Amazon is doing to the shopping mall what the shopping mall did to Main Street.
Killing it.
You'll recall the (muted) outcry when the mall was killing off Main Street.
On-line shopping has killed so many malls that the dead malls have their own website.
After all, who can resist buying that plastic made-in-China piece of shit at Amazon for $29 when it would have been $34 at Walmart?
Or $45 at Brewster's Hardware on Main Street.
We all want to save money, don't we?
Well, we're saving money in big fat bundles. Not only is Main Street shopping gone, the malls are on their way out too.
But we're saving money like crazy.
We'll save ourselves right into Armageddon... or at least Amazonageddon.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Bullshit headline of the day
It's hard to pick one, because there is so much bullshit in the headlines, but today this was the hands-down winner; Ship-breaking work to shift from Asia to Europe.
That's from the CBC, and it seems to be the headline for a photo-essay rather than a story, so the only narrative we get is this; Dirty, dangerous business is hazard to low-paid workers in developing countries.
Duh!
We're gonna move ship-breaking from Asia to Europe because we care about hazards to low paid workers in developing countries?
Get the fuck outta here!
Who dreams up this shit?
The entire history of capitalism is based on letting the low-paid workers shoulder the burden of the hazards... the greater the hazards, the lower the pay!
Think about this for two seconds. Who owns those ships about to be broken up? Why, scrap brokers of course!
Imagine you are a scrap broker. Imagine you have bought a ship for break-up.
You have options.
Option one; take your ship to Belgium to be scrapped. The environmental constraints are ominous. The worker protection regulations protect workers. The workers are used to making 30 euros per hour as opposed to 30 euros per week....
Option two; tow your ship to a beach in Bangladesh where there are no environmental or labour laws, at least none that are enforced. Guys in flip-flops will be happy to cut up your ship into scrap for next to nothing. Scrap steel is a global commodity that is worth the same in Belgium as in Bangladesh.
See why that's a bullshit headline?
That's from the CBC, and it seems to be the headline for a photo-essay rather than a story, so the only narrative we get is this; Dirty, dangerous business is hazard to low-paid workers in developing countries.
Duh!
We're gonna move ship-breaking from Asia to Europe because we care about hazards to low paid workers in developing countries?
Get the fuck outta here!
Who dreams up this shit?
The entire history of capitalism is based on letting the low-paid workers shoulder the burden of the hazards... the greater the hazards, the lower the pay!
Think about this for two seconds. Who owns those ships about to be broken up? Why, scrap brokers of course!
Imagine you are a scrap broker. Imagine you have bought a ship for break-up.
You have options.
Option one; take your ship to Belgium to be scrapped. The environmental constraints are ominous. The worker protection regulations protect workers. The workers are used to making 30 euros per hour as opposed to 30 euros per week....
Option two; tow your ship to a beach in Bangladesh where there are no environmental or labour laws, at least none that are enforced. Guys in flip-flops will be happy to cut up your ship into scrap for next to nothing. Scrap steel is a global commodity that is worth the same in Belgium as in Bangladesh.
See why that's a bullshit headline?
Christians once again dominate Canada top ten billionaire list
The Jew-haters who believe that Jews dominate the upper echelons of the Canadian economy aren't going to take much comfort from this year's Forbes rich list.
I don't know anything about that Camp fellow. I did find a photo where he appears to be wearing a kipa, but he's a flash in the pan who gets in the billionaire club on the strength of his stake in vastly uber-inflated Uber.
Other than him, you gotta go to number ten of ten to find a Jew... hell, that's a worse showing than in years past!
Are the Christians ganging up to drive the Jews out?
Wouldn't be the first time, would it?
I don't know anything about that Camp fellow. I did find a photo where he appears to be wearing a kipa, but he's a flash in the pan who gets in the billionaire club on the strength of his stake in vastly uber-inflated Uber.
Other than him, you gotta go to number ten of ten to find a Jew... hell, that's a worse showing than in years past!
Are the Christians ganging up to drive the Jews out?
Wouldn't be the first time, would it?
Monday, March 30, 2015
On-line shopping is doing to the mall what the mall did to Main Street
Killing it.
You'll recall the (muted) outcry when the mall was killing off Main Street.
On-line shopping has killed so many malls that the dead malls have their own website.
After all, who can resist buying that plastic made-in-China piece of shit at Amazon for $29 when it would have been $34 at Walmart?
Or $45 at Brewster's Hardware on Main Street.
We all want to save money, don't we?
Well, we're saving money in big fat bundles. Not only is Main Street shopping gone, the malls are on their way out too.
But we're saving money like crazy.
We'll save ourselves right into Armageddon... or at least Amazonageddon.
You'll recall the (muted) outcry when the mall was killing off Main Street.
On-line shopping has killed so many malls that the dead malls have their own website.
After all, who can resist buying that plastic made-in-China piece of shit at Amazon for $29 when it would have been $34 at Walmart?
Or $45 at Brewster's Hardware on Main Street.
We all want to save money, don't we?
Well, we're saving money in big fat bundles. Not only is Main Street shopping gone, the malls are on their way out too.
But we're saving money like crazy.
We'll save ourselves right into Armageddon... or at least Amazonageddon.
John Baird embarks on "stuff-my-pockets" phase of career
After two decades as a high-profile political operator, John Baird has bid adieux to public service.
He's moving on. Last week we learned he had signed on as an "International Strategic Advisor" to Barrick Gold, a "job" that pays well into the six numbers for the chore of attending one or two meetings a year.
When I told Peter Munk 15 years ago that I was willing to be a strategic advisor for a mere $75k a year, he laughed me out of his office.
I even gave him a bit of free strategic advice; a free sample as it were. Put Pascua Lama on ice, I said. It's gonna be a black hole, a money pit.
Get the fuck outta here, he says to me.
Woulda saved him billions to heed my advice.
Back to Baird. Last week Barrick Gold. This week Canadian Pacific. Yup, Bullshittin' Baird is now a director of the new and improved CPR, which also pays well into the six numbers for a couple meetings a year.
He'll feel right at home there. After all, when you listen to Hunter Harrison's bullshit 'n bluster, it's almost like you're listening to a more senile version of Baird.
And you can't blame Baird for looking out for his pocket book. After twenty-plus years of public service, his parliamentary pension is a paltry $65,000 per. Mind you, he must have something coming from Ontario, where he spent some time learning his chops at the feet of Mean Mike Harris, but still, he's gonna have hardly enough to pay for a decent bachelor pad on Bank Street.
But lets not fret. We're up to three or four meetings a year in return for half a million in the bank, and by my math I figure he can still squeeze a couple dozen more directorships into his schedule. A directorship with one of Sheldon Adelson's operations is a no-brainer; a thank-you for the yeoman's work he did promoting Likud and slandering Iran.
Plus, while he's never going to be an A-lister on the public speakers circuit, you can see him making a tidy 25-50k per engagement, mainly due to his extravagantly high profile as Minister of Foreign Affairs, a profile largely earned by being the most inept FM in Canada's history.
Oddly enough, at Barrick he'll be joined by the ultimate carpet-bagger, the Newtster, who managed to coax his net worth from twenty-nine dollars when he entered public service, to multiple millions today.
In the great US political system you don't have to retire before lining your pockets!
He's moving on. Last week we learned he had signed on as an "International Strategic Advisor" to Barrick Gold, a "job" that pays well into the six numbers for the chore of attending one or two meetings a year.
When I told Peter Munk 15 years ago that I was willing to be a strategic advisor for a mere $75k a year, he laughed me out of his office.
I even gave him a bit of free strategic advice; a free sample as it were. Put Pascua Lama on ice, I said. It's gonna be a black hole, a money pit.
Get the fuck outta here, he says to me.
Woulda saved him billions to heed my advice.
Back to Baird. Last week Barrick Gold. This week Canadian Pacific. Yup, Bullshittin' Baird is now a director of the new and improved CPR, which also pays well into the six numbers for a couple meetings a year.
He'll feel right at home there. After all, when you listen to Hunter Harrison's bullshit 'n bluster, it's almost like you're listening to a more senile version of Baird.
And you can't blame Baird for looking out for his pocket book. After twenty-plus years of public service, his parliamentary pension is a paltry $65,000 per. Mind you, he must have something coming from Ontario, where he spent some time learning his chops at the feet of Mean Mike Harris, but still, he's gonna have hardly enough to pay for a decent bachelor pad on Bank Street.
But lets not fret. We're up to three or four meetings a year in return for half a million in the bank, and by my math I figure he can still squeeze a couple dozen more directorships into his schedule. A directorship with one of Sheldon Adelson's operations is a no-brainer; a thank-you for the yeoman's work he did promoting Likud and slandering Iran.
Plus, while he's never going to be an A-lister on the public speakers circuit, you can see him making a tidy 25-50k per engagement, mainly due to his extravagantly high profile as Minister of Foreign Affairs, a profile largely earned by being the most inept FM in Canada's history.
Oddly enough, at Barrick he'll be joined by the ultimate carpet-bagger, the Newtster, who managed to coax his net worth from twenty-nine dollars when he entered public service, to multiple millions today.
In the great US political system you don't have to retire before lining your pockets!
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Another drawback of arranged marriages; groom attempts to drown himself after meeting ugly bride at altar
At least here in the Nations of Virtue, one generally gets to meet the bride before tying the knot.
This story doesn't spell out what happened after groom-boy was fished out of the water and resuscitated. Did he honour his parents and go through with the marriage?
If so, one is left to wonder how the newly-weds would work around this awkward beginning.
If not, one can only assume that he remains sullied by the dishonour he has brought on his folks.
He has no choice but to kill himself again.
Having had a couple of non-arranged marriages that only worked out for the legal community, I've long had a soft spot for the concept of arranged marriages. Yes, it takes away the freedom of choice from the betrothed.
But it also takes away the burden of choice.
When things don't work out, you can just blame your parents!
This story doesn't spell out what happened after groom-boy was fished out of the water and resuscitated. Did he honour his parents and go through with the marriage?
If so, one is left to wonder how the newly-weds would work around this awkward beginning.
If not, one can only assume that he remains sullied by the dishonour he has brought on his folks.
He has no choice but to kill himself again.
Having had a couple of non-arranged marriages that only worked out for the legal community, I've long had a soft spot for the concept of arranged marriages. Yes, it takes away the freedom of choice from the betrothed.
But it also takes away the burden of choice.
When things don't work out, you can just blame your parents!
Nigeria woman gives birth to Anti-Christ!
I was looking for news about the election when this headline caught my eye; Baby with two horns born in Osun.
Whoa!
And right in the middle of the election! This can only be an omen...
But an omen of what?
Perhaps Baby Beelzebub is destined to be the great unifier of the Nigerian people? Instead of each declaring victory, as is bound to happen, perhaps both Buhari and Jonathan should pledge fealty to this Princeling of Darkness and create a grand coalition...
Oh, wait a minute... he was stillborn.
Nevermind then.
Whoa!
And right in the middle of the election! This can only be an omen...
But an omen of what?
Perhaps Baby Beelzebub is destined to be the great unifier of the Nigerian people? Instead of each declaring victory, as is bound to happen, perhaps both Buhari and Jonathan should pledge fealty to this Princeling of Darkness and create a grand coalition...
Oh, wait a minute... he was stillborn.
Nevermind then.
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Operation Decisive Storm
There's an air of unbridled optimism in Al Arabiya's reporting on the two day old war Saudi Arabia is waging on Yemen. The coalition of Sunni states pledging support is robust and growing, with even more support promised once the ground war starts.
That should be interesting. It's one thing to mass 150,000 Saudi troops on the border. It will be quite another when they find out how many of those 150,000 aren't at all interested in sacrificing their lives for the sake of preserving the Saudi royal family.
This could be the beginning of the end for the House of Saud.
That should be interesting. It's one thing to mass 150,000 Saudi troops on the border. It will be quite another when they find out how many of those 150,000 aren't at all interested in sacrificing their lives for the sake of preserving the Saudi royal family.
This could be the beginning of the end for the House of Saud.
Friday, March 27, 2015
So what if you killed 150 people; they'll all come back when you start the next game
Here's a can we've been kicking down the road awhile; those millions of kids on prescribed pharmaceuticals.
Those millions of kids on pharmaceuticals who play violent video games 24/7.
What are they gonna be when they grow up?
Doctors?
Lawyers?
Airline pilots?
Those millions of kids on pharmaceuticals who play violent video games 24/7.
What are they gonna be when they grow up?
Doctors?
Lawyers?
Airline pilots?
Turd polishers at Levick fail to put Goodluck in front
It raised a few eyebrows last year when word came out that Nigeria Big Boss Goodluck Jonathan had hired on American PR giant Levick to spruce up his image going into the home stretch before the election.
Apparently the millions lavished on Levick have failed to make a decisive difference. Nor has the six week delay in the election, during which time Goodluck had promised to vanquish Boko Haram.
While there has certainly been no shortage of declarations of victory over Boko Haram, nobody believes them. However, everyone is aware that the armed forces of several neighbouring countries now have a free hand in the north.
That can't be a happy thing for the Big Boss.
And while, under Goodluck's tenure, the one percenters have made out like bandits, millions have joined the ranks of the absolutely impoverished, the poorest of the poor, the two dollar a day crowd (and that's on a good day).
Insofar as the wretched masses will vote, it's hard to imagine them voting for more Goodluck.
Nevertheless, Goodluck will declare victory, the streets will erupt in rage, and after days or weeks or perhaps even months of violence, the military will step in to restore order.
Apparently the millions lavished on Levick have failed to make a decisive difference. Nor has the six week delay in the election, during which time Goodluck had promised to vanquish Boko Haram.
While there has certainly been no shortage of declarations of victory over Boko Haram, nobody believes them. However, everyone is aware that the armed forces of several neighbouring countries now have a free hand in the north.
That can't be a happy thing for the Big Boss.
And while, under Goodluck's tenure, the one percenters have made out like bandits, millions have joined the ranks of the absolutely impoverished, the poorest of the poor, the two dollar a day crowd (and that's on a good day).
Insofar as the wretched masses will vote, it's hard to imagine them voting for more Goodluck.
Nevertheless, Goodluck will declare victory, the streets will erupt in rage, and after days or weeks or perhaps even months of violence, the military will step in to restore order.
Dragoon Ride divides Europe
According to CNN, the so-called Dragoon Ride, a convoy of US military vehicles doing a show and tell across eastern Europe, it's all cheers and tears of joy as the locals greet the only thing keeping them out of the clutches of Putin.
Oddly enough, you don't have to go any further than the Wall Street Journal (of all places!) to find out that's not the whole story. In the Czech Republic a law has been hurriedly passed to criminalize protest against the display of American military might. There may be more jeers than cheers.
It's worth reading what Finland's Foreign Minister, Erkki Tuomioja, has to say about the American muscle-flexing.
"This is very sad..."
Oddly enough, you don't have to go any further than the Wall Street Journal (of all places!) to find out that's not the whole story. In the Czech Republic a law has been hurriedly passed to criminalize protest against the display of American military might. There may be more jeers than cheers.
It's worth reading what Finland's Foreign Minister, Erkki Tuomioja, has to say about the American muscle-flexing.
"This is very sad..."
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Canada "under siege" by ISIL
I was driving home this afternoon after taking the Stihl to the chain-saw doctor, when the CBC news comes on, and I hear that Canada is under siege.
Yup, apparently the towel-heads of terror, ISIL/ISIS/Islamic State are besieging us...
Holy shit!
Is even safe to head home?
Should I turn back and head for the Bayshore Inn and hunker down at the bar till the siege is broken?
Under siege...
That conjures up images of the Warsaw ghetto... Stalingrad... oh my God, it's gotta be bad if we're under siege!
Against my better judgement, I continued homeward! Luckily, I did not encounter any toweller check-points along the way.
Whew!
Guess I missed the bullet this time!
Hmm... maybe we're not actually under any ISIL siege after all.
Maybe we're just besieged by Harperite bullshit designed to stir us up and put some fear into us... loosen us up to vote Conservative in the upcoming election.
After all, it's only the Harper gang that recognizes the imminent threat that the radical Jihadists represent.
Yup, apparently the towel-heads of terror, ISIL/ISIS/Islamic State are besieging us...
Holy shit!
Is even safe to head home?
Should I turn back and head for the Bayshore Inn and hunker down at the bar till the siege is broken?
Under siege...
That conjures up images of the Warsaw ghetto... Stalingrad... oh my God, it's gotta be bad if we're under siege!
Against my better judgement, I continued homeward! Luckily, I did not encounter any toweller check-points along the way.
Whew!
Guess I missed the bullet this time!
Hmm... maybe we're not actually under any ISIL siege after all.
Maybe we're just besieged by Harperite bullshit designed to stir us up and put some fear into us... loosen us up to vote Conservative in the upcoming election.
After all, it's only the Harper gang that recognizes the imminent threat that the radical Jihadists represent.
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Chicago Bulls beat Yemen and the Raps
Tonight I was following the Bulls-Raptors game on the TV while simultaneously following the Saudi assault on Yemen on my laptop.
The Raps played a good three periods and then gave the game away.
Painful.
Meanwhile, things were taking a turn for the worse over in our worst nightmare, the Middle East.
Yemen has been a long-time recipient of cutting edge US nurturing for a long time, which is why the country is in the process of going down the shitter even as I write these words.
Yemen has been the testing ground for American theories of anti-terrorism warfare, and also the testing ground for the latest in drone tech innovations.
So Yemen owes America a huge debt of gratitude.
How that will play out remains to be seen.
And here's an aside from court-side; I only very recently put two and two and Noah together to figure out that the Bull with the impressive man-bun is the spawn of Yannick, the tennis dude you used to see all over the top tennis tournaments twenty-five years ago.
But back to Yemen. The "legitimate" government is a made-in-USA propaganda exercise.
Opposition has come to mean the Houti/Shia/Iran nexus...
Oh lookee, we got us another proxy war in the Middle East!
The war profiteers are ramping up production; both sides will need to be re-supplied!
The Raps played a good three periods and then gave the game away.
Painful.
Meanwhile, things were taking a turn for the worse over in our worst nightmare, the Middle East.
Yemen has been a long-time recipient of cutting edge US nurturing for a long time, which is why the country is in the process of going down the shitter even as I write these words.
Yemen has been the testing ground for American theories of anti-terrorism warfare, and also the testing ground for the latest in drone tech innovations.
So Yemen owes America a huge debt of gratitude.
How that will play out remains to be seen.
And here's an aside from court-side; I only very recently put two and two and Noah together to figure out that the Bull with the impressive man-bun is the spawn of Yannick, the tennis dude you used to see all over the top tennis tournaments twenty-five years ago.
But back to Yemen. The "legitimate" government is a made-in-USA propaganda exercise.
Opposition has come to mean the Houti/Shia/Iran nexus...
Oh lookee, we got us another proxy war in the Middle East!
The war profiteers are ramping up production; both sides will need to be re-supplied!
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Big Steve; Warrior King
It's becoming way too obvious that Steven Harper is prepping up to present himself as the "Warrior King" in the next election, coming up in a mere six months or less.
The one year extension to the Iraq mission, expanding into Syria by the way, and expanding to boots-on-the-ground at the next expansion, is a one year expansion for good reason. It forces Mulcair and Trudeau to fight the next election on the Warrior King's turf.
Right off the bat, the opposition are up against it. It would tremendously empower them if the escalation went badly for Canadian troops... but you'd be dead in the water if you were ever suspected of wishing our troops ill just to improve your chances in the political arena.
In effect, Harper is using our brave men and women in uniform as a political pawn.
And he's moving them into position just in time for campaign season.
The one year extension to the Iraq mission, expanding into Syria by the way, and expanding to boots-on-the-ground at the next expansion, is a one year expansion for good reason. It forces Mulcair and Trudeau to fight the next election on the Warrior King's turf.
Right off the bat, the opposition are up against it. It would tremendously empower them if the escalation went badly for Canadian troops... but you'd be dead in the water if you were ever suspected of wishing our troops ill just to improve your chances in the political arena.
In effect, Harper is using our brave men and women in uniform as a political pawn.
And he's moving them into position just in time for campaign season.
Monday, March 23, 2015
Son of Hells Angels big released by mistake
Well, I guess this is what's known in the criminal justice system as an "oopsie."
I'm not too concerned.
If Junior has even half the integrity of his dear daddy, he's got way more than the typical Canadian senator.
I'm not too concerned.
If Junior has even half the integrity of his dear daddy, he's got way more than the typical Canadian senator.
About Canada's "expanded role into Syria"
The think tank here at Falling Downs wants to go on the record:
No!
No expanded role into Syria.
Nor should we have had any role whatsoever in Iraq.
And Afghanistan was a mistake from the moment General Hillier promised to take out the murdering scumbags.
The General Command types were bursting with pride over our glorious contribution to the NATO war on Libya.
How has that turned out for the Libyan people?
Expanded role in Syria?
No.
No role in Syria. We can't roll back the mistakes we already made, but we can stop making the same mistakes again and again...
No!
No expanded role into Syria.
Nor should we have had any role whatsoever in Iraq.
And Afghanistan was a mistake from the moment General Hillier promised to take out the murdering scumbags.
The General Command types were bursting with pride over our glorious contribution to the NATO war on Libya.
How has that turned out for the Libyan people?
Expanded role in Syria?
No.
No role in Syria. We can't roll back the mistakes we already made, but we can stop making the same mistakes again and again...
Terrorists or drug-addled 'tards? Latest Canadian terror case goes to the jury
With friends like John Nuttall and Amanda Kordory, ISIS really doesn't need enemies.
According to this story at the Globe and Mail, the RCMP entrapment team had a hunch they were dealing with retards. Not only were the retards retarded, they were heroin addicts!
Well, full steam ahead then!
Frankly, I think everyone on that entrapment team should be ashamed of themselves.
Why feel empathy for the weakest links in society when you can, at great expense, set them up as patsies in yet another terror sting?
Because Big Steve needs terror threats to take the eyes of the electorate off the faltering economy, and also because all these self-radicalized retarded people make it plain that every patriotic Canadian should give up what's left of their rights to the odious Bill C-51 Police State legislation.
According to this story at the Globe and Mail, the RCMP entrapment team had a hunch they were dealing with retards. Not only were the retards retarded, they were heroin addicts!
Well, full steam ahead then!
Frankly, I think everyone on that entrapment team should be ashamed of themselves.
Why feel empathy for the weakest links in society when you can, at great expense, set them up as patsies in yet another terror sting?
Because Big Steve needs terror threats to take the eyes of the electorate off the faltering economy, and also because all these self-radicalized retarded people make it plain that every patriotic Canadian should give up what's left of their rights to the odious Bill C-51 Police State legislation.
Ted "the Canuck" Cruz declares 2016 White House run!
It's about time the 2016 campaign got a little wind in its sails... I was starting to worry I wouldn't have anything to write about for the next year and a half.
Look at yesterday; basketball and weather?... that's desperation!
But aye laddie, 'tis an ill wind fills those sails. It'll be interesting to see if a candidate emerges to the right of the Canuck. (Cruz was in fact deported from the Socialist State of Canada at the age of four because of his "incompatible reactionary tendencies," according to secret RCMP files on the matter.)
Check out his bona fides:
On Iran: nuke 'em.
On Israel: God's chosen people.
On abortion: no way.
On Obamacre: no way; if God had wanted poor people to have health care He wouldn't let them get sick.
On America: Cruz promises to "make America great again!"
Now hold on a minute there Ted.... whadya mean again? That sounds a bit unpatriotic. Don't you know that America has only 5 % of the world's population but 30% of the world's billionaires and THE BIGGEST MILITARY BUDGET IN THE HISTORY OF HUMANITY!!!
That sounds pretty darn great to me!
Look at yesterday; basketball and weather?... that's desperation!
But aye laddie, 'tis an ill wind fills those sails. It'll be interesting to see if a candidate emerges to the right of the Canuck. (Cruz was in fact deported from the Socialist State of Canada at the age of four because of his "incompatible reactionary tendencies," according to secret RCMP files on the matter.)
Check out his bona fides:
On Iran: nuke 'em.
On Israel: God's chosen people.
On abortion: no way.
On Obamacre: no way; if God had wanted poor people to have health care He wouldn't let them get sick.
On America: Cruz promises to "make America great again!"
Now hold on a minute there Ted.... whadya mean again? That sounds a bit unpatriotic. Don't you know that America has only 5 % of the world's population but 30% of the world's billionaires and THE BIGGEST MILITARY BUDGET IN THE HISTORY OF HUMANITY!!!
That sounds pretty darn great to me!
Sunday, March 22, 2015
How about them Zags!
That was a pretty sweet game of b'ball we just saw.
Zags move to the round of 16 and the Hawkeyes go home to catch up on their studies.
That Pangos guy kinda reminds you of a younger Steve Nash, eh?
And Mr. Nash just announced his retirement the other day. A remarkable career for a short white guy...
Zags move to the round of 16 and the Hawkeyes go home to catch up on their studies.
That Pangos guy kinda reminds you of a younger Steve Nash, eh?
And Mr. Nash just announced his retirement the other day. A remarkable career for a short white guy...
Welcome to Spring
Spring has sprung!
We're headed for an overnight temp of -16 C in these parts tonight. That's January weather.
Who calls that "Spring?"
This global warming shit sure is a bitch, ain't it?
The Canada Geese have arrived home after spending the winter befouling the beaches and parks and fairways and greens of South Carolina and Georgia. They are honking up a storm, as indignant as can be. There's no open water for them. I think they're threatening to head south again and have us call them when we're ready.
That could be July, the way things are going.
We're headed for an overnight temp of -16 C in these parts tonight. That's January weather.
Who calls that "Spring?"
This global warming shit sure is a bitch, ain't it?
The Canada Geese have arrived home after spending the winter befouling the beaches and parks and fairways and greens of South Carolina and Georgia. They are honking up a storm, as indignant as can be. There's no open water for them. I think they're threatening to head south again and have us call them when we're ready.
That could be July, the way things are going.
Saturday, March 21, 2015
About those "brief but important" meetings
You've all been there, no matter what kind of organization you work for.
The message comes via the PA, or email or text.
There will be a brief but important meeting of the (fill in the blank) team at 4:15.
Ya right.
My idea of a "brief meeting" is two minutes.
Forty-five minutes later, you'll be wondering what kind of wanker thought this would be a "brief" meeting.
And was it important?
What I'd like to hear just once; "there will be a lengthy but totally inconsequential meeting..."
The message comes via the PA, or email or text.
There will be a brief but important meeting of the (fill in the blank) team at 4:15.
Ya right.
My idea of a "brief meeting" is two minutes.
Forty-five minutes later, you'll be wondering what kind of wanker thought this would be a "brief" meeting.
And was it important?
What I'd like to hear just once; "there will be a lengthy but totally inconsequential meeting..."
Saddam Hussein doppelganger Abdulla Ocalan calls for Kurd-Turk raprochment
Who does this guy remind you of?
That's Abdullah Ocalan, boss of the Kurdish PKK party. He's been enjoying the hospitality of the Turkish state since 1999.
But does he not bear a startling resemblance to this guy?
And you know what we know about guys that look like that, don't you?
We just can't trust them!
The wily Saddam hid his weapons of mass destruction so well that we never did find them. Talk about a sneaky bastard!
So now we're supposed to trust a Kurd who looks just like an Arab?
That's Abdullah Ocalan, boss of the Kurdish PKK party. He's been enjoying the hospitality of the Turkish state since 1999.
But does he not bear a startling resemblance to this guy?
And you know what we know about guys that look like that, don't you?
We just can't trust them!
The wily Saddam hid his weapons of mass destruction so well that we never did find them. Talk about a sneaky bastard!
So now we're supposed to trust a Kurd who looks just like an Arab?
Canada gets more proof that threat of terrorism is real
Look for lots more stories like this one in the weeks and months ahead, as the Harper gang pulls out all the stops to convince the public they are at imminent risk and need the Police State Bill C-51 to save them from the jihadist hordes.
Frankly, had the 17 year old would-be terrorist been allowed to proceed to Syria, he would have been disabused of his illusions soon enough.
Given the fact that previous Foreign Minister John Baird declared dozens of times that "Assad must go," it seems ironic that when Canadians want to go to Syria to assist in the armed struggle against Assad they are targeted as terrorists. Meanwhile, the same government that claims Assad must go wants to expand and enlarge our war on the people fighting Assad... to say our government has an incoherent foreign policy would be an understatement.
But back to our wannabe terrorist in Alberta. I'll climb out on a limb and guess he is of a Somali-Canadian ethnicity. Hmm... is there any discussion of the difficulties that youth of that background have integrating into mainstream society?
Why of course!
There's been lots and lots of sociology done on this question.
Those Somali's are a marginalized sub-group in society, and just like those two French-Canadian misfits who were our first and second proofs that Canada is a target of Jihadi terror, they are vulnerable to finding the prospect of joining a radical group like Islamic State attractive. They fantasize that their imaginary new family of "brothers" will give them the sense of purpose they didn't find in Canadian society at large.
Therefore, if we were serious about reducing the threat of radicalized malcontents in our society, we should be doing more to ensure their inclusion, but alas, that smells suspiciously like sociology, and the macho warriors in the Harper gang will have no truck with that. Besides, the Harperites need jihadi terror threats to wave around.
It's all about Bill C-51.
Here's how our Alberta terror story looked at the Israeli news site Ynet, which got it via Agence France Presse;
Frankly, had the 17 year old would-be terrorist been allowed to proceed to Syria, he would have been disabused of his illusions soon enough.
Given the fact that previous Foreign Minister John Baird declared dozens of times that "Assad must go," it seems ironic that when Canadians want to go to Syria to assist in the armed struggle against Assad they are targeted as terrorists. Meanwhile, the same government that claims Assad must go wants to expand and enlarge our war on the people fighting Assad... to say our government has an incoherent foreign policy would be an understatement.
But back to our wannabe terrorist in Alberta. I'll climb out on a limb and guess he is of a Somali-Canadian ethnicity. Hmm... is there any discussion of the difficulties that youth of that background have integrating into mainstream society?
Why of course!
There's been lots and lots of sociology done on this question.
Those Somali's are a marginalized sub-group in society, and just like those two French-Canadian misfits who were our first and second proofs that Canada is a target of Jihadi terror, they are vulnerable to finding the prospect of joining a radical group like Islamic State attractive. They fantasize that their imaginary new family of "brothers" will give them the sense of purpose they didn't find in Canadian society at large.
Therefore, if we were serious about reducing the threat of radicalized malcontents in our society, we should be doing more to ensure their inclusion, but alas, that smells suspiciously like sociology, and the macho warriors in the Harper gang will have no truck with that. Besides, the Harperites need jihadi terror threats to wave around.
It's all about Bill C-51.
Here's how our Alberta terror story looked at the Israeli news site Ynet, which got it via Agence France Presse;
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Friday, March 20, 2015
My Canada
There's a story out of Ottawa about a "sheltered workplace" that's about to close, throwing 50 developmentally handicapped adults out of work.
Sheltered workplaces used to be quite common. They were a means to give an otherwise severely marginalized population some sense of normality. However, they don't fit into the prevailing ethos of efficiency and all that stuff, and they have been closing up all over the place.
Apparently they require "subsidies" to remain viable, and in these tough economic times, we just can't afford subsidies all over the place.
So it's more efficient to just let those folks rot...
But apparently we can still afford juicy subsidies to gratuitous exercises in flag-waving, like the gifting of a $30 million dollar parcel of prime Ottawa real estate to a group that wants to furnish Ottawa's downtown with a memorial to the victims of communism.
Frankly, I think it should be the countries who were victimized by "communism" who should be putting up monuments to the victims of communism. The Ottawa project smells like blatant vote-grubbing to me, aimed at the Canadian voters who are descendants of those immigrants from countries like Hungary, Poland, and Ukraine who suffered mightily under the heel of Stalinism.
In my Canada, we would let the memorials rise in Hungary, Poland, and Ukraine.
That $30 million could be put into sheltered workshops for Canadians who need the support.
Sheltered workplaces used to be quite common. They were a means to give an otherwise severely marginalized population some sense of normality. However, they don't fit into the prevailing ethos of efficiency and all that stuff, and they have been closing up all over the place.
Apparently they require "subsidies" to remain viable, and in these tough economic times, we just can't afford subsidies all over the place.
So it's more efficient to just let those folks rot...
But apparently we can still afford juicy subsidies to gratuitous exercises in flag-waving, like the gifting of a $30 million dollar parcel of prime Ottawa real estate to a group that wants to furnish Ottawa's downtown with a memorial to the victims of communism.
Frankly, I think it should be the countries who were victimized by "communism" who should be putting up monuments to the victims of communism. The Ottawa project smells like blatant vote-grubbing to me, aimed at the Canadian voters who are descendants of those immigrants from countries like Hungary, Poland, and Ukraine who suffered mightily under the heel of Stalinism.
In my Canada, we would let the memorials rise in Hungary, Poland, and Ukraine.
That $30 million could be put into sheltered workshops for Canadians who need the support.
Thursday, March 19, 2015
NDP finally notices Microsoft TFW ploy months after the fact
I see where Mulcair's "once we were socialists" party has finally caught a wiff of the stink around Microsoft's "Centre of Excellence" in British Columbia.
Tom and his "once we were socialists" hordes are only about three months late.
The richest man in the world conniving with the government of Canada to short-circuit US immigration and tax laws was on the agenda of at least some of the media big boys, not to mention this blog, three months ago.
Where's Mulcair been?
Tom and his "once we were socialists" hordes are only about three months late.
The richest man in the world conniving with the government of Canada to short-circuit US immigration and tax laws was on the agenda of at least some of the media big boys, not to mention this blog, three months ago.
Where's Mulcair been?
Syrian and Iraqi refugees can immigrate to Canada under new "Spy on ISIS, get a Visa" program
Seems that some would-be immigrants to Canada are being offered a new top secret program not listed on the Government of Canada's official immigration website.
Here's a catchy headline from a Turkish news site; Spy's statement reveals his links with Canada and ISIS. Seems the poor schmuck Mohammed al-Rashed was led to believe, by the Canadian embassy, that all he had to do was indulge in a little bit of people smuggling and a little bit of money laundering and a Canadian visa would be his! Instead, he's cooling his heels in an Istanbul jail.
I'm looking forward to hearing some hard-hitting questions on the matter in the House of Commons.
Here's a catchy headline from a Turkish news site; Spy's statement reveals his links with Canada and ISIS. Seems the poor schmuck Mohammed al-Rashed was led to believe, by the Canadian embassy, that all he had to do was indulge in a little bit of people smuggling and a little bit of money laundering and a Canadian visa would be his! Instead, he's cooling his heels in an Istanbul jail.
I'm looking forward to hearing some hard-hitting questions on the matter in the House of Commons.
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Miracle in Holy Land - Jehovah grants Netanyahu fourth term!
He truly is the greatest leader since Moses!
What accounts for the most miraculous comeback since Ali whupped Foreman in Kinshasa? Why, nothing other than Netanyahu's increasingly racist appeals to the extreme right over the past week and continuing even while voting was in progress.
Yes, the filthy Arabs are voting in droves... they must be stopped! Vote Likud and the Lord will increase you more and more...
It worked.
Here's what it means going forward.
Increased settlement activity in West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Increased isolation of Israel on world stage.
Increased traction for BDS.
Increased tension with the only patron state that counts.
Increased likelihood of more wars on Gaza.
Increased popularity of Hamas.
Increased marginalization of moderate Palestinian leadership.
Increased alienation of Israeli Arab population...
My, what a glorious victory!
What accounts for the most miraculous comeback since Ali whupped Foreman in Kinshasa? Why, nothing other than Netanyahu's increasingly racist appeals to the extreme right over the past week and continuing even while voting was in progress.
Yes, the filthy Arabs are voting in droves... they must be stopped! Vote Likud and the Lord will increase you more and more...
It worked.
Here's what it means going forward.
Increased settlement activity in West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Increased isolation of Israel on world stage.
Increased traction for BDS.
Increased tension with the only patron state that counts.
Increased likelihood of more wars on Gaza.
Increased popularity of Hamas.
Increased marginalization of moderate Palestinian leadership.
Increased alienation of Israeli Arab population...
My, what a glorious victory!
Chris Borland just destroyed the NFL
...and the American Dream too!
Borland just walked away from many millions of dollars. The American Dream doesn't get any more dreamy than many millions of dollars, does it?
And Borland just turned his back on all that.
Turned his back on the brass ring.
Turned his back on the American Dream.
Why?
He came to the conclusion that his health was more important than any millions of dollars. He'd had issues with concussions.
What will an NFL without concussions look like?
Flag football.
If this idea that your health is more important than your net worth should ever take hold, America as we know it will come to a complete stop.
Borland just walked away from many millions of dollars. The American Dream doesn't get any more dreamy than many millions of dollars, does it?
And Borland just turned his back on all that.
Turned his back on the brass ring.
Turned his back on the American Dream.
Why?
He came to the conclusion that his health was more important than any millions of dollars. He'd had issues with concussions.
What will an NFL without concussions look like?
Flag football.
If this idea that your health is more important than your net worth should ever take hold, America as we know it will come to a complete stop.
This is news?
I'm watching the CBC News presented by Wendy Mesley. She's got a scoop for me; Canadian bank BMO is trying to heat up the housing market.
If you live in Canada, you are no doubt well acquainted with the recurring waves of housing bubble hysteria that have been background noise on news programs for the last twenty-five years.
On one level, I empathise with these stories. The cost of housing has gone nuts in some of the big Canadian cities. I remember going with a friend ten or fifteen years ago to look at a place on Baby Point Road in Toronto.
$800,000.
Way over-priced, we concluded.
Today the place is worth three mil minimum.
Is this a housing bubble?
I don't know.
There is certainly an affordable housing shortage. How do you have an average house price of a million dollars and a minimum wage just over eleven bucks an hour and not notice that you have a problem?
What I found disingenuous about the story Mesley was reading was how slyly the story-writer was shifting the blame for a housing bubble onto the banks.
Banks do their mortgage business based on a prime rate they don't set. When banks are fiddling with interest rates it's not because they're conspiring to inflate bubbles; they're angling for market share.
The actual prime rate is something established in Ottawa.
Bubbles are all about politics.
If you live in Canada, you are no doubt well acquainted with the recurring waves of housing bubble hysteria that have been background noise on news programs for the last twenty-five years.
On one level, I empathise with these stories. The cost of housing has gone nuts in some of the big Canadian cities. I remember going with a friend ten or fifteen years ago to look at a place on Baby Point Road in Toronto.
$800,000.
Way over-priced, we concluded.
Today the place is worth three mil minimum.
Is this a housing bubble?
I don't know.
There is certainly an affordable housing shortage. How do you have an average house price of a million dollars and a minimum wage just over eleven bucks an hour and not notice that you have a problem?
What I found disingenuous about the story Mesley was reading was how slyly the story-writer was shifting the blame for a housing bubble onto the banks.
Banks do their mortgage business based on a prime rate they don't set. When banks are fiddling with interest rates it's not because they're conspiring to inflate bubbles; they're angling for market share.
The actual prime rate is something established in Ottawa.
Bubbles are all about politics.
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Larry Miller gets famous
Larry is the local MP for these parts. Affable hard-working local politician. I wouldn't vote for his party, but other than the fact that he's a back-bencher on Big Steve's team, I've got nothing against the guy.
Larry beat out Liberal incumbent Ovid Jackson in the 2004 election. How Ovid was MP for ten years is a bit of a mystery. Not to put too fine a point on it, but this is red-neck country; maybe sending the only black man in town to Ottawa for ten years was the best available strategy to get rid of the guy?
So Larry goes to the House of Commons, and unless you're reading the Wiarton Echo a lot, he really doesn't attract a lot of press coverage.
Till today.
Today Larry is splashed across the pages of every major newspaper in the land, and far beyond...
he even made it into The Guardian, and I'm not talking about the one in PEI.
What is Larry's claim to overnight international fame?
In a misguided attempt to ingratiate himself simultaneously both with his boss and the local electorate, Larry got tough on would-be Canadians from Muslim lands who want to wear a veil to their citizenship ceremony.
"... they can stay the hell where they came from!"
From Larry's point of view, he was merely reiterating Big Steve's position on the matter, albeit in somewhat more colourful terms. What could go wrong?
Wellll!!!... Even the PMO opportunistically backed away from backing up Miller, which strikes me as highly hypocritical since it's the PMO challenging a court decision that permitted the veil in the citizenship ceremony!
The Harper team doesn't mind using divisive rhetoric as a vote-grubbing strategy, but they also know how to distance themselves from it when it gets too obvious.
Larry came up with an apology in short order.
To my way of thinking, the niqab question is another one of those faux "Canadian values" boondoggles that politicians like to exploit. Remember when the "Canadian identity" was mortally threatened by the prospect of having Sikh mounties wear turbans?
Now they do, and the Canadian identity has survived.
It'll survive the niqab crisis too.
Larry beat out Liberal incumbent Ovid Jackson in the 2004 election. How Ovid was MP for ten years is a bit of a mystery. Not to put too fine a point on it, but this is red-neck country; maybe sending the only black man in town to Ottawa for ten years was the best available strategy to get rid of the guy?
So Larry goes to the House of Commons, and unless you're reading the Wiarton Echo a lot, he really doesn't attract a lot of press coverage.
Till today.
Today Larry is splashed across the pages of every major newspaper in the land, and far beyond...
he even made it into The Guardian, and I'm not talking about the one in PEI.
What is Larry's claim to overnight international fame?
In a misguided attempt to ingratiate himself simultaneously both with his boss and the local electorate, Larry got tough on would-be Canadians from Muslim lands who want to wear a veil to their citizenship ceremony.
"... they can stay the hell where they came from!"
From Larry's point of view, he was merely reiterating Big Steve's position on the matter, albeit in somewhat more colourful terms. What could go wrong?
Wellll!!!... Even the PMO opportunistically backed away from backing up Miller, which strikes me as highly hypocritical since it's the PMO challenging a court decision that permitted the veil in the citizenship ceremony!
The Harper team doesn't mind using divisive rhetoric as a vote-grubbing strategy, but they also know how to distance themselves from it when it gets too obvious.
Larry came up with an apology in short order.
To my way of thinking, the niqab question is another one of those faux "Canadian values" boondoggles that politicians like to exploit. Remember when the "Canadian identity" was mortally threatened by the prospect of having Sikh mounties wear turbans?
Now they do, and the Canadian identity has survived.
It'll survive the niqab crisis too.
Monday, March 16, 2015
Pink-eye and "sneezing injuries," what the hell has gone wrong with baseball?
I could be wrong, but didn't athletes back in the day suck it up and play through their pink-eye and their sneezes?
And that was back when thirty thousand a year was big money.
Now you got guys making thirty thousand per game and more, for fucks sakes, and you're reading about the Jays losing a guy to a sneeze and the Brewers being brought low by a pink-eye epidemic.
This used to be the game you'd cut school for to watch an afternooner.
I'm guessing those days are over...
And that was back when thirty thousand a year was big money.
Now you got guys making thirty thousand per game and more, for fucks sakes, and you're reading about the Jays losing a guy to a sneeze and the Brewers being brought low by a pink-eye epidemic.
This used to be the game you'd cut school for to watch an afternooner.
I'm guessing those days are over...
Ukraine's other war about to start
That would be the war with creditors. Creditor number one, the Franklin Templeton fund, has retained Blackstone to represent its interests in debt renegotiations with the bankrupt state.
That in itself tells you something. Blackstone aren't altruistic work-out artists; they're cut-throat hedgies. If they've been "retained" it means FT has already made a deal to sell them their Uke debt at a deep discount.
If Argentina's experience with Elliot Management is any indication, this cloud over Ukraine's future could linger for fifteen years or more.
Interesting to see White and Case mentioned as representing Ukraine. That's a law firm famous for their pro bono work. This could be their biggest pro bona assignment yet! After all, what's Ukraine supposed to pay them with?
Ironically, Ukraine was once known as the bread-basket of Europe, and it's eastern regions were the industrial heartland of the Soviet Union. How did that rich legacy go up in smoke in the quarter century since independence? Simple; Ukraine was well and truly plucked to the last feather by her very own home-grown oligarchs.
The negotiations are doubly tragic for Ukraine in that the value of the hryvnia has been cut in half since the Nuland-Pyatt coup, but those debts must still be repaid in US dollars. That's something the Ukrainian people will have plenty of time to think about as they endure twenty years of Greek style austerity so that the banks who funded the kleptocracy of the oligarchs can be paid in full.
That in itself tells you something. Blackstone aren't altruistic work-out artists; they're cut-throat hedgies. If they've been "retained" it means FT has already made a deal to sell them their Uke debt at a deep discount.
If Argentina's experience with Elliot Management is any indication, this cloud over Ukraine's future could linger for fifteen years or more.
Interesting to see White and Case mentioned as representing Ukraine. That's a law firm famous for their pro bono work. This could be their biggest pro bona assignment yet! After all, what's Ukraine supposed to pay them with?
Ironically, Ukraine was once known as the bread-basket of Europe, and it's eastern regions were the industrial heartland of the Soviet Union. How did that rich legacy go up in smoke in the quarter century since independence? Simple; Ukraine was well and truly plucked to the last feather by her very own home-grown oligarchs.
The negotiations are doubly tragic for Ukraine in that the value of the hryvnia has been cut in half since the Nuland-Pyatt coup, but those debts must still be repaid in US dollars. That's something the Ukrainian people will have plenty of time to think about as they endure twenty years of Greek style austerity so that the banks who funded the kleptocracy of the oligarchs can be paid in full.
Netanyahu drops the "two state" mask
This should not come as a surprise to even the casual Netanyahu observer. Bibi's commitment to the two state solution was never anything other than a sop to his diaspora supporters who were desperate to portray him as a man looking for peace... if only there were a partner on the other side to negotiate with!
If even the toadying Abbas was not a viable partner, then it was plain all along that a viable partner could not possibly exist. Abbas has essentially served the function of being head kapo of the occupied territories. The fiction that he is somehow the "leader" of the Palestinians has allowed pro-Israel countries like Canada to call their support of Palestinian security services "foreign aid" to the Palestinians, when in reality it is a subsidy to the occupation.
The bona fide leadership of the Palestinians, the democratically elected Hamas party, were promptly shuffled onto the terror lists of Israel's most ardent foreign supporters, thereby allowing the US and Canada and a few others to endorse Israel's repeated genocidal wars on Gaza as a noble battle in the war on terror.
In this last day of electioneering, Hamas is once again a useful foil as Netanyahu waves the threat of "Hamastan" at the electorate.
"Elect me, because I am the only leader who can deal with the terrorists... all the others are leftist Arab-lovers..."
That is the pathetic sum total of Netanyahu's election platform. It's always served him well before, but this time around it looks like it might be selling better in New York and Montreal than in Tel Aviv and Haifa, where people are seeing through Netanyahu's endless fear-mongering and are more interested in a job and an affordable apartment.
A resounding Likud loss tomorrow, and a functional coalition of "leftist Arab-lovers," and there will be a glimmer of hope in the Holy Land for the first time in a generation.
If even the toadying Abbas was not a viable partner, then it was plain all along that a viable partner could not possibly exist. Abbas has essentially served the function of being head kapo of the occupied territories. The fiction that he is somehow the "leader" of the Palestinians has allowed pro-Israel countries like Canada to call their support of Palestinian security services "foreign aid" to the Palestinians, when in reality it is a subsidy to the occupation.
The bona fide leadership of the Palestinians, the democratically elected Hamas party, were promptly shuffled onto the terror lists of Israel's most ardent foreign supporters, thereby allowing the US and Canada and a few others to endorse Israel's repeated genocidal wars on Gaza as a noble battle in the war on terror.
In this last day of electioneering, Hamas is once again a useful foil as Netanyahu waves the threat of "Hamastan" at the electorate.
"Elect me, because I am the only leader who can deal with the terrorists... all the others are leftist Arab-lovers..."
That is the pathetic sum total of Netanyahu's election platform. It's always served him well before, but this time around it looks like it might be selling better in New York and Montreal than in Tel Aviv and Haifa, where people are seeing through Netanyahu's endless fear-mongering and are more interested in a job and an affordable apartment.
A resounding Likud loss tomorrow, and a functional coalition of "leftist Arab-lovers," and there will be a glimmer of hope in the Holy Land for the first time in a generation.
Sunday, March 15, 2015
3917 fans turn out to watch Canadian university men's basketball championship
Yup, that would be the Big One in Canadian college hoops. The Championship. The last tryst for all the marbles. All the bragging rights.
3917 fans.
I don't think there's a college in the entire US of A that has a lower average attendance at regular season games. The powerhouse schools like Kentucky and Syracuse average over 20,000 during the regular season.
As "March Madness" gathers steam south of the border, you won't see a game in the never-ending play-off that isn't a sell-out. The NCAA tournament sells out every game in its 67 game championship.
Yet here in Canada, where basketball was invented, you get 3917 fans showing up at the grand finale.
No wonder all the top Canadian basketball talent is playing in the USA by the time they're 14 years old.
In case you care, the Carleton Ravens beat down UO 93-46... in front of 3917 fans.
3917 fans.
I don't think there's a college in the entire US of A that has a lower average attendance at regular season games. The powerhouse schools like Kentucky and Syracuse average over 20,000 during the regular season.
As "March Madness" gathers steam south of the border, you won't see a game in the never-ending play-off that isn't a sell-out. The NCAA tournament sells out every game in its 67 game championship.
Yet here in Canada, where basketball was invented, you get 3917 fans showing up at the grand finale.
No wonder all the top Canadian basketball talent is playing in the USA by the time they're 14 years old.
In case you care, the Carleton Ravens beat down UO 93-46... in front of 3917 fans.
The would-be Warrior King who cannot find his big-boy war pants
Defence Minister Jason Kenney and his parliamentary secretary James Bezan were spinning yarns last week about the Royal Canadian Navy's derring-do in the Black Sea. Those darned Ruskies tried to intimidate our brave men and women in uniform, but nosiree, we stared 'em down, we did!
Turns out the tall tales were mostly just wishful thinking. The Canadians are in the Black Sea as part of NATO exercises intended to intimidate Russia, yet nobody at NATO can confirm the Canadians' story. A BBC journalist with the fleet claims Russian surveillance aircraft came no closer than 128 kilometres, while the supposed confrontation with a Russian warship never happened at all. Maybe somebody at DND got metres and kilometres mixed up, an easy enough mistake to make, especially in the heat of a close call (or possibly not that close) with Putin's evil legions.
After all, facing possible enemies isn't part of the day to day drill for our Royal mariners. The war they're fighting on the high seas is the War on Drugs. Here they are seizing six tonnes of hashish in the Arabian Sea in 2013. Here's a big heroin bust in the Indian Ocean a year later. And hold the phone, here's two headline-grabbin' busts in one week last October... and another one just last week!
We may have lost in Afghanistan, but at least we're winning the war on drugs!
Like all the best wars of modern times though, the war on drugs is never over, and it occurred to Harper's brain trust some years ago that the Royal Canadian Navy would need some new kit to keep up the good fight. The Harper gang announced a new shipbuilding program to much fanfare back in 2010, and have re-announced it to varying degrees of additional fanfare several more times since, but so far all that the new shipbuilding program has produced is this spiffy video.
Latest rumours on actual ships are that the yards might begin cutting steel by 2020.
Meanwhile, let's not forget the war on terror. Alas, the latest round in our war on terror has pretty much disappeared into that ever-threatening fog of war. When big Steve sent sixty-nine of our brave men and women in uniform into Iraq last year they were on a "training" mission to bring the Iraqi Kurds up to snuff on how to shoot guns and other war-type stuff that, after the last fifty years of fighting Iraqis, Syrians, Turks, and each other, they apparently need "training" to figure out.
And wouldn't you know it, before you can say "pants on fire," there's been a bad case of mission creep and our trainers are shooting up the bad guys and coming home dead.
That's the way we roll here in Harper's Canada. Cynically putting "our brave men and women in uniform" in harm's way just to goose the polls in an election year has become completely unremarkable where it should instead be completely unacceptable.
We've almost completed the transition from peace-makers to war-mongers.
It was therefore gratifying to see Canadians out protesting in considerable numbers against Harper's latest initiative to remake Canada as a police state, the odious Bill C-51.
Perhaps we're waking up.
Turns out the tall tales were mostly just wishful thinking. The Canadians are in the Black Sea as part of NATO exercises intended to intimidate Russia, yet nobody at NATO can confirm the Canadians' story. A BBC journalist with the fleet claims Russian surveillance aircraft came no closer than 128 kilometres, while the supposed confrontation with a Russian warship never happened at all. Maybe somebody at DND got metres and kilometres mixed up, an easy enough mistake to make, especially in the heat of a close call (or possibly not that close) with Putin's evil legions.
After all, facing possible enemies isn't part of the day to day drill for our Royal mariners. The war they're fighting on the high seas is the War on Drugs. Here they are seizing six tonnes of hashish in the Arabian Sea in 2013. Here's a big heroin bust in the Indian Ocean a year later. And hold the phone, here's two headline-grabbin' busts in one week last October... and another one just last week!
We may have lost in Afghanistan, but at least we're winning the war on drugs!
Like all the best wars of modern times though, the war on drugs is never over, and it occurred to Harper's brain trust some years ago that the Royal Canadian Navy would need some new kit to keep up the good fight. The Harper gang announced a new shipbuilding program to much fanfare back in 2010, and have re-announced it to varying degrees of additional fanfare several more times since, but so far all that the new shipbuilding program has produced is this spiffy video.
Latest rumours on actual ships are that the yards might begin cutting steel by 2020.
Meanwhile, let's not forget the war on terror. Alas, the latest round in our war on terror has pretty much disappeared into that ever-threatening fog of war. When big Steve sent sixty-nine of our brave men and women in uniform into Iraq last year they were on a "training" mission to bring the Iraqi Kurds up to snuff on how to shoot guns and other war-type stuff that, after the last fifty years of fighting Iraqis, Syrians, Turks, and each other, they apparently need "training" to figure out.
And wouldn't you know it, before you can say "pants on fire," there's been a bad case of mission creep and our trainers are shooting up the bad guys and coming home dead.
That's the way we roll here in Harper's Canada. Cynically putting "our brave men and women in uniform" in harm's way just to goose the polls in an election year has become completely unremarkable where it should instead be completely unacceptable.
We've almost completed the transition from peace-makers to war-mongers.
It was therefore gratifying to see Canadians out protesting in considerable numbers against Harper's latest initiative to remake Canada as a police state, the odious Bill C-51.
Perhaps we're waking up.
Friday, March 13, 2015
A day in the life of a penis broker
After pondering the ramifications of the last blog-post, I have come to realize that the new occupation of penis broker, made possible by the stellar work of the folks at the U of Stellenbosch, could lead to all sorts of unexpected hilarity.
So you're the penis broker, and a call comes in from Shanghai General; they're looking for a pecker.
"Well, all I got in the freezer at the moment is a ten inch black one..."
There is a moment of silence on the line.
Then, "that's not ideal... our transplant recipient is a five foot tall oriental gentleman, but if that's all you got, we'll take it."
Couple of years later, a Chinese dude nick-named "Blackie" is making a name for himself along the Shanghai night-club strip...
And Philippe Rushton is spinning in his grave.
So you're the penis broker, and a call comes in from Shanghai General; they're looking for a pecker.
"Well, all I got in the freezer at the moment is a ten inch black one..."
There is a moment of silence on the line.
Then, "that's not ideal... our transplant recipient is a five foot tall oriental gentleman, but if that's all you got, we'll take it."
Couple of years later, a Chinese dude nick-named "Blackie" is making a name for himself along the Shanghai night-club strip...
And Philippe Rushton is spinning in his grave.
Penis transplant cancels out age-old maxim
You've heard guys say, when they are dissing women and/or each other, "I wouldn't f@ck her with your d&ck."
It's probably the kind of shit those Dal dentistry dumbfucks threw at each other on their secret Facebook page.
Well, here's a story that puts things in a whole different perspective...
You wouldn't?
Oh yes you would, if I died suddenly in a horrible accident and mine was the only donor organ available.
And you needed one...
Seems the wizards at University of Stellenbosch in South Africa have pulled off the world's first successful penis transplant!
Come to think of it, this is a great use of the spare parts left over when dudes who want to become women go for the gender re-assignment surgery!
I sense a business opportunity here; a savvy middle-man could set themselves up as a penis broker!
It's probably the kind of shit those Dal dentistry dumbfucks threw at each other on their secret Facebook page.
Well, here's a story that puts things in a whole different perspective...
You wouldn't?
Oh yes you would, if I died suddenly in a horrible accident and mine was the only donor organ available.
And you needed one...
Seems the wizards at University of Stellenbosch in South Africa have pulled off the world's first successful penis transplant!
Come to think of it, this is a great use of the spare parts left over when dudes who want to become women go for the gender re-assignment surgery!
I sense a business opportunity here; a savvy middle-man could set themselves up as a penis broker!
BC cops try to pin Guildford Mall terror ride on Hells Angels
You gotta check out the video in this story!
Buddy steals a Wide-Glide (or is that a Dyna-Glide?) and has an afternoon of fun leading the RCMP on a wild goose chase through Surrey... and through the Guildford Mall!
Notice the libellous insinuation at the end of that lame CBC story; they're trying to pin this on the Hells Angels!
Whatever...
Nice drive dude!
Long may you wheelie...
Buddy steals a Wide-Glide (or is that a Dyna-Glide?) and has an afternoon of fun leading the RCMP on a wild goose chase through Surrey... and through the Guildford Mall!
Notice the libellous insinuation at the end of that lame CBC story; they're trying to pin this on the Hells Angels!
Whatever...
Nice drive dude!
Long may you wheelie...
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Not much "new" about the New World Order
I've been a news junkie since forever, and spend a certain amount of time at the fringes of the news world.
After all, that's where you're going to find the juicy stuff that the MSM folks would rather not talk about.
True enough.
But that's also where you'll find a mother-lode of really sketchy shit.
Like the alleged "New World Order."
That's where (pick one) Jews, Freemasons, Jewish Freemasons, Aliens, Freemason Aliens, Freemason Aliens with Jewish connections... SOMEBODY really nasty is planning to take over the world.
I don't know. Seems to me the world is ruled by the same greedy shit-bags it was ruled by 100 years ago, and I don't see much reason to think that this will change in the next 100 years.
New World Order?
Nah...
Same old greedy shit-bags.
After all, that's where you're going to find the juicy stuff that the MSM folks would rather not talk about.
True enough.
But that's also where you'll find a mother-lode of really sketchy shit.
Like the alleged "New World Order."
That's where (pick one) Jews, Freemasons, Jewish Freemasons, Aliens, Freemason Aliens, Freemason Aliens with Jewish connections... SOMEBODY really nasty is planning to take over the world.
I don't know. Seems to me the world is ruled by the same greedy shit-bags it was ruled by 100 years ago, and I don't see much reason to think that this will change in the next 100 years.
New World Order?
Nah...
Same old greedy shit-bags.
Old Vic Toews may be sharper than we thought
Old Vic always came across as a bit of a dullard.
Not the sharpest crayon in the Crayola carton...
Not the sharpest bulb in the tool-shed...
Vic was an old-school ultra-rightist. You can never be too tough on crime, even if you have to invent it. Unions are the lynch-pin of society's downfall. But he was a loyal Harperite, and got his reward when fellow-Harperite Justice Minister Peter MacKay handed him a judgeship last year.
There are now allegations floating around that Old Vic may have cashed in during his political career, and in ways that, strictly speaking, may have been "illegal."
That must be an awkward allegation to have floating about when you're a federally appointed judge...
Not the sharpest crayon in the Crayola carton...
Not the sharpest bulb in the tool-shed...
Vic was an old-school ultra-rightist. You can never be too tough on crime, even if you have to invent it. Unions are the lynch-pin of society's downfall. But he was a loyal Harperite, and got his reward when fellow-Harperite Justice Minister Peter MacKay handed him a judgeship last year.
There are now allegations floating around that Old Vic may have cashed in during his political career, and in ways that, strictly speaking, may have been "illegal."
That must be an awkward allegation to have floating about when you're a federally appointed judge...
Bill C-51 will just drag Canada deeper into the world of state-sponsored terror
Interesting story afloat today about whether the foreign agent arrested in Turkey on suspicion of shepherding foreigners into the Islamic State might have links to CSIS, Canada's spy agency. For my money, the weasel-speak coming out of Ottawa as the Harperites deny these shocking allegations is less than reassuring.
The previous day saw a story in the Toronto Star detailing the collusion between CSIS and the FBI in their attempted set up of the so-called VIA Rail bombers, especially the third member of this "terror team," one Ahmed Abassi. Most of that story was made public by the Washington Post last summer. What should give Canadians pause is how closely not only CSIS, but virtually any federal government department, is willing to bend to the interests of Washington.
The FBI informant obviously had an unlimited budget available with which to entrap Abassi into a terror plot, and was allowed to freely operate in Canada by Canadian authorities across the security, immigration, and policing spectrum.
All of this happened without the benefit of Bill C-51, which will enhance the power of our security state.
To keep us safer, of course...
In reply to critics, the Harper gang points to the robust civilian oversight of out security apparatus.
Ya, right!
Here's the guy personally appointed by Big Steve to head up civilian oversight of CSIS from 2008 to 2011.
Arthur Porter; fraudster, quack, con-man, now cooling his heels in a Panamanian prison awaiting extradition to Canada.
That's what "robust civilian oversight" looks like to Stephen Harper.
Reassuring, eh?
The way I read it, under C-51, the next time this blog points out that Hamas is the democratically elected government of Gaza and Israel is morally obliged to negotiate with them, I could be found guilty of promoting terrorism. Hamas is on Ottawa's official list of terrorist entities, democracy be damned!
That's scary!
The previous day saw a story in the Toronto Star detailing the collusion between CSIS and the FBI in their attempted set up of the so-called VIA Rail bombers, especially the third member of this "terror team," one Ahmed Abassi. Most of that story was made public by the Washington Post last summer. What should give Canadians pause is how closely not only CSIS, but virtually any federal government department, is willing to bend to the interests of Washington.
The FBI informant obviously had an unlimited budget available with which to entrap Abassi into a terror plot, and was allowed to freely operate in Canada by Canadian authorities across the security, immigration, and policing spectrum.
All of this happened without the benefit of Bill C-51, which will enhance the power of our security state.
To keep us safer, of course...
In reply to critics, the Harper gang points to the robust civilian oversight of out security apparatus.
Ya, right!
Here's the guy personally appointed by Big Steve to head up civilian oversight of CSIS from 2008 to 2011.
Arthur Porter; fraudster, quack, con-man, now cooling his heels in a Panamanian prison awaiting extradition to Canada.
That's what "robust civilian oversight" looks like to Stephen Harper.
Reassuring, eh?
The way I read it, under C-51, the next time this blog points out that Hamas is the democratically elected government of Gaza and Israel is morally obliged to negotiate with them, I could be found guilty of promoting terrorism. Hamas is on Ottawa's official list of terrorist entities, democracy be damned!
That's scary!
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
There is hope in the Holy Land
For the first time in generations, there is a realistic hope that peace will descend on the Holy Land.
The cult of Netanyahu seems poised for the dust-bin of history.
Even with that audacious end-run around Der Schwartze, it looks like Bibi's fortunes are failing.
Good!
Netanyahu has created a country that's not too bad a place to live in for the rich diaspora folks who buy a third or fourth home in Israel as a token gesture, and the settlers who enjoy lavish subsidies courtesy of the US taxpayer, but it's become a rather unpleasant uphill slog for the vast majority of young Israelis looking to make a go of it.
Netanyahu's relentless flogging of the "terror" card has not helped on any level. It's not an issue for the folks who can decamp to their other place in Miami or Montreal, but again, the younger generation doesn't have that option.
Hopefully a new leadership can take the helm after 17 March, and create a land that lives up to its promise.
The cult of Netanyahu seems poised for the dust-bin of history.
Even with that audacious end-run around Der Schwartze, it looks like Bibi's fortunes are failing.
Good!
Netanyahu has created a country that's not too bad a place to live in for the rich diaspora folks who buy a third or fourth home in Israel as a token gesture, and the settlers who enjoy lavish subsidies courtesy of the US taxpayer, but it's become a rather unpleasant uphill slog for the vast majority of young Israelis looking to make a go of it.
Netanyahu's relentless flogging of the "terror" card has not helped on any level. It's not an issue for the folks who can decamp to their other place in Miami or Montreal, but again, the younger generation doesn't have that option.
Hopefully a new leadership can take the helm after 17 March, and create a land that lives up to its promise.
Speed limits and Darwin
Personally, I'm not a big fan of speed limits.
So I had mixed feelings when I read this story about a Calgary cop busting a guy for doing 100 clicks over the limit.
On the one hand, you're only going to do 100 over the limit for so long, till nature, or Darwin, takes you out of the gene pool.
On the other hand, if the guy can crank his Hyabusa to three times the speed limit and walk away to brag about it, I'm kinda on his side.
Long may you wheelie...
So I had mixed feelings when I read this story about a Calgary cop busting a guy for doing 100 clicks over the limit.
On the one hand, you're only going to do 100 over the limit for so long, till nature, or Darwin, takes you out of the gene pool.
On the other hand, if the guy can crank his Hyabusa to three times the speed limit and walk away to brag about it, I'm kinda on his side.
Long may you wheelie...
From frozen pipes to flooded basement in a record-setting 18 hours!
It's been a record-setting winter here in the Great White North...
Record cold.
Record snowfall.
That "global warming" is one nasty bitch!
So when the weather guys came out with that tantalizing prediction of above-freezing temperatures the other day, for the first time since mid-December, I braced myself for the worst.
We're somewhat flood-prone here at Falling Downs. This 100 year old farm-house doesn't drain the rain away from the foundation the way a new build would. Or the snow melt.
I was therefore anticipating a foot or two of water in the basement. An inch or two is not that big a deal. I rig up my pump, aim the hose out the basement window, and we've got the water to a manageable level in 15 minutes.
A foot or two is another matter. Once the motor on the furnace is under water, well, you got troubles...
I know because we been there.
With this record setting cold giving way to seasonal temperatures overnight, I was primed for the worst-case scenario.
Nothing.
A wee bit of weepage where the floor meets the wall, but that started to recede within hours.
Thank you Jesus!
Thank you Lord!
But we seem to be on a roll here at Falling Downs... While I was excavating firewood out of the eight foot drift behind the woodshed, I realized that the F-150, totally submerged since December, was at least three quarters visible, due to the rapid melting of the snow.
On a whim, I dug open the door and gave the key a twist... and HOLY SHIT, SHE FIRED RIGHT UP!
It's gonna be a good year here at Falling Downs!
Record cold.
Record snowfall.
That "global warming" is one nasty bitch!
So when the weather guys came out with that tantalizing prediction of above-freezing temperatures the other day, for the first time since mid-December, I braced myself for the worst.
We're somewhat flood-prone here at Falling Downs. This 100 year old farm-house doesn't drain the rain away from the foundation the way a new build would. Or the snow melt.
I was therefore anticipating a foot or two of water in the basement. An inch or two is not that big a deal. I rig up my pump, aim the hose out the basement window, and we've got the water to a manageable level in 15 minutes.
A foot or two is another matter. Once the motor on the furnace is under water, well, you got troubles...
I know because we been there.
With this record setting cold giving way to seasonal temperatures overnight, I was primed for the worst-case scenario.
Nothing.
A wee bit of weepage where the floor meets the wall, but that started to recede within hours.
Thank you Jesus!
Thank you Lord!
But we seem to be on a roll here at Falling Downs... While I was excavating firewood out of the eight foot drift behind the woodshed, I realized that the F-150, totally submerged since December, was at least three quarters visible, due to the rapid melting of the snow.
On a whim, I dug open the door and gave the key a twist... and HOLY SHIT, SHE FIRED RIGHT UP!
It's gonna be a good year here at Falling Downs!
America finally cleansed of racism!
Yup, 150 years after the war to free the slaves, and 50 years after Selma, America has expunged the last traces of racism from the warp and woof of her cultural fabric.
And not a moment too soon!
The forces of political correctitude came down hard on the goofballs at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at the University of Oklahoma, who had the massive lapse of judgement to allow themselves to be video-taped singing a song with the heinous "n-word" in it.
Ironically, some of the Black brothers at the frat seem more than a little reluctant to embrace this blow for equality. Ya, the racist fraternity at U of O had Black brothers.
Imagine that.
Talk about a terminal case of false consciousness!
But that's all over now...
Meanwhile, out in the real world, American cops continue to shoot down niggers with impunity.
But that's not racism... that's policing!
And not a moment too soon!
The forces of political correctitude came down hard on the goofballs at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at the University of Oklahoma, who had the massive lapse of judgement to allow themselves to be video-taped singing a song with the heinous "n-word" in it.
Ironically, some of the Black brothers at the frat seem more than a little reluctant to embrace this blow for equality. Ya, the racist fraternity at U of O had Black brothers.
Imagine that.
Talk about a terminal case of false consciousness!
But that's all over now...
Meanwhile, out in the real world, American cops continue to shoot down niggers with impunity.
But that's not racism... that's policing!
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Gogama
Where the fuck is Gogama?
And why is it in the news?
I was pondering these questions even after the Farm Manager reminded me we'd been to Gogama just a couple of years ago.
We were camping at Halfway Lake, and managed to hit Gogama on a day trip.
Gogama seems to be ground zero for the Bakken bombs these days.
Pity.
It's utterly beautiful pristine country.
At least it used to be...
And why is it in the news?
I was pondering these questions even after the Farm Manager reminded me we'd been to Gogama just a couple of years ago.
We were camping at Halfway Lake, and managed to hit Gogama on a day trip.
Gogama seems to be ground zero for the Bakken bombs these days.
Pity.
It's utterly beautiful pristine country.
At least it used to be...
Peshmerga fighters don't need trainers
We keep hearing this idiocy about how Canadians are "training" peshmerga fighters.
The peshmerga fighters have done way more fighting in the last twenty years than the Canadians have done, with arguably way better outcomes.
So why do they need us to train them?
The reason is that our training mission is part of the overall NATO strategy to make everybody else in the world dependant on NATO to boost whatever wars of convenience (convenience for NATO) they may happen to be waging at the moment.
All NATO wars are wars of choice, not wars of self defence.
NATO "trainers" are just another way to keep the fires burning.
The peshmerga fighters have done way more fighting in the last twenty years than the Canadians have done, with arguably way better outcomes.
So why do they need us to train them?
The reason is that our training mission is part of the overall NATO strategy to make everybody else in the world dependant on NATO to boost whatever wars of convenience (convenience for NATO) they may happen to be waging at the moment.
All NATO wars are wars of choice, not wars of self defence.
NATO "trainers" are just another way to keep the fires burning.
Is sanity rearing its unwelcome head in the capitals of old Europe?
For some time the esteemed journalist Pepe Escobar has been hammering away at the thesis that Germany is primed to turn her back on NATO and make peace with Putin.
I admire Escobar's work, and time generally proves his unconventional analyses more often right than wrong, even though he is at times so far ahead of the curve it's hard to wrap your head around what he's saying.
So along comes Mike Whitney with a great essay at Counterpunch today, calling out NATO boss General Breedlove as a war-mongering fabulist, and using a recent story in Der Spiegel to flesh out Escobar's thesis.
Makes a lot of sense. How is it in Germany's interest (or Italy's, France's...) to do the dirty work for America's "get Putin" campaign?
It quite simply is not, and no amount of NATO propaganda will change that.
I totally missed how the suggestion of a "EU Army" was a back-handed slap at NATO when I first heard of the proposal, but after reading Whitney's article it makes perfect sense.
NATO is far past its best-before date, and any action that can speed its demise can only be a blow for peace.
I admire Escobar's work, and time generally proves his unconventional analyses more often right than wrong, even though he is at times so far ahead of the curve it's hard to wrap your head around what he's saying.
So along comes Mike Whitney with a great essay at Counterpunch today, calling out NATO boss General Breedlove as a war-mongering fabulist, and using a recent story in Der Spiegel to flesh out Escobar's thesis.
Makes a lot of sense. How is it in Germany's interest (or Italy's, France's...) to do the dirty work for America's "get Putin" campaign?
It quite simply is not, and no amount of NATO propaganda will change that.
I totally missed how the suggestion of a "EU Army" was a back-handed slap at NATO when I first heard of the proposal, but after reading Whitney's article it makes perfect sense.
NATO is far past its best-before date, and any action that can speed its demise can only be a blow for peace.
Harper gang up a stump on immigration dilemma
Here's the problem; on the one hand, the Harperites are committed to keeping the immigration taps wide open. It keeps the labour market pliable.
They are then obligated to troll for the immigrant vote, because once the immigrants are here, they eventually gain citizenship and vote, in many cases with greater zeal than third or forth or tenth generation Canadians. That requires a bevy of humane strategies to accommodate the interests of that immigrant vote.
That bevy of humane strategies is in turn anathema to the Harper base, the Archie Bunker crowd who love Big Steve's "tough on crime" posturing and his anti-Muslim initiatives, but would be aghast if they realized how many of their "hard earned tax dollars" were spent on recent immigrants.
According to the Globe and Mail, the Harper gang are in default mode on the matter; hide the facts and change the subject.
They are then obligated to troll for the immigrant vote, because once the immigrants are here, they eventually gain citizenship and vote, in many cases with greater zeal than third or forth or tenth generation Canadians. That requires a bevy of humane strategies to accommodate the interests of that immigrant vote.
That bevy of humane strategies is in turn anathema to the Harper base, the Archie Bunker crowd who love Big Steve's "tough on crime" posturing and his anti-Muslim initiatives, but would be aghast if they realized how many of their "hard earned tax dollars" were spent on recent immigrants.
According to the Globe and Mail, the Harper gang are in default mode on the matter; hide the facts and change the subject.
Monday, March 9, 2015
New York Times finds smoking gun that links Putin to Crimea "annexation"
Neil MacFarquhar has the straight skinny for you on how Vlad planned out the conquest of Crimea at least two weeks before the referendum that sealed the deal.
It's in the New York Times, so it's obviously true...
What it is, is an obvious piece of non-news.
The Russian military would have gamed the occupation of Crimea routinely and regularly ever since 1991. That's when the usurpation of the Crimean peninsula became a serious possibility. It would have amounted to serious negligence if Russian security gaming had NOT planned for the need to block NATO designs on Crimea.
It's fair to say that Russia has been harbouring contingency plans re: Crimea since 1991, not since two weeks before the referendum in 2014.
NATO designs on Crimea were always a foregone conclusion. After all, that would deprive the "evil empire" of its only warm water military base. What a prize that would be for the NATO warmongers!
It's safe to say that the Russian military had contingency plans to preserve its Black Sea assets even in the Yeltsin era.
When the Maidan putsch came to fruition, Putin realized he had to act. Contrary to what the NYT would have you believe, the plan to repatriate Crimea wasn't hatched two weeks before the referendum; the plan was over twenty years old.
It's in the New York Times, so it's obviously true...
What it is, is an obvious piece of non-news.
The Russian military would have gamed the occupation of Crimea routinely and regularly ever since 1991. That's when the usurpation of the Crimean peninsula became a serious possibility. It would have amounted to serious negligence if Russian security gaming had NOT planned for the need to block NATO designs on Crimea.
It's fair to say that Russia has been harbouring contingency plans re: Crimea since 1991, not since two weeks before the referendum in 2014.
NATO designs on Crimea were always a foregone conclusion. After all, that would deprive the "evil empire" of its only warm water military base. What a prize that would be for the NATO warmongers!
It's safe to say that the Russian military had contingency plans to preserve its Black Sea assets even in the Yeltsin era.
When the Maidan putsch came to fruition, Putin realized he had to act. Contrary to what the NYT would have you believe, the plan to repatriate Crimea wasn't hatched two weeks before the referendum; the plan was over twenty years old.
Canada bombing Iraq to liberate women!
Ya, that's rich, eh?
But that's the message from Defence Minister Jason Kenney in a tweet he fired off on the occasion of International Women's Day.
It's a time-honoured trope among the Harperites. You may recall that in the early years of our Afghanistan debacle we were there to liberate women too.
Saving women in Iraq, saving women in Afghanistan... Hell, take a gander at the press releases at the Department of Foreign Affairs and you'll see that saving women all over the world is what we do!
Guess all the moronic chest-thumping helps draw the eye away from headlines like this one; Canada commits Grave Violation of Rights of Aboriginal Women and Girls.
But that's the message from Defence Minister Jason Kenney in a tweet he fired off on the occasion of International Women's Day.
It's a time-honoured trope among the Harperites. You may recall that in the early years of our Afghanistan debacle we were there to liberate women too.
Saving women in Iraq, saving women in Afghanistan... Hell, take a gander at the press releases at the Department of Foreign Affairs and you'll see that saving women all over the world is what we do!
Guess all the moronic chest-thumping helps draw the eye away from headlines like this one; Canada commits Grave Violation of Rights of Aboriginal Women and Girls.
The vile anti-Muslim hate-mongering of the Harper gang
Glen McGregor at the Ottawa Citizen has exposed a brazenly cynical tweet by Defence Minister Jason Kenney wherein he commemorates International Women's Day by thanking the Canadian Forces for joining the fight against ISIS. No need to thank them Mr. Kenney. You're the Defence Minister; they're just following your orders!
So Mr. Kenney is really just thanking himself.
What's revealing about McGregor's story is that Kenney used several fraudulent photo-props that are alleged evidence of the heinous nature of the wannabe Caliphate. He tweeted pictures of Shia religious festivals during which some women participants are decked out in mock chains. In his tweet, the Shiite worshippers have become Sunni terrorists!
Guess we can't expect our leaders to be particularly discerning about who's who in the world 'o towel-heads... they're all terror suspects after all.
The anti-Islam hysteria of the Harper gang has become so obvious that even Harper-friendly mainstream media are commenting on it.
Here's a sample from the Globe and Mail.
And here's Martin Patriquin at the Harper-loving Macleans Magazine with a story called Stephen Harper and the niqab gambit, calling out Harper for his rampant fear-mongering.
Big Steve doesn't seem worried. True, the Globe and Macleans may be ideological fellow-travellers, but they're the kind of allies who can also be found giving sociology serious consideration from time to time, if not outright "doing" sociology.
They're a long way from the base that he's hoping to scare into voting for him in the upcoming election.
So Mr. Kenney is really just thanking himself.
What's revealing about McGregor's story is that Kenney used several fraudulent photo-props that are alleged evidence of the heinous nature of the wannabe Caliphate. He tweeted pictures of Shia religious festivals during which some women participants are decked out in mock chains. In his tweet, the Shiite worshippers have become Sunni terrorists!
Guess we can't expect our leaders to be particularly discerning about who's who in the world 'o towel-heads... they're all terror suspects after all.
The anti-Islam hysteria of the Harper gang has become so obvious that even Harper-friendly mainstream media are commenting on it.
Here's a sample from the Globe and Mail.
And here's Martin Patriquin at the Harper-loving Macleans Magazine with a story called Stephen Harper and the niqab gambit, calling out Harper for his rampant fear-mongering.
Big Steve doesn't seem worried. True, the Globe and Macleans may be ideological fellow-travellers, but they're the kind of allies who can also be found giving sociology serious consideration from time to time, if not outright "doing" sociology.
They're a long way from the base that he's hoping to scare into voting for him in the upcoming election.
Saturday, March 7, 2015
Kessel, Phaneuf, and that never-ending Leafs rebuild
I feel bad for Phil Kessel and Phaneuf. It wasn't their idea to rebuild the Toronto Maple Leafs around them.
That's on Burkie.
Burkie, as an old-boy hockey insider, has long since decamped to greener pastures. The fact that his record absolutely stinks makes no diff when you are an old-boy insider.
I'm watching (not for much longer) my Leafs taking a 5-0 beating at the hands of the Blues. The absolute highlight of the game thus far has been Phaneuf's pasting of Oshie. If Phaneuf had delivered a few more checks like that earlier in his career as a Maple Leaf, he could have vindicated Burkes decision to sign him up.
But by and large Phaneuf avoids the nitty gritty.
Which is why he was never a guy you should have been building a team around.
We are now watching a team that truly sucks. The announcement that they are officially "rebuilding" was management's way of telling the fans that it's official strategy that they suck. There is a school of thought that maintains the suckage is about nabbing McDavid in the draft, but I wouldn't give Leaf management that much credit.
The Leafs suck because they're run by hockey morons, not because they're run by evil geniuses with an eye on Connor McDavid.
It's been a while since I've been to the Air Canada Centre to see the Leafs live. Between tickets and parking and the drive to the big city and a dinner out, this is a $500 night.
Won't be happening any time soon.
That's on Burkie.
Burkie, as an old-boy hockey insider, has long since decamped to greener pastures. The fact that his record absolutely stinks makes no diff when you are an old-boy insider.
I'm watching (not for much longer) my Leafs taking a 5-0 beating at the hands of the Blues. The absolute highlight of the game thus far has been Phaneuf's pasting of Oshie. If Phaneuf had delivered a few more checks like that earlier in his career as a Maple Leaf, he could have vindicated Burkes decision to sign him up.
But by and large Phaneuf avoids the nitty gritty.
Which is why he was never a guy you should have been building a team around.
We are now watching a team that truly sucks. The announcement that they are officially "rebuilding" was management's way of telling the fans that it's official strategy that they suck. There is a school of thought that maintains the suckage is about nabbing McDavid in the draft, but I wouldn't give Leaf management that much credit.
The Leafs suck because they're run by hockey morons, not because they're run by evil geniuses with an eye on Connor McDavid.
It's been a while since I've been to the Air Canada Centre to see the Leafs live. Between tickets and parking and the drive to the big city and a dinner out, this is a $500 night.
Won't be happening any time soon.
Harper's grandstanding in Iraq claims first Canadian casualty
With an election on the horizon, PM "Big Steve" Harper has been leaning on the after-burners full time to impress on the Canadian public that his government is the only government Canadians can count on to get tough on crime, tough on terror, etc.
That's why his government committed to spending at least 122 millions for the first six months of an open-ended campaign to help Hezbollah, Iran, and the Kurds battle Islamic State extremists in Iraq. While the behind-the-scenes machinations of who is fighting whom are a veritable dog's breakfast, the simple story coming out of the PMO is that we gotta do this for the sake of preserving "Canadian values."
While the Kurds may not share many of those cherished values, they apparently appreciate the Canadian training so much that they shot up a platoon of our trainers today, resulting in the death of Sgt. Andy Doiron and injuries to a number of other Canadians.
The PMO was quick to make political hay out of Doiron's tragic death, reminding Canadians that "our government" takes Canada's security seriously, thereby implying that a government led by Trudeau or Mulcair wouldn't. His statement is larded with the usual bromides about how we value our men and women in uniform, when the actual track record of this government has consistently proven the opposite.
Sgt. Doiron didn't sacrifice his life to preserve Canadian values; he sacrificed his life for the Prime Minister's re-election campaign.
That's why his government committed to spending at least 122 millions for the first six months of an open-ended campaign to help Hezbollah, Iran, and the Kurds battle Islamic State extremists in Iraq. While the behind-the-scenes machinations of who is fighting whom are a veritable dog's breakfast, the simple story coming out of the PMO is that we gotta do this for the sake of preserving "Canadian values."
While the Kurds may not share many of those cherished values, they apparently appreciate the Canadian training so much that they shot up a platoon of our trainers today, resulting in the death of Sgt. Andy Doiron and injuries to a number of other Canadians.
The PMO was quick to make political hay out of Doiron's tragic death, reminding Canadians that "our government" takes Canada's security seriously, thereby implying that a government led by Trudeau or Mulcair wouldn't. His statement is larded with the usual bromides about how we value our men and women in uniform, when the actual track record of this government has consistently proven the opposite.
Sgt. Doiron didn't sacrifice his life to preserve Canadian values; he sacrificed his life for the Prime Minister's re-election campaign.
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Here's proof that Saudi authorities really really care about women!
Our erstwhile besties in the ME (right after the Chosen People of course) may not let women drive cars, but that does not mean they are woman-haters.
Seems the Saudi authorities gave the bum's rush to a trio of UAE gigilos deemed too handsome to visit the Kingdom.
Yup, who knows what immoral mayhem may have ensued had those studly visitors from the UAE been allowed to see their visit to fruition...
Seems the Saudi authorities gave the bum's rush to a trio of UAE gigilos deemed too handsome to visit the Kingdom.
Yup, who knows what immoral mayhem may have ensued had those studly visitors from the UAE been allowed to see their visit to fruition...
Ontario PCs banking on retardation of electorate
I see where wanna-be Preem Christine Elliot is trying to fire up the voters with the promise of lower corporate tax rates.
This is her "economic plan."
How retarded does she think we are?
If lowering corporate tax rates led to good outcomes in the economy, the last forty years of lowering corporate tax rates would have led to us living in a utopia!
Are we?
Apparently not; here's a timely headline from the CBC; Job quality in Canada at 25 year low says CIBC.
So one of the big banks has discovered that the course we've been on for the last two or three generations has resulted in lots of shit jobs and an impoverished middle class, and Christine Elliott plans to get elected by doing more of the same?
In a way it's almost a moot point; corporations of any consequence all offshore their profits into zero-tax tax havens anyway, so till we drop the corporate tax to zero, none of this foolish talk will make an iota of difference.
And once we've done that, we'll still have to match the likes of Scott Walker in Wisconsin if we're to be serious competitors in the race to the bottom.
Maybe it's time to try something different.
This is her "economic plan."
How retarded does she think we are?
If lowering corporate tax rates led to good outcomes in the economy, the last forty years of lowering corporate tax rates would have led to us living in a utopia!
Are we?
Apparently not; here's a timely headline from the CBC; Job quality in Canada at 25 year low says CIBC.
So one of the big banks has discovered that the course we've been on for the last two or three generations has resulted in lots of shit jobs and an impoverished middle class, and Christine Elliott plans to get elected by doing more of the same?
In a way it's almost a moot point; corporations of any consequence all offshore their profits into zero-tax tax havens anyway, so till we drop the corporate tax to zero, none of this foolish talk will make an iota of difference.
And once we've done that, we'll still have to match the likes of Scott Walker in Wisconsin if we're to be serious competitors in the race to the bottom.
Maybe it's time to try something different.
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Not every Korean is enjoying the US occupation
Seems the US Ambassador ran into a bit of an unfriendly welcome today.
Sixty years after the Korean War, there are still folks in that country holding a grudge over America's benevolent intervention in Korea.
That seems to be a common theme among the peoples blessed with US interventions. Are the Afghans happy with our intervention?
The Iraqis?
The Libyans?
Maybe America should fuck off and mind her own business.
And there's more than enough business to mind!
The homeless... the health-care-less... the jobless... the hopeless...
God Bless America!
Sixty years after the Korean War, there are still folks in that country holding a grudge over America's benevolent intervention in Korea.
That seems to be a common theme among the peoples blessed with US interventions. Are the Afghans happy with our intervention?
The Iraqis?
The Libyans?
Maybe America should fuck off and mind her own business.
And there's more than enough business to mind!
The homeless... the health-care-less... the jobless... the hopeless...
God Bless America!
Finally, some good news for a change
I'm not one to burden Canada's "free" health care system with unnecessary visits to the doctor. Far from it. In fact, when I went in for a visit the other day the dude noted that I had successfully deferred my annual check-up for four years!
I would have been happy to defer it even longer, but alas, my strategy of wheedling prescription renewals over the phone had hit the wall.
Now, as the regular reader well knows, I'm not much for Big Pharma and prescriptions and all that shit, but I do have a blood pressure issue that is mitigated by the regular consumption of a particular combination of Big Pharma products that seems to work, as evidenced by the fact that I'm not dead yet.
So I was delighted beyond belief to find this spot of good news. Seems that folks with low blood pressure hit higher speeds on the Alzheimer Highway! That means having high blood pressure slows ya down!
WHEE-HAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!
Pour me another rye 'n coke baby, we gonna party tonight!
I would have been happy to defer it even longer, but alas, my strategy of wheedling prescription renewals over the phone had hit the wall.
Now, as the regular reader well knows, I'm not much for Big Pharma and prescriptions and all that shit, but I do have a blood pressure issue that is mitigated by the regular consumption of a particular combination of Big Pharma products that seems to work, as evidenced by the fact that I'm not dead yet.
So I was delighted beyond belief to find this spot of good news. Seems that folks with low blood pressure hit higher speeds on the Alzheimer Highway! That means having high blood pressure slows ya down!
WHEE-HAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!
Pour me another rye 'n coke baby, we gonna party tonight!
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Netanyahu piles it higher
In Israel, even Netanyahu's allies readily acknowledge the man is a habitual liar.
Just in the past week, it has been revealed that, vis Iran's nuclear program, the Mossad claims he's full of shit.
As do almost 200 Israeli security bigs who signed a letter a couple of days ago claiming he's full of shit.
So what does Netanyahu do?
Shovels on more of the same old discredited shit like crazy!
And his acolytes in Congress lap it up!
Just in the past week, it has been revealed that, vis Iran's nuclear program, the Mossad claims he's full of shit.
As do almost 200 Israeli security bigs who signed a letter a couple of days ago claiming he's full of shit.
So what does Netanyahu do?
Shovels on more of the same old discredited shit like crazy!
And his acolytes in Congress lap it up!
Former Deputy Minister of Education guilty of child porn offences
Ben Levin was a rising star in the elite world of top-drawer education consultants.
Yup, you could say he was a real up-and-comer! In fact, Levin had come up through the ranks of those education consultants I was discussing just the other day, and made it to the very top. He was an acknowledged international expert on the education of children.
Guess that's over... but you have to wonder about his legal strategy. Given his long history in education, you would have expected him to play the Pete Townshend defence and claim he was "doing research."
Yup, you could say he was a real up-and-comer! In fact, Levin had come up through the ranks of those education consultants I was discussing just the other day, and made it to the very top. He was an acknowledged international expert on the education of children.
Guess that's over... but you have to wonder about his legal strategy. Given his long history in education, you would have expected him to play the Pete Townshend defence and claim he was "doing research."
Monday, March 2, 2015
John Baird's legacy; lack of diplomatic ties hampers search for Toronto pastor missing in N. Korea
Baird be gone, but the stench of his five year war on diplomacy lingers.
Baird be gone, but the stench lingers in Russia and Iran and North Korea. In theory, diplomats are the guys charged with building bridges to regimes we don't like... that's the very definition of "diplomacy."
John Baird was by every account the anti-diplomat.
Mr. Baird was about burning bridges, not building them.
Baird is now nothing more than a pungent foot-note in the history of Canada's foreign service.
Pastor Lim is just one of many Canadians paying the price.
Baird be gone, but the stench lingers in Russia and Iran and North Korea. In theory, diplomats are the guys charged with building bridges to regimes we don't like... that's the very definition of "diplomacy."
John Baird was by every account the anti-diplomat.
Mr. Baird was about burning bridges, not building them.
Baird is now nothing more than a pungent foot-note in the history of Canada's foreign service.
Pastor Lim is just one of many Canadians paying the price.
CP Rail boss Hunter "Hitman" Harrison wags terror threat
It's not two years since a rail accident caused by criminally negligent railroad managers killed 47 innocents in Lac Megantic, but Hunter Harrison is not afraid of accidents.
He's afraid of terrorists!
Yup, those dastardly terror types could blow up a train-load of Bakken crude any time, any place.
True enough. Yet this potential terror threat he sketches out seems to be strictly imaginary. Those 47 dead in Lac Megantic were totally real.
If there were actual terror cells active in North America, one would expect they might have struck by now. Yet, before and after 9/11 they've done exactly nothing. I think it's safe to say that they don't exist.
Sure, we get the regular headlines about the FBI/Homeland Security/CSIS/RCMP busting up some half-brained terror plot or another, but on close inspection these can uniformly be filed under "informers gone wild." You pay informers millions to lure dim-witted Muslim kids, or even more reprehensible, actual home-grown Canadian kids who have fallen through the massive cracks in our mental health-care infrastructure, into talking stupid shit into the ubiquitous police recording instruments, and voilà , you've busted another terror plot!
But Harrison wants rail traffic re-routed around major urban centres, just in case. This will of course be paid for by the public, not by the railroad that Harrison and his hedge fund bosses are busy looting. That will minimize the chances of a terror attack utilizing a "Bakken bomb" in the downtown core of a major city.
Good thinking, Hunter.
But think about this; we send tractor-trailer loads of highly explosive propane and gasoline and myriad other concoctions into urban cores every day, all across North America, with absolutely no security. Never has there been a terror attack on a single one!
What that tells me is that these terror cells we're supposed to be so afraid of simply don't exist.
Nevertheless, that's what Hunter Harrison felt compelled to talk about in his speech to the Canadian Club today, and it sure made good press!... completely took the eye off the fact that CP Rail's recipe for success since the Ackman putsch consists of nothing other than running longer trains faster with fewer employees.
That's a far greater threat to our safety than the imaginary "terrorists" he's waving around.
He's afraid of terrorists!
Yup, those dastardly terror types could blow up a train-load of Bakken crude any time, any place.
True enough. Yet this potential terror threat he sketches out seems to be strictly imaginary. Those 47 dead in Lac Megantic were totally real.
If there were actual terror cells active in North America, one would expect they might have struck by now. Yet, before and after 9/11 they've done exactly nothing. I think it's safe to say that they don't exist.
Sure, we get the regular headlines about the FBI/Homeland Security/CSIS/RCMP busting up some half-brained terror plot or another, but on close inspection these can uniformly be filed under "informers gone wild." You pay informers millions to lure dim-witted Muslim kids, or even more reprehensible, actual home-grown Canadian kids who have fallen through the massive cracks in our mental health-care infrastructure, into talking stupid shit into the ubiquitous police recording instruments, and voilà , you've busted another terror plot!
But Harrison wants rail traffic re-routed around major urban centres, just in case. This will of course be paid for by the public, not by the railroad that Harrison and his hedge fund bosses are busy looting. That will minimize the chances of a terror attack utilizing a "Bakken bomb" in the downtown core of a major city.
Good thinking, Hunter.
But think about this; we send tractor-trailer loads of highly explosive propane and gasoline and myriad other concoctions into urban cores every day, all across North America, with absolutely no security. Never has there been a terror attack on a single one!
What that tells me is that these terror cells we're supposed to be so afraid of simply don't exist.
Nevertheless, that's what Hunter Harrison felt compelled to talk about in his speech to the Canadian Club today, and it sure made good press!... completely took the eye off the fact that CP Rail's recipe for success since the Ackman putsch consists of nothing other than running longer trains faster with fewer employees.
That's a far greater threat to our safety than the imaginary "terrorists" he's waving around.
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Greatest leader since Moses off to dazzle Goyim with greatest campaign speech of career!
Netanyahu is on his way to Washington, where he will captivate Congress, or at least the GOP reps, with his take on the existential threat that Iran poses to Israel. With the possible exception of some of the dimmer congressional bulbs, absolutely nobody is taking this foolishness at face value.
This junket isn't about Washington and it isn't about Iran; it's about the 17 March election. Word has it that Sarah Neumann (no relation), the Haifa pre-school teacher who furnished Bibi with his stunning teaching aids when he addressed the UN in 2012, has prepared some visuals that will be even more persuasive than the cartoon bomb that wowed the world on that occasion.
We can hardly wait!
This junket isn't about Washington and it isn't about Iran; it's about the 17 March election. Word has it that Sarah Neumann (no relation), the Haifa pre-school teacher who furnished Bibi with his stunning teaching aids when he addressed the UN in 2012, has prepared some visuals that will be even more persuasive than the cartoon bomb that wowed the world on that occasion.
We can hardly wait!
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