. For how long? Why don’t you address that issue? What departments are next to be shipped away? How do I know that my account information is secure now that it has been spread over several continents? When I got my financing, why wasn’t I told that it would be handled and all the information would be maintained in a third world country where blackmail, exploitation and criminal elements, including within the governments and certainly within those corporate entities, abound? How can you guarantee that my money and my personal information there is safe? Trying to gain brownie points by telling us of ONE aspect of your business that is still in Canada is pitiful, and again, insulting as all holy hell. As for your new initiative for young people? Well, that might have been nice to have presented before you sent the jobs away. Why train them if you are planning, three years into their employment, to make them nothing more than a redundant supply? My god, Mr. Nixon, you really are a piece of work, and I do not mean that in the good sense.

You employ over 57,000 people in Canada. Well, thank you for that. How many are contracted out in other countries? How many have been let go because there weren’t jobs for them in the latest round of ‘transitions’ and how many had no choice but to take early retirement? (and don’t you DARE say or even imply, like Ms Hirji did, that they all wanted that. Don’t you dare try to spin that like she did, because, Sir, that will remove even the slightest hope that you are not a complete and total douche) Why do you cherry pick the numbers you want to share with us? If you were honest, if you really gave the furry crack of a rat’s butt, you would acknowledge the number of people contracted through iGATE and every other ‘supplier’ (there – I closed that loophole for you – the buck now stops with you*) over the last ten years. You would acknowledge the number of TFW’s brought in during the same time – both by RBC and by every other supplier. You would acknowledge the amount of money that was made just by this practice alone and perhaps you might even feel a twinge of shame at ruining so many Canadian lives with absolute indifference.

As for your community record, well... you can shove that too. The only community record that exists at this moment is the amount of profit you made, personally and as a bank, and the number of people who paid for it with their employment, their homes, their savings, their livelihoods and their health. There is a huge human toll for what you do, that far outweighs your value.

Riddle me this while you’re doing your plate spinning routine: When you have sent every possible job oversees, when you have trimmed your need for Canadian ‘supplies’ as much as possible with either exploited workers in other countries or machines here, and every other big company has done likewise, who the hell is left to support the economy? How do you and your greedy shareholders make money then? Who buys the crap they bring in, or takes out a mortgage or puts purchases on their credit card so you can charge us absolutely unjustifiable interest rates? Who is going to need a car loan because no one will be able to afford a damned car? Who is going to be buying all that gas and oil that is going to keep us filthy rich? What about the countless small businesses, the backbone of every community, who are being totally screwed over by this practice, as they close their businesses because no one can afford to support them? It is well past time that you, and corporate Canada, woke the hell up and realized that you are cutting off your noses to spite your faces. You, with the government’s more than willing help, have made it impossible for Canadians to find work, to get work that comes with benefits (because it saves you so much to have only part-time help) and have crippled as many unions as possible, again reinforcing the fact that employees – PEOPLE – no longer enter into the equation at all. RBC might not be doing all of this themselves, but they certainly support... no, they lead a culture that does, and that is more than evident by the revelations of the last week. As you work to widen the gap between the haves and the have-nots, you are destroying your own future, and that of your children, just like you are destroying ours.

On Monday, I was prepared to say that you were a whipping boy for the whole issue of outsourcing, and admittedly for the gross incompetence and unmitigated greed of the government of the day, but your response has earned you special wrath in my world. I see people suffering, losing homes, working three part-time jobs to make ends meet in this current economy. I see them unable to afford food, clothing or anything else – hard to take while RBC executives bomb around on private planes to shop in the US with their wives. I really don’t care if that seems unfair to you, that everyone else is doing it, that the government created a loophole large enough to drive a rig through. YOU made the choice to exploit that loophole and your employees, and in the process have definitely earned the distrust and disgust of the people. YOU are the one who is national, who has received taxpayer backing, who we trust implicitly with our money and our savings, our hopes and dreams and plans. Yes, every other corporation needs to be taken to task for doing this, but YOU, as a bank, make an intimate personal bond with your customers, a promise, a pact to protect us, our money, and our hopes for tomorrow, and YOU, sir, betrayed all of that. This is not as simple as a cell-phone plan or who provides my television cable service. This is personal and your insincere, pandering, insulting half-contrition only makes it worse.

You do, however, have something to give thanks about. You are not an elected government official. The fact that you have been allowed to do this, unchecked and with impunity for years now, means that the Harper government has been complicit, and for this reason, there should be calls and there are definite grounds, for the Governor General to dissolve our current parliament and demand an election. You should be glad that you won’t be put through that sort of scrutiny (you should be, but you won’t).

*Pun intended

FINANCIALLY RAVENOUS AND MORALLY BANKRUPT

noreply@blogger.com (Bambi) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 06:52:00 +0000

DATELINE: FINANCIALLY RAVENOUS AND MORALLY BANKRUPT– Today, I am ashamed – for Canada. I am ashamed of a government that touts itself as transparent (unless you consider that robocalls thing, and the contempt of parliament thing, and the... oh, hell, we don't have time for all the things) and caring about the people, when really all it is concerned about is back-room deals and bankable dollars. Yes, once more, he sells out Canadians and Canadian ideals for the sake of the almighty dollar.

You see, the Harper government has been running around to all these third-world countries, cooking up deals and brokering agreements to ‘grow the economy’. I am not sure who exactly is supposed to be experiencing this growth, but what the hell. It’s what Stephen Harper says, and he wouldn’t lie to us, would he? (other than that robocalls thing, and the contempt of parliament thing...) From this backroom bullshit emerges another lovely tidbit – the Temporary Foreign Workers Program (which ironically enough has links on the Canadian Government website, but no page at the end of that link tonight. If you can't stand the heat, shut the kitchen down?). This bill allows companies to import workers from other countries to fill jobs in Canada. I mean, it’s not like we have a job shortage or people living here looking for work, right?

Enter the Royal Bank of Canada – that esteemed bastion of Canadian society since the dawn of time, at least by Canadian standards. Thanks to Harper and his need to pander to large corporations who want cheap slave labour, the bank has found yet another way to play the game. RBC brought in employees from India on the TFW program. They then had the unmitigated gall to ask their current staff to help train the new guys. Once that training was complete, the trainers (aka loyal Canadian RBC employees) were given the boot. Oh, wait... hang on... RBC didn’t do THAT! They instead hired iGate to do that, an American subsidiary of an Indian company that excels in outsourcing jobs to India. That one degree of separation, apparently, is all it takes to make this okay, at least according to RBC spokespeople. I mean, we're talking suppliers here; not people, right?

The new employees on the FTW program, when their visas to work here run out in 2015, will then go back to India... and take the rest of the RBC IT jobs with them. They will train people in India to do the jobs, and the IT staff here? Well, let’s just say that, luckily for them, people have been brought in to ‘help them brush up their resumes’ and to help them discover their real, true, deep ‘skills and aspirations,’ at least according to RBC’s HR kingpin and uber spin-meister Zabeen Hirji. She also said that some ‘choose to retire early; of course, we support them through that.’ I guess that would be the over-50 group, who will have no choice because they are considered corporately too old to retrain. How nice of the bank to be so considerate of their employees.

Well, you ask, what could really be wrong with this? Why get all worked up about 40 employees? Today, it’s 40. For them, it is one hell of a big deal, because you might not have noticed, but there are not a lot of jobs out there. When they move the entire IT department to India, it will be one hell of a lot more than 40 jobs. More than that, though, is the fact that it is just plain wrong. When we have unemployed people in Canada, our whole economy suffers. Big companies, instead of supporting the Canadian economy and doing something for those wonderful huge damned tax breaks Harper has given them as incentives to create jobs, pocket more money, while employing people at greatly reduced cost. When people don’t work, they don’t buy houses, they don’t buy cars, they don’t take trips, they don’t build new homes, they don’t send their kids to university... No one can afford these things if they don’t have work. If we don’t have people purchasing items, small stores and manufacturers have to shut down, adding to the growing list of unemployed people. It's been already hard enough as the cost of living -- housing, vehicles, gas, food, clothing -- has gone up exponentially, while wages have been stale or on the decline for years. To find a full-time job is close to impossible now, because no employer wants to have to pay benefits at all, so they play the game, work the employee for as many hours as they possibly can without allowing them to be technically full-time, because, well, as you can see, the poor big corporations with their multi-million dollar executive bonuses simply cannot bear the burden of offering paid holidays or healthcare.

The other problem with this whole scenario is that RBC gets even richer off the backs of even more destitute people, while putting people here out of work. As they deal through iGate, they know damned well that no one will give a shit about the working conditions for the people in India. It isn't technically RBC's problem; remember that one degree of separation that allows them to justify all of this? We have laws here against slave labor for a reason. Over there, who cares. They will pay them chicken shit wages, no benefits, offer no safe place to work, take advantage of people who should not be taken advantage of, and now you have even more people being screwed by the bank. But those people welcome a job, you argue! True, they probably do, but how do you morally, ethically, humanely use that to justify the use of ‘slave labor’. I am sure that children in sweathouses are thankful to be there too, because it’s a roof and perhaps some scraps of food at the end of the day; who cares if they have to work 16 hour days at the age of 10 in order to get that scrap, as long as the product rolls out and the money rolls in.

Yes, we should be helping people globally. Helping! Not knowingly, wilfully taking advantage of them while also happily screwing the people who have been loyal to you for years. I am fully aware that other companies do it, that other banks do it, that it’s the ‘in thing’ to do, but it is playing with fire on a national economic level, and it is morally reprehensible. If we don’t stand up now and say this has to stop, at what point do we?

Yes, Zabeen Hirji should be fired. She should be on the top of the list (but not the only name on the list) if for no other reason than that insultingly laughable excuse of an interview she gave to CBC. Thank you, CBC, for calling her on the crappola she was spinning. That she would think we would shrug and say ‘oh, okay then’ is truly unbelievable. The problem with shit-canning her arse is that she will still get at least a 7-digit bonus – I can guarantee you that no one who has their job outsourced will receive even a fragment of that sort of bonus, although God knows they probably have put the time and the passion worthy of it into their jobs. Of course, those employees won't be adding those big bucks to the Conservative party coffers come election time, will they -- at least not like bank executives will be.

Even if you don’t have accounts at RBC, you should be paying attention to this, before your job is also outsourced. This is not just a blip that will disappear or correct itself in a day or two. This is part of a pattern that will, in short order, kill the North American economy, something that is fragile enough already. It is time to contact your local politicians, your federal politicians, Stephen Harper’s office, the Royal Bank and anyone else who is doing this through the gaping loopholes conveniently placed in the TFW Program, and say ‘Enough!’ Someone has to start standing up for what is right. Why not us? Why not now?

BOILING IN OIL -- Pipelines and Politicians, If You Please

noreply@blogger.com (Bambi) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 16:13:00 +0000

DATELINE: BOILING IN OIL -- As we wait for that great leader President Obama (aka Spineless Willie) to decide on the Keystone Pipeline, I thought it might be fun to throw some numbers at you. In the past twelve years, in the United States, there have been at least 82 known pipeline leaks. Now, that doesn’t seem like a lot, I suppose, but these are the ones where there was no human involvement to cause them, and these are just the pipelines that carried those elixirs of life – crude, diesel, gasoline and, in two cases, jet fuel. This does not include the ones that were hit by construction workers because the pipeline was plotted wrong on maps or by human error. These are just the suckers that woke up one morning and decided to let that precious lifeblood of a nation land on the ground.

82 leaks – little (or in some cases big) holes that sprung out of nowhere. Just 82, you are saying. Well, yes, but let me clarify this some more. For 11 of those 82, there are no estimates for how much product was lost, so when I say that considerably more than 209,024 barrels were spilled, it is based on only 71 of those leaks. This part you’ll love... I just KNOW it. Oil company talk is 209,024 barrels, but do you know why? Well, it’s because it is a whole lot less scary when they say that than when they say more than 8,778,997 gallons. Yes, that is almost 9 Million gallons of crap spilled, in just 12 years, from just little leaks that happen.

Now, I should be clear about this. These numbers are based on researching the leaks that are made known and are recorded in information on the internet. If anything, they are low-balled, perhaps a lot. Nonetheless, here is more information for you to chew on. Of those 82 leaks, at least 40 of them, so half, resulted in severe environmental damage and contamination, almost always of water sources, many times killing animals, sometimes resulting in evacuations, and sometimes, because that shit is incredibly flammable, causing fires when it ignites. In at least one case, the spill was so bad in the water, the oil company had to burn it off – yes, they set the damned lake on fire. I bet fish and fowl were totally thrilled with that.

Funnily enough, the name Enbridge, as owners of the pipeline, came up 9 times, and Kinder Morgan owned the pipeline 6 times. Even more surprising, while these leaks were spread out over 26 US states, 8 of them happened in Illinois. I bet a lot of oilmen don’t drink the water in that state. While Illinois takes the prize for the most pipeline leaks, it is followed closely by Texas, Oklahoma then California.

These leaks, it should be noted, have occurred many times in areas where they then contaminated major waterways. In several instances, huge numbers of fish and wildlife, including endangered wildlife, were killed – and it is a slow painful death for them. In many cases, these leaks happened in very environmentally sensitive areas, where there never should have been a pipeline in the first place.

Yes, we need cars. No one is so fucking dumb as to say otherwise. We need oil and gas, but we need the oil companies to be responsible. Up to now, they haven’t been. The only guide of any significance to them has a damned dollar sign in front of it. Some of these leaks went on for considerable time because they were small, but their damage was huge. Some of these leaks went unreported for a long time, so the oil companies could ‘hide’ it. There was absolutely NO consideration given to the fact that this contamination could kill more than environments or wildlife; it could kill people. We are gonna look a right asinine lot when we have cars to drive but not one drop of water to drink. Of course, Sarah ‘Blowhole’ Palin, Mitt ‘Who’ Romney, Newt ‘No Funny Nickname Required’ Gingrich, Michelle ‘Harpies Really Were Insane’ Bachman, et all, would have given any oil company the keys to a kingdom and a ticker tape parade – without one moment of consideration for the farmland, wetlands, water tables or homes that the pipeline would casually crash over with no regard for any form of organic life, including the fucking farmers. You see, oil companies are bullies at heart, because their only concern is the money. As for the jobs, take it from someone who knows – they will be there, for a year, maybe, but not as many as they say. Then they will suddenly disappear, and the oil company won’t give a flying fuck about anyone who was promised anything, including a job and great pay. We’re talking politicians and oil companies here. Never ever forget that.

But Mz Palin and friends bring me to another point – it’s not just the oil companies who cannot be trusted. The governments have made it more than clear they would sell out their own fucking children for one vote or a few campaign dollars. The pipeline going through the US now could well mean enough money for the Democrats to purchase the White House deed for decades to come. We are supposed to trust the very same organization that slipped the god damned Monsanto Protection Act through the process to become a law without anyone knowing it? Oh, wait... that happened ‘anonymously’*. The politicians sold out our entire farming community AND our entire food supply to one company, and now they say they have no idea how that happened? I can tell you how. Monsanto is run by bullies with money – the worst sort of human excrement on the planet. They made it legal for Monsanto to do whatever it bloody well wants with our food, genetically modify it and genetically engineer it using sheep crap to make beef steaks, and there is absolutely NO recourse for anyone. They have been given a permanent golden Get Out Of Jail free card and our entire food supply was the cost. We want to sell out the water supply to the oil companies? I suppose at this point in time, why the hell not.

Yes, we need oil and gas. We also need to find ways to NOT need oil and gas. We need that oil and gas to be transported safely. That doesn’t mean that they just bulldoze homes from people who don’t want the pipeline over their pristine land. It doesn’t mean that it goes over sensitive aquifers or through national wildlife reserves or national parks. The fact is, no matter what they fucking do to make it ‘totally safe,’ it is still made by humans and therefore is capable of accidental yet catastrophic failure. There needs to be strict guidelines for how they get their land and where they run their pipelines. There needs to be HUGE penalties for every god damned drop of product that lands in the air or on the ground – not some bullshit slap on the wrist. There needs to be absolute vigilance – not the relying on their state of the art computerized doodads that will protect us, because quite honestly, they fail as well, and when they do, with no human checks and balances, we are totally fucked.

So, Mister President, while you consider the pipeline – and the successful election of your democratic successor, because we KNOW that’s all the party is thinking about – give some thought to how the people have already been sold down the river – the grossly contaminated, undrinkable river. There will be oil for everyone, but there will be no one left to drive a damned car. While you’re at it, passing crap like the Monsanto Protection Act, perhaps you could come up with some new law that involves duct tape and Michelle Bachman’s gaping, stupid, idiotic maw. Now THAT would be a law worth some heavy campaign dollars.

It’s a time for responsible thinking, balance, logic and compromise. It is for this reason, I fear, that perhaps there is no hope, because these are words that don’t exist anymore in the power houses, ivory towers and hallowed halls of the United States of America. More’s the pity; it has become a living, breathing historical display of how empires crumble.

* The whole bullshit that is the anonymous inclusion of something in a bill being considered for legislation is probably the most lame-ass ignorant slap in the face to the voting public I have ever heard of, because there is no way in hell they don’t know how it got in there, but it’s just a whole lot more convenient to blame no one than be responsible and wear your convictions yourself. Shame on the entire political system for allowing this mountain of crappola to exist at all.