Willy Loman

It would be like watching Santa Claus drown

noreply@blogger.com (WILLY) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 15:14:00 +0000

In preparation for what is expected to be a Polar Bear Xmas, with most likely one of Coca Cola’s largest ad campaigns in a decade, this week the Harper government has fulfilled the promise made by John Baird in the spring of 2008 to take immediate action on the designation of Polar Bears as a species of special concern.

There, that should stop any environmentalist from saying our policies are not the real thing.

Miss your quota loose your territory

noreply@blogger.com (WILLY) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 02:23:00 +0000

The Tar Sands Minister of Finance, Jim Flaherty spoke out today from the APEC conference in Honolulu, introducing plan B for the oil industry’s now shell shocked Canadian subsidiary. With the Keystone pipeline being delayed for a couple of years, the current Canadian management team has moved their focus onto the BC Gateway project.

The unveiling of the revised timetable follows yesterday’s comments from the Tar Sands Minister of Natural Resources, Joe Oliver who surprisingly was still quoting the subsidiaries failed, ethical oil, marketing slogan. Meanwhile the Prime Minister of Tar Sands has remained silent, leaving his PR department to reiterate the long term viability of the Canadian organization.

Although one would suspect that there was talk around the boardroom table about the continuing independence of the Canadian operation and the general weakness in their marketing abilities.

How do you tell someone you love them when you are dead

noreply@blogger.com (WILLY) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 02:29:00 +0000

Someone is pushing bad shit out there tonight, my busy ER nurse informed me. Apparently seven ODs on a Sunday night is large number at the Credit Valley ER. Patients from Saturday, were already lined up in the hallways, with exhausted, vigil holding, parents, children or spouses, curled up in chairs or camped out on the floor.

I guess the drug network breaks down in the suburbs, I thought.

When I was a kid, Chum’s Pritchard would warn us, by placing inane statements between sets. Something like We don’t play ABBA around here any more, the water has been too deep since last Thursday, meaning of course, don’t buy the Swedish Liquid that just hit town, because people are freaking out.

Generational Occupancy

noreply@blogger.com (WILLY) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 00:36:00 +0000

I don’t know what’s going on.

I’ve been away for far too long.

It looks like my world may have started to change.

The long haired freaky occupation.

Has been compared to my generation

So I shouldn’t find a new revolution all that strange

Yesterday is gone

noreply@blogger.com (WILLY) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 18:51:00 +0000

I don't even want to talk about this. You know, it just seems like one of those things. Adding anger to a broken heart is all that it might bring. But it is time to focus on the future and leave the past behind. So let's talk about tomorrow, because yesterday is gone.

I was seventeen until I was thirty, and thirty-three until forty-two. I was fifty-five until I was sixty, now I'm aging daily, just like you. You might have clung to your past also, marking decades with your songs, or maybe your achievements or something that went wrong. But this is not about our ages, we are all now, in the same place. Has our identity been stolen or are there just some hard facts we have to face?

Have we really been paying attention, or did we let the politicians lull us asleep. Times always seem much harder, when there is so much more stuff you want to keep. But our economy is broken and our debt continues to rise. Running faster on the treadmill, will not save our lives. Sadly I speak as one with experience who has wasted too much for far too long. It is time to plan for a new future, because yesterday is gone.

Every government is corrupt as unlimited power is apt to do. They have always been there to protect the corporations and never worry about me and you. But is that really what we wanted, certainly not when we were young. Hell we never paid attention, we just went out and got things done. We measured success with our hard earned dollars or our status with our fame and wrote off our moral responsibilities and just continued to play the game.

But now faced with the failure of this self serving consumerism, I watch in disgust as our government tries to redefine our nationalism. We can no longer afford to assist the weak or the poor, we will close our borders and prepare for a new war. The environment continues to be damed, as we mine more tar and pump the now ethical profits into our cars. New prisons will be built to keep the unreported crimes off our streets and we'll all measure the health of our country with the bloated corporate balance sheets.

Now there are probably some lies in what I have said, at least as it applies to you. You might be very successful and enjoying all the things that you do. But if you had the opportunity to start all over again today, would your choices be the same, would you live your life the same way.

Well, I have that chance again for the third time in my life, and this time I only have to care for two dogs and my wife. Although it may sound like I'm just singing a new song, believe me this time.

All my yesterdays are gone.

h/t Jimmy McCracklin here & here

Apply Canada Day

noreply@blogger.com (WILLY) — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 14:15:00 +0000

This has become my annual Canada Day post. I thought about creating a new one, last year and again briefly this week, but it seems that I will spend this year's Canada Day as I have the three or so before, being a typical, non political, over worked, Canadian, who is just happy that he does not have to go work today.

A self centred, self pitying, working day hero, with his head buried so far up the daily corporate socialization of emails, blogs, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook feeds that have taken over his company's messaging vehicles, that the simple act of writing a post at home becomes too much like work.

I talk to Americans every day, republicans, I teach evangelical churches how to better control their finances, I communicate with Canadian conservatives, and conservative business people, about how to record their investments and better monitor the performance of their holdings. When they screw up they send me their data and I fix their entries and get them back online.

This is not what a young at heart, aged hippie should be doing for a living, even the fact I know how to do this stuff is depressing. Hell, I could have gone to Woodstock, except that I had to work that weekend :D.

So today as I have in the past I am celebrating being the Canadian I wanted to be in the Canada I wish we had.

Appy Canada Day.

The rot in Wisconsin continues

noreply@blogger.com (WILLY) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 17:50:00 +0000

As a followup to the my earlier post about a Wisconsin Federal Judge declaring that the legislation passed by Governor Walker and his sultry crew of union bashing tea baggers was unconstitutional, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin has now overturned that ruling and the laws stand.

As The Progressive, who continue to follow the goings on in Wisconsin reports, Wisconsin is now a one party state with the Governor, the legislature and now the courts being controlled by the ruthless, anti-democratic state republican party.

The only hope that remains for the citizens of Wisconsin is a law suit filed by the labour unions.

I miss my ITV

noreply@blogger.com (WILLY) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 20:38:00 +0000

There is something missing in my TV schedule.

The programing is the same but I no longer get that old rush of adrenalin about the 10 and 20 minute marks. It all seems so bland now.

CTV News, hockey night in Canada or reruns of The Big Bang Theory no longer cause my blood pressure to rise. I think that I am suffering from AIAWS and who could blame me, after four years of constant infusion.
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is really too long a name for a blog under the new format

noreply@blogger.com (WILLY) — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 14:50:00 +0000

At the time I thought, hey look at Peace Order or Good Government Eh and I thought it would be okay. However on second thought this might lead to some interesting post titles in the future.

Oh and there was a budget

noreply@blogger.com (WILLY) — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 02:34:00 +0000

Just read two reviews of the cons budget, one by impolitical (LPC) and one from Accidental Deliberations (NDP) and I am sure there are many more out there. Didn't learn much about the budget, but we already knew what was going to be in it since March anyway. Of course with the addition of a few election promises that Harper had to make.

However what struck me was, that more time was spent comparing the NDP & LPC leaders or their responses than the actual budget itself. Our LPC guys line was used as the headline by the media, not yours. Or from the NDP blogger, a continuation of the electioneering attacks on the performance of the LPC prior to the election.

As an aside it amazes me that before the election, progressive bloggers of all stripes were attacking Harper for taking credit for the work done by Chrétien & Martin in reducing the deficit. Then once the election was called the LPC were attacked because Chrétien & Martin were now the same as the conservatives for making all the cuts that reduced the deficit.

Give me a break the only way you can reduce a deficit is to increase your revenue (raise taxes) and reduce your costs (make cuts) and that is what Martin did. Was it fun times? No.

Harper on the other hand believes in tax cuts, and the trickle down down theory of corporate welfare, which have reduced our revenue and as for cuts, they are also ideological based. Cuts to social services, cuts to union employees countered with military purchases, and outsourcing of government jobs.
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A good weekend to read your blog list

noreply@blogger.com (WILLY) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 11:32:00 +0000

With PROBLOGS still in its debut state, this weekend I am actually reading the bloggers that I have pasted in my blog list.

Good thing I choose some goods ones.

Of course not posting regularly or being other bloggers lists, no one will actually know that.

My gawd, I am alone in the blogosphere.

Hello, hello is there any out there.

Wisconsin anti-union law ruled illegal

noreply@blogger.com (WILLY) — Thu, 26 May 2011 22:26:00 +0000

From the Progressive:

Circuit Court Judge Maryann Sumi today ruled that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s controversial anti-union law was illegal. “It is necessary to void the legislative actions flowing from these violations,” she ruled. The law, she ruled, “has no force or effect.” Republicans vowed to appeal the decision to the state supreme court.

Well how's that for something positive.

Stepping out of the political closet

noreply@blogger.com (WILLY) — Mon, 23 May 2011 18:17:00 +0000

It could be ten years before the Liberal Party of Canada will again be able to form a government. This is one reality that their membership should consider as they move forward in rebuilding their party.

It could be ten long years sitting in the wilderness or it could be ten long years of small victories and there are plenty of victories to be won. The victory of a growing membership or the victory of increased funding opportunities if the corporations are again allowed to participate in the open. And even from their new position as the smaller opposition party, the victory of principled participation in exposing the ideological extremism of the parties on the left and the right.

Three weeks late and a hundred bucks short

noreply@blogger.com (WILLY) — Thu, 12 May 2011 01:24:00 +0000

This might explain a lot. When I got home from work today, there was a letter from the Liberal Party of Canada in my mailbox, in a fairly large envelope.

My first thought was, hey these guys are not down and out. This is a very aggressive move. Hit your mailing list, ask for help, get the recovery started now.

But alas it was a letter from Michael Ignatieff, explaining that he was working hard on the campaign bus and that the numbers were starting to climb and could I send some money to help the party.

Well at least I saved a hundred bucks.

Leave that little girl alone

noreply@blogger.com (WILLY) — Thu, 05 May 2011 23:32:00 +0000

As far as I am concerned the new MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau, is just great and the Cons, Libs and media should fuck off.

Who cares if she didn’t campaign, or lives 300 km away or that her french is weak, the citizens of Berthier--Maskinongé voted for the NDP and it was her name on the ballot and it will not make any difference in Parliament either.

If I was Jack I would put all of the kids right up front. Put them in charge of the young dippers, send them all over the country. I’d stick them on the committees, because what difference does it make. We just went through five years with the so-called pros and nothing was resolved by the opposition committee members.

Besides, I can see them laughing at the antics of Baird and company. I know I would and think about the negative fall out when Baird tries his bully tactics on these young people.

Everyone laments about the lack of youth vote, well these young people can change all that. Hell if I was the Liberals I would try and rent them.

And if any of the residents of Berthier--Maskinongé are truly upset, I will gladly offer them a trade for the more experienced conservative MP Bob Dechert, that the foolish people in Mississauga, Erindale re-elected.

He speaks less French that my Ruth (I’m taking her under my wing here), but it really doesn’t matter because he refuses to answer your emails anyway. He has some national notoriety, being featured on a Mercer Report a couple of years back. He was the crying con shouting treason, about the Lib, NDP coalition.

So he really does not know that much about our parliamentary democracy, but who does on that side of the aisle and besides that knowledge no longer necessary.

At least for the next four years.

Just in case I am practicing my French

noreply@blogger.com (WILLY) — Tue, 03 May 2011 23:32:00 +0000

First off I would like to say, Bonjour et bienvenue à mes amis du Québec.

Unfortunately, such a large number of nationalists joining us all at one time, has forced the rest of Canada into a reformation of sorts and sadly our accommodations, customs and amenities, may no longer represent what had previously been advertised.

To the members of the NDP, I say congratulations and at least you will never again, have to see your leader or for that matter any member of any opposition party ever have to appease or prop up the Harper government.

To the members of the Liberal party, who have had my vote for the last three elections, I felt like one of you and my heart is deeply saddened. My hope is that the Liberal party will rebuild and again offer a unique third option. I truly, believe our country needs one. Unfortunately I doubt that I will be around one way or the other, when the next election is finally forced upon this government.

This votes for you Harper

noreply@blogger.com (WILLY) — Mon, 02 May 2011 19:03:00 +0000

Well actually the voting part was for Omar.

Stay away from the brown acid

noreply@blogger.com (WILLY) — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 18:48:00 +0000

Wow ever since the wave l'orange hit the belle province (my high school French always fails me) it has been looney tunes around these parts.

We've seen posts where some young lib bloggers have turned into blogging torries in their attacks on the ndp and some young dipper bloggers have been predicting a NDP majority with daily updates on the number of seats.

Even some of the old pros, the presumably nonpartisan scribes, since they are not carrying party flags, the guys I turn to when I'm looking for the voice of reason and the wisdom of experience, are not escaping unscathed.

Some of these bards of progressive poetic justice, the backbone of the joint, have turned into rabid dippers, rapidly knee jerking out responses to imagined Jack attacks. Eventual Mea culpa aside, it is quite disparaging for someone who doesn't care if Jack, or Iggy get the nod, just as long as Harper is gone.
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Ignore Harpers Voter Suppression tactics

noreply@blogger.com (WILLY) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 21:00:00 +0000

Do not believe the bullshit that the conservatives can no longer get a majority.

Our country is still in danger.

This was more brilliantly explained, earlier today by DAMMIT JANET, so if we want to avoid the big step to the right, go to their post here and then get out the vote.

I would also suggest that you should vote smartly and place it for the candidate that has the best chance to drive a stake through the heart of these assholes, but then again, I am a strategically focused ABCer.
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Orange wave hits Mississauga

noreply@blogger.com (WILLY) — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 01:04:00 +0000

Mississauga Willy reporting in.

For those of you who are not familiar with the political landscape of Hazels hideaway, here is the history. Mississauga has four ridings and for the most part, or at least while I have lived here they have been predominantly red, with a tinge of blue provincially, when Harris took over.

In 2008 the city got hit with Harpers blue wave and one seat fell to a conservative candidate, for a lack of a better word. Close but it fell.

According to Democracy Watch, you know the strategic voting guys, at the outset of the election there were two Mississauga ridings in play, where vote splitting would let the Conservatives hold on to one very closely contested riding, Mississauga Erindale and gain one seat in Mississauga South.

They have been adding the fluctuating poll results and the projections have been moving up and down for each riding based on the daily results from two pollsters (EKOS and NANOS) and it has been close.

The Orange wave started to take permanent affect on the April 24th polls in Mississauga and as you can see from chart below the intent to vote NDP has increased by 10% since the last election. The intent to vote Liberal or Green has fallen, 5% and 24% respectively and the intent to vote conservative has increased 5%.

Currently Harper is leading in two ridings, with the NDP surge possibly having a greater effect in the Mississauga South riding. I believe the conservative rise is coming from the collapse of the Greens and worried blue grits, usually the wealthier of the group, who by the way live in Mississauga South by the lake. They might be believing what the corporate media is saying and are afraid of the socialist NDP, as CTV is now regularly calling Jack and crew (4 times in 5 minutes tonight BTW).

To offer some hope that Harper doesn't gain another seat in Mississauga, these Democracy Watch riding projections are not showing any measurable increase in the number of voters for this election. If the advance polls were any indication in Mississauga we could see another 7,000 votes cast.

If the majority of those additional votes are for the NDP, Harper gains another seat in Mississauga, if they are sleeping liberals, he might loose Mississauga Erindale for no net gain.

I think Mississauga South is lost in either case.

That's all, party on dudes.

PS: I am no Steve V when it come to polls and the only one that really counts hasn't happened yet.

Personally I don't care who is the Official Opposition. Hell the Bloc had their shot.

I would just rather not have to live through a Harper majority, so the rest of the country better go massively Orange because we are not doing so well in Mississauga.

Voting with my heart

noreply@blogger.com (WILLY) — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 22:30:00 +0000

Give it a rest Dippers, your partisanship has become even more obnoxious than the Libs around these parts for the last week and half.

Now, strategic voting is considered a Lib/Con plot to hold back the NDP.

Excuse me, there are 45 ridings that are in play, where a split vote between lib, ndp and green will give Harper the seat. In some cases we can prevent him from gaining the seat and in others we can take a seat way from him. In some seats the NDP candidate can win if the Liberal and Green voters suck it up and vote NDP. In others the NDP and Green voters need to suck it up.

I live in one of those ridings, every vote that the Green and NDP voter holds back from the Liberal candidate in this election in my riding will help the conservative hang on to the seat. The differences between the con and the lib has been 300 votes in the last two elections. The NDP and Green votes combined equal less that 12 percent of votes cast for the last 2 elections.

Get it, neither the NDP candidate, nor the Green candidate have a chance to win the seat and by voting for them I'm helping the conservative candidate. Yet the advice I am getting from the dippers around these parts is to vote with my heart.

Well excuse me, even though I am more in line with NDP policies, even though I am more socialist than capitalist, even though I have been more outspoken against the Liberal appeasement of Harper than the NDPs, I am voting with my heart.

I'm voting for the Liberal, because in my heart I know that every seat Harper looses moves him farther away from destroying my country.

Get a grip.

How to vote against Harper

noreply@blogger.com (WILLY) — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 19:06:00 +0000

The movie.

Vote ABC

noreply@blogger.com (WILLY) — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 23:33:00 +0000

Taking Cathie's lead I too have just added the Project Democracy widget to the sidebar.

I live in a Key Contest riding of Miossissauga, Erindale:

This is a swing riding that Conservative Bob Dechert took by just under 400 votes in 2008. Former MP Omar Alghabra is running again and when he won last, he won by 328 votes.

The NDP and Greens received over 8,000 votes combined in Mississauga-Erindale, but neither have a chance of winning. This is tragic vote splitting causing a retrograde Conservative candidate to win. Liberal Omar Alghabra stand the best chance to unseat the Conservative.

If you live here and want rid of Harper, all NDP & Greens should vote Liberal.

You probably know how your riding sits, but enter the postal code for your cousins, your co-workers, all the non politcos that you know, and then let them know what the effect of their vote will be. Feel free to piss off everyone you know, this election is that important.

Thank you this a non sponsored message from an ABCer.

My exconservative colleague sent me this

noreply@blogger.com (WILLY) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 19:32:00 +0000

An oldie but goodie he said. Apparently he is voting NDP this time out. I guess he missed the point of the evideo or it is just too much to ask:)

Canadian youth can own this election

noreply@blogger.com (WILLY) — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 01:39:00 +0000

For the last five years, the Harper conservative party has spent millions of dollars attacking the leaders of the opposition parties, with vicious, exaggerated, and fabricated, personal attack ads.

Please allow me to repeat this.

With all the priorities over the last five years, that any government in the G7 should be concentrating on, the Harper conservative party has spent millions of dollars attacking the leaders of the opposition parties, with vicious, exaggerated, and fabricated, personal attack ads.

Millions of dollars, not collected from the twenty to one hundred dollar, heart felt, donations from the 5 million or so, true believers in conservative policies, but from corporations, oil companies, pipeline companies, banks, Canada’s fortune 100, many of whom are no more than foreign owned subsidies.

Corporations, each funneling up to $186,000 a year, through nonprofit, right wing think tanks. Funds to be used for advertising as per Election Canada Rules. Funneled through outfits like the National Citizens Coalition that Harper used to run with it’s large unpublished membership of neoconservative politicos and corporate owned executives.

These viscous and cowardly ads, started on Harper’s first day in power have been none stop, regardless of who the leader of the opposition was. Dion gets booted and the attack switches to Ignatieff.

Meanwhile, when the election starts, Canadians and the Canadian media go on about how they are the dreading the forthcoming political attack ads. Excuse me, there has not been one week during the last five years when Harper’s party has not been attacking the opposition leaders in prime time television ads.

However, it has been a two pronged media buy, with the government using corporately financed advertising to attack the opposition and our money, our tax dollars to positively promote themselves.

The CEAC (Canada’s Economic Action Plan) virtually ended close to a year ago, e.g. home renovation credits ended, the deadline passed for new infrastructure projects. Yet the Harper government spent more money in the last quarter of 2010, (just prior to being booted in contempt of parliament), recycling the Canada’s Economic Action Plan advertising, than Proctor & Gamble or any other private corporation has ever spent in a year in Canada.

This is one of least productive governments in Canadian history, yet by advertising a program that has been described as a pork barreling opportunity for conservative held ridings, a program that ended last July, the government is trying to convince Canadians that they are still working hard to get the economy back on track and convince us, using our own tax dollars.

Being a progressive blogger or probably more accurately of late, a progressive blogger follower, none of this is news. We collectively have been pounding the keyboards about this for the last five years.

Hell, I’ve given up on adding the media links to my posts, to somehow prove what I am saying has some truthiness. If you don’t believe it or don’t get it, you have not been paying attention. In reality if you are not part of the progressive bubble, we are screaming into everyday, you are not reading this post anyway.

However it is election time and Willy has been talking to none politicos, dinner parties and the like. The great unwashed, well off, old, white, men, who are disgusted at political attack ads and believe that they are a waste of time.

Yet they are unsure about Ignatieff, because somehow he seems to be in it for himself and the Harper government seems to be working hard on the recovery.

Canadian youth can own this election, because all the old farts I am talking to are stupid.