Sister Sage's Musings: Clucking Christie Blathering Blatchford Strikes Again!
Oh brother! Here we go again! Once again that useless old shrew hacks again. This time, it’s about her little friend Rahim Jaffer. Apparently she writes that we’re simply pissed off with him getting away with nothing more than a slap on the wrists simply because he’s a ReformaTory: that backroom deals like this go on everyday. Yes, they do, dear, but even with all the charges Jaffer had originally, there still would have been manditory jail time. And he would more than likely have had some jail time had he not been a politician or a member of the rich and infamous. No, it’s not just because he’s a reformaTory. ... [Read More...]
Dawg's Blawg: Mr. Iacobucci…
...your opinion isn't worth a pinch.The terms of reference ask Iacobucci to determine whether the contents of the documents could pose a risk to Canada's international relations, national defence or national security, and to examine the question of whether the dangers in releasing them would be outweighed by the public interest.Parliament decides these things--you know, the elected representatives of Canadians. Not, with respect, some ex-judge appointed by the Prime Minister. If Parliament had consulted you as an expert, that might have been different. But it had no say in the matter.Hang in there, Derek Lee. Hang in there, NDP. This farce... [Read More...]
Molly'sBlog: Molly’sBlog 2010-03-13 18:22:00
CANADIAN LABOUR - TORONTO:CITY OF TORONTO GARBAGE TRUCK ACCIDENT KILLS ONE: We are fast coming up to April 28, the National day of Mourning for Workers Killed and Injured On the Job. Molly has blogged extensively about this day before, and I hope this year will be no exception. As something of a preliminary here's a report from Inside Toronto about a work related accident that killed one worker and seriously injured another just yesterday. One more reminder of just how serious the toll of workplace workplace deaths is. Try to remember the photo above the next time you hear someone griping about how "easy" city workers have it.CLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCL... [Read More...]
Molly'sBlog: Molly’sBlog 2010-03-13 17:18:00
CANADIAN LABOUR-WINNIPEG:CNIB WORKERS SET TO STRIKE ON MONDAY:Nineteen employees of the Canadian national Institute for the Blind (CNIB), represented by Local 832 of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), are set to strike this coming Monday, March 15. Contract negotiations have been dragging on for almost a year, and management has proved intransigent despite offers of concessions from the union. Here's the story from the CBC. Many thanks to the Winnipeg Wobbly Blog who alerted Molly to this development and plan to be following the situation as it develops.WLWLWLWLWLWLWLWLWLWLCNIB workers prepare to picket Workers at Winnipeg's Canadian... [Read More...]
Sister Sage's Musings: St-Stevie Youtubed…and Punked and Toasted!
Sorry, but for those who thought this posting was going to be my cents into the whole Stevie answering questions on Youtube, well, you’ve just been punked as ol’ Ashton Kutcher would say…at least in part. I will say this though, I’m still trying to submit a question and for whatever reasons, my questions keep getting rejected on that site. It figures, St-Stevie doesn’t like press conferences, because he can’t control the agenda, and as well all know, Steve only thrives when he controls the agenda, so, when Dmitri Soudas and St-Stevie’s other flunkies of their techno-geek flunkies go over the questions,... [Read More...]
Creekside: Laurie Hawn’s “gold standard”
On CBC radio's The House this morning, Laurie Hawn, Con MP and a member of the Special Committee on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan, said that the government had fixed the faulty Afghan detainee agreement they had inherited from the Liberals and then made the following statement about the current treatment of Afghan detainees :"Our detainee arrangement is the new gold standard. Taliban prisoners are treated like gold."Well so much for the U.S. State Department's 2009 report on Afghan human rights then :"Human rights organizations report local authorities tortured and abused detainees. Torture and abuse methods included ... beating by stick,... [Read More...]
Dawg's Blawg: That niqāb thing
Margaret Wente has a go at the two solitudes this morning--alleging a stark difference between French-language and English-language coverage of the Naima Ahmed affair. Wente likes her black-and-white, but in fact the National Post and the Globe and Mail were completely at odds over the matter.A commentator in Le Devoir observes, in fact, that media opinion in the Rest Of Canada is about evenly split--and criticizes, in passing, the deliberately misleading use of the charged word "burka" by the Post (Ahmed wore no such thing).I've written a fair bit on niqāb--more than I'd realized, actually--and didn't think I had much more to say when the Ahmed... [Read More...]
Politics'n'Poetry: Canadian Nuke Company Connected to Kazakh Investigation
Peace, order and good government, eh?: The spammers made me do it
After dying down to almost nothing, the comment spam has increased in frequency since around the first of the year. And the spammers have learned that less is more. Where they used to pack 10 or 20 links into a comment which made it easy to set a filter to catch it, now they settle for one or two links which lets it fly under the radar. Where they used to hammer you repeatedly from the same IP address and relentlessly flog the same domain, now they hit you from different addresses and promote a different domain with almost every comment. It makes it much harder to figure out which IPs to ban and which keywords to add to the blacklist. We've... [Read More...]
Matthias in Marburg (Salut Québec :): Du hast eine Stimme im Betrieb
Im Folgenden zu eurer Information ein Aufruf der linksjugend 'solid zu den diesjährigen Wahlen der betrieblichen Mitbestimmungsorgane BR, PR und JAV.Du hast eine Stimme!Betriebliche Mitbestimmung stärken und aktiv ausbauen!Dieses Jahr finden in den Betrieben und Verwaltungen die Wahlen zur Jugend- und Auszubildendenvertretung (JAV), zu den Betriebsräten (BR) und Personalräten (PR) statt. Linksjugend ['solid] ruft dazu auf, hierbei Listen und KandidatInnen zu unterstützen, die Mitglieder in DGB-Gewerkschaften sind und gegebenenfalls selbst auf einer dieser Listen oder direkt zu kandidieren. Die Wahlzeiträume liegen... [Read More...]
Peace, order and good government, eh?: Now we are fourteen
Thou met'st with things dying, I with things newborn -- The Winter's Tale, III.iii.112-13 I don't usually know my cats' precise birthdays, although almost all of them have been spring kittens, but I remember the day that Minerva (the all-black) and Mathilda (b+w) were born. The phone rang very early that morning. A reporter we knew in London wanted Rik to tell him everything he could about Dunblane, a douce wee toun in Scotland that had suddenly become a very sad place. Dunblane was a family home to Rik, so on and off through the day he talked the reporter through a race to the airport and then the drive from Glasgow to Stirling... [Read More...]
Canadian Cynic: I propose the word “blatch” be used as a verb.
As in, "Oh, for fuck's sake, she blatched up another one." Read More →
CEP Union: Organized Finally
I guess CEP is doing some organizing. CEP Press ReleaseEmployers' union-bashing tactics lead to automatic certificationTORONTO, March 12 /CNW Telbec/ - The Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) issued an important and far-reaching decision that may fundamentally change the approach employers in Ontario take to future union organizing drives.In its March 3rd decision, the OLRB ordered automatic certification of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada after finding that the employer, Boehmer Box LP of Kitchener, threatened its employees during a CEP organizing drive, in May 2008, by directly and indirectly linking unionization... [Read More...]
Challenging the Commonplace: His Popishness Has a Problem
CEP Union: One Year Anniversary of Cougar Flight 491
Please take a moment to remember those that lost their lives going to work. Services held to mark year anniversary of deadly N.L. chopper crash17 people lost their lives when chopper plunged into the North Atlantic, 55 kilometres east of St. John'sMoira Baird, St. John's Telegram: Friday, March 12, 2010ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — The one-year anniversary of the crash of Cougar Flight 491 is a sombre reminder for oilfield workers of the perils of flying to their jobs off Newfoundland.Memorial services and wreath-laying ceremonies will take place Friday at the White Rose, Hibernia and Terra Nova oilfields in remembrance of the 17 people who lost their... [Read More...]
Canadian Cynic: Sometimes, these people frighten me.
Oh, my:An unknown person at a discussion forum has hit the nail on the head so furiously and so precisely that his words are now echoing all over political discussion forums.... according to my friend Irene.“The danger to America is not Barack Obama, but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the presidency."That's kind of creepy, coming from a woman who mindlessly worships Sarah Palin. I'm just sayin'. Read More →
Molly'sBlog: Molly’sBlog 2010-03-13 04:46:00
CANADIAN LABOUR-PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE:PORTAGE POSTIES PROTEST PUBLIC PULL-OUT: Postal workers in Portage la Prairie Manitoba, a small city about 50 kms west of Winnipeg, are protesting the recent decision by Canada Post to reduce public service at the main office in Portage. As the following from Portage On-Line makes plain this will not save Canada Post any money, but it is definitely in line with the long standing desire of the Federal Conservatives to destroy Canada Post, however much inconvenience that may cost smaller communities. Or, of course, is could be simply an example of "management muscle-flexing" whereby managers, who are usually... [Read More...]
Canadian Cynic: I just wet myself again.
Wag of the tail to earlier commenter CWTF for this gem:How can Parliament work if the Liberals don't show up?I got nuthin'.And CWTF is on a roll, as he draws our attention to the irrepressible Kady O'Malley, trying to educate Adrian MacNair. I'm guessing the effort is going to be lost on him. Read More →
Molly'sBlog: Molly’sBlog 2010-03-13 02:10:00
CANADIAN LABOUR - SUDBURY:STEELWORKERS OVERWHELMINGLY REJECT VALE INCO OFFER: Steelworkers, members of Local 6500, in Sudbury overwhelmingly rejected an "offer" from multinational mining giant Vale Inco to wind up the long and bitter strike by essentially surrendering to the company's demands. The final vote was 88% for rejection of the offer. In Port Colburne, also in Ontario, the vote for rejection was even greater- 98%. Here's the union press release from the strike support site Fair Deal Now. Watch that site for news of this important labour struggle.SWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSW Steelworkers Overwhelmingly Reject Vale’s Cynical, Substandard... [Read More...]
Canadian Cynic: Let the Canadian Wankerville shrieking begin.
That would be Canada's conservatives, in full dudgeon, frothing furiously over the hilariously blatant conflict-of-interest here, during which a sitting Prime Minister teams with a registered lobbyist to be delightfully selective in what makes it to air and ... and ... Oh, wait, my bad. It's a Conservative PM that is the recipient of this delicious lobbyist largesse. Sorry. I was just imagining what the reaction would have been if it had been a Liberal Prime Minister. As it is, Canada's wanks are good with that. No problem, nothing to see here, move along. Read More →
Peace, order and good government, eh?: Friday night
Bring me my whiskey, I wanna get mean Bring me my whiskey, I will tear up a scene This is Moreland & Arbuckle with Date With the Devil. Sue Foley and Peter Karp perform a tune Karp wrote called Treat Me Right. Mark Knopfler gets equal billing here but he's really in a support role. Clapton's front and centre on Same Old Blues. Have a good weekend. Read More →
unrepentant old hippie: Fun with Harper’s YouTube channel
Dawg's Blawg: Google and the PMO
This one, I suspect, has legs.Kady O'Malley:[I]t would be one thing for Google to have offered to livestream the full Throne Speech debate, or at least all four party leaders. But just the PM, while simultaneously being registered to lobby PMO? That just seems a bit much.Indeed. Read the whole thing.[H/t Simon, b/c] Read More →
Facing Autism in New Brunswick: Autism Speaks Welcomes To Its Board Autism Cure Opponent John Elder Robison
Autism Speaks has responded to my comment concerning publication of my comment on the official Autism Speaks blog site about the views of new Autism Speaks board member John Elder Robison. AS did, subsequent to my initiial comment on this site, post my questions to new Autism Speaks board member John Elder Robison. Mr. Robison also answered very honestly my questions on the Autism Speaks blog although I am very concerned about what his answers portend for the future direction of Autism Speaks. Mr. Robison is a very high functioning person with Aspergers Disorder of whom Autism Speaks per Dr. Geraldine Dawson has announced: "It... [Read More...]
Dawg's Blawg: Rights and Democracy: more on transparency
The details on that change to the by-laws that Rights and Democracy board chair Aurel Braun is seeking: here is what will be on the agenda of the upcoming March 25-6 board meeting.It is hereby resolved that By-Law No. 1 be amended as follows:1. Section 6 is amended by amending subsection (1) and (2) as follows:“6.(1) In addition to the meetings called pursuant to subsection (1) of section 20 of the Act, the Chairperson shall call a special meeting of the Board when he or she is requested in writing (including electronic means and e-mails) to do so by at least five (5) Members of the Board of Directors.6.(2) The special meeting referred to in... [Read More...]
CEP Union: What Happened to the Rest of the CEP Members
What are the numbers? Details About AbitibiBowater Agreement Still Coming OutThe agreement actually involves 4,000 workers not 8,000 as in a previous article post. What happened to the rest of the CEP Members? Did they just vanish?Some Numbers Have Become Clearer or are TheyNUMBERS ARE BECOMING CLEARERAs CEP enters into pattern bargaining for forestry workers in Eastern Canada. Abitibi has been choose as the company to establish the pattern for the rest of the industry. Who will sit across the table from CEP negotiators is very much up in the air as AbitibiBowater has filed for bankrupty protection. Depending on which numbers you believe between... [Read More...]
Creekside: BC Greenwash and Wear
Environmental activist Tzeporah Berman of Forest Ethics presents BC Premier Gordon Campbell with a "green award" at the Copenhagen climate conference in December 2009.The previous month Campbell hired Berman on to his "Green Energy Advisory Task Force". Last May Berman actively supported Campbell's re-election citing his "environmental leadership". This is the same Gordon Campbell who supports the Grizzly bear hunt and open-cage fish farms, the Gateway Pacific and twin Enbridge pipelines running from the Alberta tar sands to Kitimat, the proposed revoking of the moratorium on off-shore drilling, coalbed methane development, the gutting of the... [Read More...]
Peace, order and good government, eh?: Something Good
It seems like a while since I saw a reason for optimism anywhere except Venezuela and maybe Bolivia. The bad guys keep doing worse things--ruining everything, then successfully claiming that the reason things are bad is that they weren't allowed to ruin everything thoroughly enough. I need a break from that, so I bring you positive change in India: I remember when I first talked about the miracle brought about in village Pannukula in Andhra Pradesh, many thought I was simply trying to romanticise agriculture. How farming can be done without the use of chemical pesticides, I was repeatedly asked. . . . more than 318,000 farmers in... [Read More...]
Peace, order and good government, eh?: Journamalism
I normally like Tonda MacCharles' work in the Toronto Star but I think this one is a bit of a stinker. It reports on a poll that apparently tells us how conservative Canadians are becoming. The poll was conducted by Harris-Decima and was commissioned by the Manning Centre for Building Democracy. That would be Preston Manning's conservative think tank in case that's not clear. The reason I'm so critical of this piece is that this poll is supposed to be news but what you won't find is any sign of the questions. Or the numbers. Instead we're presented with the interpretation by Allan Gregg and Andre Turcotte of the meaning of responses to... [Read More...]
Searching For Dragons: Getting Away and Getting Back
Hello from Guadalajara!This was written two days ago. More to come!fInspration comes at the least likely of times. It´s 2am. The sun will be streching it´s first rays above the horizon in 4 hours when I´m to wake up and head to the airport to catch a flight to Mexico City.I´ve been feeling nervous, in much the same way that I always feel before traveling, but witht he added element of having a serious endeavoru before me. However, I now feel better after havng had a brief chat with some guys who have been staying at my downstairs-neighbours´ place. Wait, I don´t just feel better. I feel INSPIRED! You see, as chance would have it, these... [Read More...]
