Check this out. The headline is a little misleading as the article isn't so much about Trump voters as it is an itemized list of reasons why most voters might want to consider voting for the Orange Ogre. It's certainly not something you'd expect to find on the CNN home page, since the network works hard to position itself at the "progressive" end of the media spectrum.
What's going on?
My hunch is that the folks who own America's mass media, the super-rich and the corporate class, are beginning to suffer sphincter spasms at the sheer volume of socialist-sounding rhetoric emanating from the Dem side. Wealth tax? Single-payer health care? Free college? 90% marginal tax rate on incomes over a million?!...
Oh my God!!! We'll all be running around dressed in Mao outfits if these loony leftists have their way!
And it gets worse, if such a thing can be imagined... how about that Tulsi Gabbard and her talk about reduced military budgets and shutting down overseas army bases!?
Trump's treasonous flirtation with Bad Vlad is nothing compared to that!
We're a year and a half out from the election, and the engines of democracy are starting to rev. The billionaire class who own the media are desperately looking for a Dem candidate they can get behind, one who doesn't talk all that commie shit. They can't bring back Hillary. Biden is tanking. The only Dems creating any buzz with the under forty crowd are all spouting leftist homilies...
Buckle up for a great show!
Sunday, June 30, 2019
Eddie Lampert: mendacious greedbag or just a moron?
In The looting of Sears Canada I blamed the mendacious greedbag Ed Lampert for the demise of Sears Canada, once my favourite place to shop for socks and lawnmowers.
Aside from forcing me to change my shopping habits, Shithead Ed has also forced Sears Canada's 16,000 retirees to change theirs... Ya, you work hard your whole life, and whoopsie, their goes your pension!
Here's Eddie's 288 foot boat, the Fountainhead.
You don't top up that puppy with change you found under the couch cushions. Sorry pensioners!
But in fairness, Ed wasn't just buying a super-yacht with those sumptuous dividends he was siphoning out of Sears Canada, he also wasted billions on share buybacks of the parent company, and we know where that ended...
In bankruptcy!
That briefly led me to suspect that perhaps Ed wasn't just a money-grubbing Ayn Rand acolyte who only cared about Ed. Maybe he was just stupid?
Then along comes Eddie to buy the company he bankrupted out of bankruptcy for $5.2 billion! At the time Sears filed for bankruptcy they claimed $6.1 billion in assets and $11 billion in liabilities. In other words, by running the company through bankruptcy court, Lampert has emerged with the assets intact and the liabilities gone!
Ayn Rand would be proud, and the rest of us can be confident that, no, Ed Lampert is not a moron.
But he is an exceptionally mendacious greedbag.
Aside from forcing me to change my shopping habits, Shithead Ed has also forced Sears Canada's 16,000 retirees to change theirs... Ya, you work hard your whole life, and whoopsie, their goes your pension!
Here's Eddie's 288 foot boat, the Fountainhead.
You don't top up that puppy with change you found under the couch cushions. Sorry pensioners!
But in fairness, Ed wasn't just buying a super-yacht with those sumptuous dividends he was siphoning out of Sears Canada, he also wasted billions on share buybacks of the parent company, and we know where that ended...
In bankruptcy!
That briefly led me to suspect that perhaps Ed wasn't just a money-grubbing Ayn Rand acolyte who only cared about Ed. Maybe he was just stupid?
Then along comes Eddie to buy the company he bankrupted out of bankruptcy for $5.2 billion! At the time Sears filed for bankruptcy they claimed $6.1 billion in assets and $11 billion in liabilities. In other words, by running the company through bankruptcy court, Lampert has emerged with the assets intact and the liabilities gone!
Ayn Rand would be proud, and the rest of us can be confident that, no, Ed Lampert is not a moron.
But he is an exceptionally mendacious greedbag.
Pot-addled hillbilly beats the experts again
In a June 23 post, I commented on the Kushner "peace plan," concluding that Palestinians should take the money, and continue working towards a one-state solution, a secular state wherein Jews and Palestinians have equal rights under law.
On June 29, the esteemed (or reviled, depending on your perspective) Dr. James Zogby comes out with this; What if Palestinians take the money and run?
Zogby puts a little more flesh on the bones, but he's essentially saying exactly the same thing, just using more words to say it, and saying it a week later.
And he's a big deal; check out his Wikipedia page.
So if you want to beat the crowd to insightful analyses about our messed-up world, read Neumann's blog!
On June 29, the esteemed (or reviled, depending on your perspective) Dr. James Zogby comes out with this; What if Palestinians take the money and run?
Zogby puts a little more flesh on the bones, but he's essentially saying exactly the same thing, just using more words to say it, and saying it a week later.
And he's a big deal; check out his Wikipedia page.
So if you want to beat the crowd to insightful analyses about our messed-up world, read Neumann's blog!
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
The subtle perversion of meaning
Check out this headline; ...Canada halts exports to China.
Is that true?
Or did China halt imports from Canada?
There's a difference.
Is that true?
Or did China halt imports from Canada?
There's a difference.
Why does the USA have a Middle East Policy?
If you take a look at a globe, the next time you're in a library or a classroom, you'll notice that the USA is not anywhere near the Middle East.
So why does the USA have a Middle East policy or strategy or whatever?
Does the Middle East have a USA strategy or policy?
Does Chile have an Africa policy?
Does Mongolia have a Canada policy?
(No, but Canada-domiciled mining companies operate there, so maybe they should.)
Does Indonesia have a UK policy?
And do those policies include the right to harass, bully, intimidate, threaten, sanction, embargo whoever is on the receiving end of your "policy."
America is a long way from the Middle East. Why should it be up to Manhattan dilettantes to determine what happens there?
Why don't they focus on their Puerto Rico policy or something?
So why does the USA have a Middle East policy or strategy or whatever?
Does the Middle East have a USA strategy or policy?
Does Chile have an Africa policy?
Does Mongolia have a Canada policy?
(No, but Canada-domiciled mining companies operate there, so maybe they should.)
Does Indonesia have a UK policy?
And do those policies include the right to harass, bully, intimidate, threaten, sanction, embargo whoever is on the receiving end of your "policy."
America is a long way from the Middle East. Why should it be up to Manhattan dilettantes to determine what happens there?
Why don't they focus on their Puerto Rico policy or something?
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Building a Toronto for the Beautiful People
It's been twelve years since urban planning guru Richard Florida arrived, to much fanfare, at the University of Toronto.
His arrival coincided with a great awakening among Toronto's chattering classes as to how "world class" the city had become. The city was hungry for the "creative class" baloney Florida was serving up.
He's still serving. Check out Sidewalk Labs could make Toronto a world leader in urban tech in today's Globe and Mail. Richard's got the roadmap, just released by Alphabet-Google, "that can propel Toronto to the top of the heap..."
"...Sidewalk Labs can be the propellant Toronto needs to become a world leader..." and so forth. We've got cutting edge research, we attract the world's best talent, and there's a whole lotta catalyzing going on!
It's all about "Urban Tech," dontcha know (not to be confused with Turban Tech, although there is some overlap.)
And what's that?
This new sector involves the fusing of technology and urban living and spans a plethora of emerging industries such as ride-hailing, co-living, co-working, mobility, food delivery, real estate or property tech and construction tech.
Got it? Sounds like if we play our cards right, the Port Lands could be ground zero for the global gig economy!
Colour me sceptical, but isn't this more or less the same happy-talk we've heard from Florida all along? While he's been relentlessly trumpeting the pursuit of global greatness, the average price of a home in Toronto has more than doubled from under $400K to over $800K, the social housing wait-list stretches close to ten years, "affordable" housing remains much talked about but never built, and the rate of population growth going forward is expected to double.
Sounds to me like Florida is planning a city for the beautiful people sitting court-side at a Raptor's game, not the Uber drivers or the bicycle couriers delivering your shawarma to your co-working space.
No, looks like those folks will be "co-living," at maybe four or five to a studio rental.
What's not to like?
His arrival coincided with a great awakening among Toronto's chattering classes as to how "world class" the city had become. The city was hungry for the "creative class" baloney Florida was serving up.
He's still serving. Check out Sidewalk Labs could make Toronto a world leader in urban tech in today's Globe and Mail. Richard's got the roadmap, just released by Alphabet-Google, "that can propel Toronto to the top of the heap..."
"...Sidewalk Labs can be the propellant Toronto needs to become a world leader..." and so forth. We've got cutting edge research, we attract the world's best talent, and there's a whole lotta catalyzing going on!
It's all about "Urban Tech," dontcha know (not to be confused with Turban Tech, although there is some overlap.)
And what's that?
This new sector involves the fusing of technology and urban living and spans a plethora of emerging industries such as ride-hailing, co-living, co-working, mobility, food delivery, real estate or property tech and construction tech.
Got it? Sounds like if we play our cards right, the Port Lands could be ground zero for the global gig economy!
Colour me sceptical, but isn't this more or less the same happy-talk we've heard from Florida all along? While he's been relentlessly trumpeting the pursuit of global greatness, the average price of a home in Toronto has more than doubled from under $400K to over $800K, the social housing wait-list stretches close to ten years, "affordable" housing remains much talked about but never built, and the rate of population growth going forward is expected to double.
Sounds to me like Florida is planning a city for the beautiful people sitting court-side at a Raptor's game, not the Uber drivers or the bicycle couriers delivering your shawarma to your co-working space.
No, looks like those folks will be "co-living," at maybe four or five to a studio rental.
What's not to like?
Monday, June 24, 2019
Honouring the MMIWG
If we'd been a little more honourable before they died, maybe they'd still be here.
The Trudeau government just announced they found a spare $13 million to honour the MMIWG. They've become a tidy acronym at this point, those missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.
Hopefully this will be about more than photo-ops and a commemorative plaque here and there.
The Trudeau government just announced they found a spare $13 million to honour the MMIWG. They've become a tidy acronym at this point, those missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.
Hopefully this will be about more than photo-ops and a commemorative plaque here and there.
Sunday, June 23, 2019
A PLO sympathiser considers the Kushner peace plan
I can't say I've met a lot of Palestinians. There was the guy I worked with at Kearney's, who hailed from the West Bank and dreamed of owning a corner store. One day while shopping at Zehrs, he slipped on a grape and hurt his neck. Miraculously, he made a 100% recovery shortly after winning enough of a settlement from his lawsuit against Zehrs to stake his store.
A few years later, whilst a student at the U of G, I recall attending a presentation by a Palestinian guy who represented some Palestinian solidarity cause, no doubt a PLO front. There were a handful of ADL types doing their best to be disruptive, but that only served to make the guy more appealing to the activist undergrad audience.
Shared a few pints at the Brass Taps with the guy later on. The "two state solution" was still a viable thing in those days, or at least that's what people thought.
Only a completely deluded moron would think that today.
Which is why the Palestinians should take the money. The two state solution is long dead, but the one state solution is an inevitability. Fifty billion dollars will put a lot of food on a lot of tables as Palestinians continue to struggle, peaceably, towards a single state wherein the Palestinian citizens have in every aspect the same rights as the Jewish citizens.
A generation or two from now, Israel could be a real democracy, in which some Jews vote for Palestinian candidates, and vice-versa, because of the candidates platform rather than their ethnicity.
That may not be what Kushner envisions, but take the money and keep working towards that goal.
A few years later, whilst a student at the U of G, I recall attending a presentation by a Palestinian guy who represented some Palestinian solidarity cause, no doubt a PLO front. There were a handful of ADL types doing their best to be disruptive, but that only served to make the guy more appealing to the activist undergrad audience.
Shared a few pints at the Brass Taps with the guy later on. The "two state solution" was still a viable thing in those days, or at least that's what people thought.
Only a completely deluded moron would think that today.
Which is why the Palestinians should take the money. The two state solution is long dead, but the one state solution is an inevitability. Fifty billion dollars will put a lot of food on a lot of tables as Palestinians continue to struggle, peaceably, towards a single state wherein the Palestinian citizens have in every aspect the same rights as the Jewish citizens.
A generation or two from now, Israel could be a real democracy, in which some Jews vote for Palestinian candidates, and vice-versa, because of the candidates platform rather than their ethnicity.
That may not be what Kushner envisions, but take the money and keep working towards that goal.
Another story our free press is hiding from you
We're all acquainted with the Lima Group, that confection of robust democracies spearheaded by Chrystia Freeland and including such human rights champions as Honduras, Guatemala, Colombia, and Brazil. Their purpose is to restore democracy to Venezuela by ousting its democratically elected government.
By far the largest of these, with a population of over 200 million, is Brazil. What's come out recently is the extent of US meddling in last year's election, in which the Americans connived to sideline the most popular politician in Brazil, the leftish Lula de Silva, and install extremist far-right nut job Jair Bolsonaro as president.
That's how Uncle Sam's plucky band of democracy promoters roll. Democracy is far too precious to be left in the hands of voters.
For a little more background on the Lima Group, check this out.
What we should find disturbing is that the same mainstream media constantly boasting of how critical they are to the survival of democracy never seem to hold their governments to account when they are exposed as working to destroy it.
By far the largest of these, with a population of over 200 million, is Brazil. What's come out recently is the extent of US meddling in last year's election, in which the Americans connived to sideline the most popular politician in Brazil, the leftish Lula de Silva, and install extremist far-right nut job Jair Bolsonaro as president.
That's how Uncle Sam's plucky band of democracy promoters roll. Democracy is far too precious to be left in the hands of voters.
For a little more background on the Lima Group, check this out.
What we should find disturbing is that the same mainstream media constantly boasting of how critical they are to the survival of democracy never seem to hold their governments to account when they are exposed as working to destroy it.
Saturday, June 22, 2019
John Deere and his many victims
I was sitting out on the stoop here at Falling Downs, enjoying the birds at the various feeders, when a half-million$ John Deere tractor drove by. It was towing a very impressive John Deere seeding rig that would have easily been worth another quarter million.
What that tells you is that Buddy in the air-conditioned cab of that John Deere is really really hoping there's a good market for canola and soybeans this year, because that's the only way he's going to make the payments on his hardware.
That's gotta be a tough pickle to be in. It wasn't the canola farmers who thought it would be clever to arrest that Huawei CFO.
No, that was really smart folks in Ottawa, who universally agree that "diversity is our strength."
Mr. Farmer doesn't really give a shit about diversity. He totally does not care about Justin and Chrystia's latest photo-op.
He cares about making his John Deere payments.
What that tells you is that Buddy in the air-conditioned cab of that John Deere is really really hoping there's a good market for canola and soybeans this year, because that's the only way he's going to make the payments on his hardware.
That's gotta be a tough pickle to be in. It wasn't the canola farmers who thought it would be clever to arrest that Huawei CFO.
No, that was really smart folks in Ottawa, who universally agree that "diversity is our strength."
Mr. Farmer doesn't really give a shit about diversity. He totally does not care about Justin and Chrystia's latest photo-op.
He cares about making his John Deere payments.
Why US will not attack Iran
Short answer; it wouldn't be in Israel's interests.
Forty years of inflammatory political rhetoric aside, the serious people at the top of the IDF understand that any significant action against Iran is going to draw in Hezbollah. Here's Security Minister Gilad Erdan putting Hezbollah's missile count at 150,000 last year.
That's simply too many missiles to take out in a preemptive attack, and it's a number that would completely overwhelm Iron Dome defensive capabilities. Every major population centre in Israel would be vulnerable.
Ergo, an attack on Iran is a no-go.
Forty years of inflammatory political rhetoric aside, the serious people at the top of the IDF understand that any significant action against Iran is going to draw in Hezbollah. Here's Security Minister Gilad Erdan putting Hezbollah's missile count at 150,000 last year.
That's simply too many missiles to take out in a preemptive attack, and it's a number that would completely overwhelm Iron Dome defensive capabilities. Every major population centre in Israel would be vulnerable.
Ergo, an attack on Iran is a no-go.
Friday, June 21, 2019
Growing vegetables is more important than writing code
I see where Facebook wants to bring in a new crypto-currency.
Great! The two billion already addicted to Facebook won't even have to leave the platform to do their banking!
But why not!?
We've handed Zuckerberg everything else, why not our financial lives?
Another great reason to break up Big Tech.
Great! The two billion already addicted to Facebook won't even have to leave the platform to do their banking!
But why not!?
We've handed Zuckerberg everything else, why not our financial lives?
Another great reason to break up Big Tech.
Canadian military eager to take on China
If you found Trudeau's ass-kissing antics in DC yesterday to be an embarrassment, take a look at this story.
Lt. General Wayne Eyre, the freshly minted top HR guy in the Canadian Armed Forces, talks as if armed confrontation with China is imminent; yup, our brave boys and girls in uniform should be "ready to fight tonight."
We won't be taking on the Yellow Peril alone, thankfully. No, we'll be doing that in concert with our allies, who "share our values," as the cliche goes. And, as we all know, the leader of our allies is none other than that guy in Washington whose arse PM Fluffly was smothering in kisses yesterday.
Fighting alongside our allies who share our values has a cost, of course. Enter the "interoperability" canard. Interoperability requires that we and our freedom-and-democracy-spreading allies source our bombs and bullets and attack aircraft from a short list of US "defence" contractors.
Freedom isn't free - it requires sending many tens of billions of Canadian tax dollars to the likes of Boeing, Raytheon, and Lockheed-Martin.
Lt. General Wayne Eyre, the freshly minted top HR guy in the Canadian Armed Forces, talks as if armed confrontation with China is imminent; yup, our brave boys and girls in uniform should be "ready to fight tonight."
We won't be taking on the Yellow Peril alone, thankfully. No, we'll be doing that in concert with our allies, who "share our values," as the cliche goes. And, as we all know, the leader of our allies is none other than that guy in Washington whose arse PM Fluffly was smothering in kisses yesterday.
Fighting alongside our allies who share our values has a cost, of course. Enter the "interoperability" canard. Interoperability requires that we and our freedom-and-democracy-spreading allies source our bombs and bullets and attack aircraft from a short list of US "defence" contractors.
Freedom isn't free - it requires sending many tens of billions of Canadian tax dollars to the likes of Boeing, Raytheon, and Lockheed-Martin.
Wednesday, June 19, 2019
Steering assist; more proof there's no such thing as progress
My new Toyota has this feature called "steering assist," which as the name implies, is a little bit of artificial intelligence assisting with the steering of your car. It's not something I asked for - it just comes with the car.
Last time I bought a new Toyota, fifteen years ago, there was no steering assist available, even if you were the kind of driver who wanted help steering your car.
Which I'm not. I'm quite alright driving my car without assistance, thank you very much.
The back-up camera makes my head spin too... I've been backing up with mirrors for over fifty years... but that's another blog.
So here's how this steering assist plays out in real life. I typically go into town on Grey Road 1, which follows the shore of Owen Sound bay. In the summer months there are cyclists galore all along this scenic route.
The artificial intelligence in Toyota's steering assist reads the stripes on the highway. If you veer out of your lane, the steering assist will, without any input from the driver, move you back between the lines.
On a typical trip into Owen Sound in the summer months, I might encounter cyclists half a dozen times. I naturally want to give them a safe clearance as I pass them. The steering assist is always nudging me back into the bicycles.
That's a recipe for some nasty stuff.
Last time I bought a new Toyota, fifteen years ago, there was no steering assist available, even if you were the kind of driver who wanted help steering your car.
Which I'm not. I'm quite alright driving my car without assistance, thank you very much.
The back-up camera makes my head spin too... I've been backing up with mirrors for over fifty years... but that's another blog.
So here's how this steering assist plays out in real life. I typically go into town on Grey Road 1, which follows the shore of Owen Sound bay. In the summer months there are cyclists galore all along this scenic route.
The artificial intelligence in Toyota's steering assist reads the stripes on the highway. If you veer out of your lane, the steering assist will, without any input from the driver, move you back between the lines.
On a typical trip into Owen Sound in the summer months, I might encounter cyclists half a dozen times. I naturally want to give them a safe clearance as I pass them. The steering assist is always nudging me back into the bicycles.
That's a recipe for some nasty stuff.
Pot-addled hillbilly goes to the birds
I have to say I'm getting quite a kick out of watching the birds at the various feeders.
As I type these words there's a plump and happy mourning dove fifteen feet in front of me, clearing the walkway of any stray bird-feed that fell from the feeders overhead.
Earlier on there were a pair of woodpeckers at one of the feeders. One was on the feeder feasting, but he'd pretty much every other peck turn around and pass a beakful to his mate sitting on the arbour behind him. It was a beautiful thing!
And they do this cooperative stuff just because they do. Ain't no rules or laws making those birds work together.
We could learn a lot from them.
As I type these words there's a plump and happy mourning dove fifteen feet in front of me, clearing the walkway of any stray bird-feed that fell from the feeders overhead.
Earlier on there were a pair of woodpeckers at one of the feeders. One was on the feeder feasting, but he'd pretty much every other peck turn around and pass a beakful to his mate sitting on the arbour behind him. It was a beautiful thing!
And they do this cooperative stuff just because they do. Ain't no rules or laws making those birds work together.
We could learn a lot from them.
Assange as litmus test
Anyone who claims to care for freedom of the press, yet fails to raise their voice in protest at the treatment of Julian Assange, is a hypocrite and a liar.
I'm looking at you, Ms. Freeland.
Chrystia and her UK counterpart Jeremy Hunt will be co-hosting the "International Media Freedom Conference" in London next month. George Orwell has been retained to make the keynote address.
Hunt has been busy conniving with American authorities to ship Assange to the US. His crime? Exposing American war crimes, including the cold-blooded murder of journalists.
We are way past 1984.
I'm looking at you, Ms. Freeland.
Chrystia and her UK counterpart Jeremy Hunt will be co-hosting the "International Media Freedom Conference" in London next month. George Orwell has been retained to make the keynote address.
Hunt has been busy conniving with American authorities to ship Assange to the US. His crime? Exposing American war crimes, including the cold-blooded murder of journalists.
We are way past 1984.
Tuesday, June 18, 2019
Raptors' victory parade a great success; only four shot
Marcus Gee waxes patriotic in my Globe and Mail this morning, "Raptors celebration is a stirring glimpse of Canada's identity."
The fact that Canada's b-ball team has no actual Canadians on it perhaps proves the point. Being Canadian is more a state of mind than anything else.
But let's enjoy the moment. It could be another quarter century before Toronto celebrates again.
The fact that Canada's b-ball team has no actual Canadians on it perhaps proves the point. Being Canadian is more a state of mind than anything else.
But let's enjoy the moment. It could be another quarter century before Toronto celebrates again.
Monday, June 17, 2019
Brooke Henderson
Brooke won the LPGA Meijer Classic on the weekend. That makes her the winningest Canadian professional in the history of either the PGA or the LPGA, ever.
Quite an accomplishment for a twenty-one year old.
Congratulations, Brooke! If it was up to me, we'd have a parade in your honour.
I was listening to the CBC on the radio this morning. Their five minutes of sports news featured three and a half minutes about the Raptors (no Canadians on roster), a minute of Blue Jay news (two Canadians on roster), twenty seconds on the CFL (plenty of Canadians, but who cares?), and an oh,by the way, ten seconds of afterthought about Brooke.
C'mon, CBC; you can do better than that!
Quite an accomplishment for a twenty-one year old.
Congratulations, Brooke! If it was up to me, we'd have a parade in your honour.
I was listening to the CBC on the radio this morning. Their five minutes of sports news featured three and a half minutes about the Raptors (no Canadians on roster), a minute of Blue Jay news (two Canadians on roster), twenty seconds on the CFL (plenty of Canadians, but who cares?), and an oh,by the way, ten seconds of afterthought about Brooke.
C'mon, CBC; you can do better than that!
CBC brings you some fake news about fake news
The headline caught my eye; No, Trudeau did not give $465M to Afghanistan, only to have it 'disappear.'
The story doesn't quite live up to the headline. Yes, apparently Trudeau did promise $465 million in aid to Afghanistan back in 2016. Nobody seems to know whether or not any of that amount was actually delivered, and writer Kaleigh Rogers doesn't tell us. That would have required actual research, rather than just recycling a press release from the Canadian Anti-Hate Network.
In any event, if whatever amount was delivered, no one knows where it went. Does that mean it "disappeared?"
No!
Just because you don't know the whereabouts of something doesn't mean it disappeared, according to Kaleigh.
Here's an alternative explanation; maybe it wasn't $465 million that disappeared, quite possibly it was only Justin's promise that disappeared, as so many of them have.
So we have something of a non-story here.
Some obscure political party you've never heard of gets a boatload of free publicity, thanks to the CBC. So do the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, Evan Balgord, and CrowdTangle.
But thanks anyway, Kaleigh, for refreshing our memories of that unmitigated disaster that was Canada's Afghan adventure.
$465M is a drop in the bucket when you look at the big picture. Actual costs, including our war efforts and our "aid," are closer to $25 billion, and it's only the continuing US occupation that's keeping the Taliban from retaking the entire country. That doesn't include the long-term-care costs for the thousands of Canadian veterans who came back with PTSD.
Let's not forget that it was that lovable little guy from Shawinigan who got us into that mess. Stephen "we're not the type to cut and run" Harper enthusiastically picked up the baton. There's plenty of bipartisan shame to go around.
Perhaps the lesson to be taken is that we'd be better off to stay home and take care of Canada. It's not that we couldn't put those $25 billions to good use here.
Look around you.
The story doesn't quite live up to the headline. Yes, apparently Trudeau did promise $465 million in aid to Afghanistan back in 2016. Nobody seems to know whether or not any of that amount was actually delivered, and writer Kaleigh Rogers doesn't tell us. That would have required actual research, rather than just recycling a press release from the Canadian Anti-Hate Network.
In any event, if whatever amount was delivered, no one knows where it went. Does that mean it "disappeared?"
No!
Just because you don't know the whereabouts of something doesn't mean it disappeared, according to Kaleigh.
Here's an alternative explanation; maybe it wasn't $465 million that disappeared, quite possibly it was only Justin's promise that disappeared, as so many of them have.
So we have something of a non-story here.
Some obscure political party you've never heard of gets a boatload of free publicity, thanks to the CBC. So do the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, Evan Balgord, and CrowdTangle.
But thanks anyway, Kaleigh, for refreshing our memories of that unmitigated disaster that was Canada's Afghan adventure.
$465M is a drop in the bucket when you look at the big picture. Actual costs, including our war efforts and our "aid," are closer to $25 billion, and it's only the continuing US occupation that's keeping the Taliban from retaking the entire country. That doesn't include the long-term-care costs for the thousands of Canadian veterans who came back with PTSD.
Let's not forget that it was that lovable little guy from Shawinigan who got us into that mess. Stephen "we're not the type to cut and run" Harper enthusiastically picked up the baton. There's plenty of bipartisan shame to go around.
Perhaps the lesson to be taken is that we'd be better off to stay home and take care of Canada. It's not that we couldn't put those $25 billions to good use here.
Look around you.
Sunday, June 16, 2019
Wang Dang Sweet Poontang...
A couple of hundred years before anyone could imagine such a thing, Terrible Ted was trolling Political Correctitude.
Cat scratch fever?
Get the fuck outta here!
Back in the day, Terrible Ted was a rebel...
What is he now?
Cat scratch fever?
Get the fuck outta here!
Back in the day, Terrible Ted was a rebel...
What is he now?
How is it possible for Trump-haters to love Israel?
Check this out.
Donny J is an absolute hero in the Holy Land.
Our pretend free press pretend to hate Trump all the way to the bank.
But the same media are always and forever in love with the apartheid state of Israel.
The media hate Trump.
Israel loves Trump.
How do you square that circle???
Donny J is an absolute hero in the Holy Land.
Our pretend free press pretend to hate Trump all the way to the bank.
But the same media are always and forever in love with the apartheid state of Israel.
The media hate Trump.
Israel loves Trump.
How do you square that circle???
Top cheerleader treats entire football squad to leg-spread
A couple years ago there was a rumour to that effect going round the local high school.
Apparently said rumour was kicked off by a "rival" who had an eye on one of the boys on that team, a boy who was smitten by that top cheerleader.
All of that is just typical teenage drama, but social media magnifies these petty wranglings into shit that becomes really important, certainly for those reading about it on Facebook, which, as much as I find it hard to believe, is where a whole lot of folks get their news.
And that should be truly frightening.
I don't mean to sound elitist here, but if you get your news from Facebook, you're a retard.
Shop around a little. All the news sites are bullshitting you one way or another. With a little time and a little experience, you'll gradually work your way to a place where you can, at least most of the time, tell the difference between the wheat and the chaff.
The difference between the Shit and the Shinola...
**********
For those who get their news from Facebook, I suggest you fork out a few bucks per month to check out WSJ, NYT, and the WaPo.
Canadians should augment that with a daily perusal of the Globe and Mail, even though they're unlikely to find anything interesting there that didn't originate in the already mentioned titles.
Canada is, after all, first among the me-too nations.
While you're busy taking in the Empire's point of view, you should also take a peek at what's up at Sputnik, RT, AJE, Press TV, and the Jerusalem Post.
And there's plenty of once-prime English language journo's, even Pulitzer types, who have been blackballed from the mainstream and are basically glorified bloggers now, because, get this, they thought it was their job to speak truth to power!
So you'll find Chris Hedges at Truthdig.
Robert Parry founded Consortium News.
Seymour Hersh shows up on the fringes sometimes, but he's clearly not welcome in the MSM.
Spend enough time rooting around in the bowels of social media and those foreign news feeds, and you'll soon discover that errant cheerleaders are the least of our problems...
Apparently said rumour was kicked off by a "rival" who had an eye on one of the boys on that team, a boy who was smitten by that top cheerleader.
All of that is just typical teenage drama, but social media magnifies these petty wranglings into shit that becomes really important, certainly for those reading about it on Facebook, which, as much as I find it hard to believe, is where a whole lot of folks get their news.
And that should be truly frightening.
I don't mean to sound elitist here, but if you get your news from Facebook, you're a retard.
Shop around a little. All the news sites are bullshitting you one way or another. With a little time and a little experience, you'll gradually work your way to a place where you can, at least most of the time, tell the difference between the wheat and the chaff.
The difference between the Shit and the Shinola...
**********
For those who get their news from Facebook, I suggest you fork out a few bucks per month to check out WSJ, NYT, and the WaPo.
Canadians should augment that with a daily perusal of the Globe and Mail, even though they're unlikely to find anything interesting there that didn't originate in the already mentioned titles.
Canada is, after all, first among the me-too nations.
While you're busy taking in the Empire's point of view, you should also take a peek at what's up at Sputnik, RT, AJE, Press TV, and the Jerusalem Post.
And there's plenty of once-prime English language journo's, even Pulitzer types, who have been blackballed from the mainstream and are basically glorified bloggers now, because, get this, they thought it was their job to speak truth to power!
So you'll find Chris Hedges at Truthdig.
Robert Parry founded Consortium News.
Seymour Hersh shows up on the fringes sometimes, but he's clearly not welcome in the MSM.
Spend enough time rooting around in the bowels of social media and those foreign news feeds, and you'll soon discover that errant cheerleaders are the least of our problems...
Friday, June 14, 2019
Chinese bullying; return of the Yellow Peril
There's certainly a lot of hand-wringing over Chinese bullying these days. It was on the front page of the Globe today. It was in Campbell Clark's column. It was mentioned three times in letters to the editor. Obviously somebody at the national newspaper of record is working very hard to get the reading public onboard with all this fear-mongering.
The gist of the bullying charges is simple enough. After we received that arrest request for Meng Wanzhou from Washington, we studied our values and our rules and our laws for about five minutes before concluding that our only conceivable way forward was to immediately capitulate to Washington's demand.
So what do those commies do? They pop a couple of innocent Canadians in the slammer on trumped up espionage charges and declare war on our canola exports!
Those impertinent yellow bastards! That's a textbook case of an evil dictatorship BULLYING a vibrant democracy that's just peaceably going about its business in a lawful and orderly way. At least that's the way Chrystia and Justin like to spin the story.
But let's go back to Ms. Wanzhou for a moment. What is the alleged crime for which we arrested her? Her company allegedly violated some sanctions that the US unilaterally imposed on Iran. Sanctions are something that the world's only super-power uses as a matter of course against nations who get too uppity, like Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran, among others.
Who is the bully in this scenario?
And what is the way forward for Canada? According to Justin and Chrystia, our way forward is to plead with the likes of Pompeo and Trump to support us in "our" squabble with the government of China.
We wouldn't have a squabble with China if we hadn't jumped when the bully snapped his fingers last December. Now we're sucking up to the bully some more in hopes that our past kowtowing got us enough brownie points to get the canola moving and those Canadian innocents home.
Truly pathetic.
The gist of the bullying charges is simple enough. After we received that arrest request for Meng Wanzhou from Washington, we studied our values and our rules and our laws for about five minutes before concluding that our only conceivable way forward was to immediately capitulate to Washington's demand.
So what do those commies do? They pop a couple of innocent Canadians in the slammer on trumped up espionage charges and declare war on our canola exports!
Those impertinent yellow bastards! That's a textbook case of an evil dictatorship BULLYING a vibrant democracy that's just peaceably going about its business in a lawful and orderly way. At least that's the way Chrystia and Justin like to spin the story.
But let's go back to Ms. Wanzhou for a moment. What is the alleged crime for which we arrested her? Her company allegedly violated some sanctions that the US unilaterally imposed on Iran. Sanctions are something that the world's only super-power uses as a matter of course against nations who get too uppity, like Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran, among others.
Who is the bully in this scenario?
And what is the way forward for Canada? According to Justin and Chrystia, our way forward is to plead with the likes of Pompeo and Trump to support us in "our" squabble with the government of China.
We wouldn't have a squabble with China if we hadn't jumped when the bully snapped his fingers last December. Now we're sucking up to the bully some more in hopes that our past kowtowing got us enough brownie points to get the canola moving and those Canadian innocents home.
Truly pathetic.
Thursday, June 13, 2019
Canadian political establishment alarmed by Trudeau incompetence
Interesting front pager in the Globe today about Jean Chretien inserting himself into the China file. There seems to be deep bipartisan support for someone, anyone, to get this thing unstuck.
What was new to me was that our justice minister has the authority to overrule the extradition process. I don't recall reading that in previous stories about our Huawei adventure. What I heard instead was a lot of gibberish about "rule of law" etc. What I see is feckless toadying to the Trump gang.
Bearing in mind that Meng Wanzhou's original sin was violating America's unilateral and illegal Iran sanctions, her arrest was an outrage from the beginning. If the justice minister has had the authority to free her, why hasn't it happened? These are reasonable questions for anyone remotely capable of standing up to US bully tactics.
Instead, we've had six months of slipping and sliding and dodging the issue on the part of our PM and his laughably inept Foreign Minister. They do great work grandstanding in the media, orchestrating photo-ops, and spewing platitudes.
But what's getting done?
What was new to me was that our justice minister has the authority to overrule the extradition process. I don't recall reading that in previous stories about our Huawei adventure. What I heard instead was a lot of gibberish about "rule of law" etc. What I see is feckless toadying to the Trump gang.
Bearing in mind that Meng Wanzhou's original sin was violating America's unilateral and illegal Iran sanctions, her arrest was an outrage from the beginning. If the justice minister has had the authority to free her, why hasn't it happened? These are reasonable questions for anyone remotely capable of standing up to US bully tactics.
Instead, we've had six months of slipping and sliding and dodging the issue on the part of our PM and his laughably inept Foreign Minister. They do great work grandstanding in the media, orchestrating photo-ops, and spewing platitudes.
But what's getting done?
I guess that's one way of getting more women into corporate management
I see where Goldman Sachs managing director Michael DuVally has crossed the floor, so to speak. That's right; you can call her Maeve.
That gives GS an immediate boost in women-in-management numbers without actually having to go through the hassle of making a new hire.
It's a constant refrain in feminist circles that women are under-represented in senior management and on corporate boards. Let's think this through. There must be a lot of guys well into their corporate careers who were so busy getting their MBAs and their law degrees and then spent years of hundred hour weeks establishing their careers before giving any thought to their sexuality.
Now they're into middle age and a corner office. They can relax a little... and maybe listen to that nagging voice they've spent decades stifling, the nagging voice that tells them they were born into the wrong body.
We're never surprised when such revelations come from the world of arts and letters, but it's rare in the world of Wall Street. If Maeve ignites a trend, gender equality in the managerial ranks could be closer than we think!
That gives GS an immediate boost in women-in-management numbers without actually having to go through the hassle of making a new hire.
It's a constant refrain in feminist circles that women are under-represented in senior management and on corporate boards. Let's think this through. There must be a lot of guys well into their corporate careers who were so busy getting their MBAs and their law degrees and then spent years of hundred hour weeks establishing their careers before giving any thought to their sexuality.
Now they're into middle age and a corner office. They can relax a little... and maybe listen to that nagging voice they've spent decades stifling, the nagging voice that tells them they were born into the wrong body.
We're never surprised when such revelations come from the world of arts and letters, but it's rare in the world of Wall Street. If Maeve ignites a trend, gender equality in the managerial ranks could be closer than we think!
Wednesday, June 12, 2019
There's no dope like hope
Hope is a beautiful thing.
Hope is what brought my father and millions of European immigrants more or less like him to these shores.
Hope is what draws in the immigrants to this day, whether they're legit or dragging their designer luggage up Roxham Road.
We all need hope.
Without hope, you're as good as dead.
Hope is what keeps you going, even if your situation is hopeless.
Just imagine, for example, that you're one of those university grads coming out with a degree and 40 or 60 or 80 thousand dollars in student loan debt. Maybe a couple of hundred thousand if you got a serious professional degree.
You can't possibly face the world with that on your back unless you have a whole lotta hope in your toolkit.
Hope is the drug that keeps you going.
Hope is what brought my father and millions of European immigrants more or less like him to these shores.
Hope is what draws in the immigrants to this day, whether they're legit or dragging their designer luggage up Roxham Road.
We all need hope.
Without hope, you're as good as dead.
Hope is what keeps you going, even if your situation is hopeless.
Just imagine, for example, that you're one of those university grads coming out with a degree and 40 or 60 or 80 thousand dollars in student loan debt. Maybe a couple of hundred thousand if you got a serious professional degree.
You can't possibly face the world with that on your back unless you have a whole lotta hope in your toolkit.
Hope is the drug that keeps you going.
Project Reconciliation
Project Reconciliation is an ambitious new initiative hoping to get us to see our dirty-oil conundrum in a fresh new way!
Take a gander at their web page.
"There's a pipeline to Reconciliation. We should take it."
Indeed!
Rather than equating pipelines with the transport of climate-killing bitumen, we need to equate them instead with the empowerment of our Indigenous population!
What could be more timely?
We've just wrapped the $54 million MMIWG Inquiry, and the $60 million Truth and Reconciliation Commission before that.
The public is ready for some "reconciliation."
Until now, we've been more inclined to see First Nations as pipeline protesters, not pipeline advocates.
Can this PR campaign re-frame the conversation?
If enough of the public can be duped into believing that more pipelines are something First Nations want, this audacious PR campaign just might work.
Take a gander at their web page.
"There's a pipeline to Reconciliation. We should take it."
Indeed!
Rather than equating pipelines with the transport of climate-killing bitumen, we need to equate them instead with the empowerment of our Indigenous population!
What could be more timely?
We've just wrapped the $54 million MMIWG Inquiry, and the $60 million Truth and Reconciliation Commission before that.
The public is ready for some "reconciliation."
Until now, we've been more inclined to see First Nations as pipeline protesters, not pipeline advocates.
Can this PR campaign re-frame the conversation?
If enough of the public can be duped into believing that more pipelines are something First Nations want, this audacious PR campaign just might work.
Tuesday, June 11, 2019
Putting the con into reconciliation
Everybody in Canada knows what you're talking about when you talk about reconciliation. In short, it's the process of making right the sordid history of indigenous - settler relations in this country, described by the most recent inquiry into the matter as a "genocide."
Looks to me like some very clever PR sharpies have latched onto the "reconciliation" trope with a view to turning it into a vehicle for pipeline promotion. Seems a little counter-intuitive at first glance, but I was reading about Project Reconciliation in the national newspaper today. Their plan is to put together the financing to allow First Nations to take an ownership position in the Trans Mountain Pipeline, the one that PM Fluffy already bought for the people of Canada.
The brain trust behind Project Reconciliation is hoping that by having First Nations ownership of the pipeline, they can squelch First Nations protest against it.
The classic divide and conquer strategy. Sounds like a con to me.
Looks to me like some very clever PR sharpies have latched onto the "reconciliation" trope with a view to turning it into a vehicle for pipeline promotion. Seems a little counter-intuitive at first glance, but I was reading about Project Reconciliation in the national newspaper today. Their plan is to put together the financing to allow First Nations to take an ownership position in the Trans Mountain Pipeline, the one that PM Fluffy already bought for the people of Canada.
The brain trust behind Project Reconciliation is hoping that by having First Nations ownership of the pipeline, they can squelch First Nations protest against it.
The classic divide and conquer strategy. Sounds like a con to me.
Monday, June 10, 2019
Canada's submarine fleet finally firing on more than one cylinder
Before Canada bought a second-hand sub fleet from the UK, the Brits had tried to fob their submarines off on Pakistan, Portugal, and Chile, to no avail.
But along comes Johnny Canuck with stars in his eyes and a hard-on for submarines. Yessiree, when you've got all this coastline you definitely need a sub fleet! Nobody seems sure why, but apparently it's got something to do with Putin.
The UK subs were designed in the seventies, built in the eighties, commissioned in 1990, and put into storage four years later. The official reason was that the Cold War was over and they didn't need them anymore. The real reason was that they were crap. Anyone who ever owned a car or motorcycle built in Britain in the '80's wouldn't expect their submarines to be any better.
But buy them we did. There ensued fifteen plus years of refitting, rebuilding, repairing, renovating, renovating the repairs, rebuilding the renovations, refitting the refits, and general dinking around, to the tune of billions of dollars.
And for good reason, I might add.
Unlike your forty year old car or motorcycle, when a submarine conks out, you can't just thumb a ride to the nearest town.
But you can breathe easy, taxpayers of Canada! Finally, some good news on the submarine file;
In an interview with The Canadian Press, Royal Canadian Navy commander Vice-Admiral Ron Lloyd said the diesel-powered submarines — HMCS Chicoutimi, Victoria, Corner Brook, and Windsor - have finally turned a corner.
Lloyd specifically pointed to HMCS Chicoutimi’s having recently spent 197 days in the Pacific and Asia even as HMCS Windsor was patrolling the Mediterranean with NATO as proof the submarines are living up to their potential.
The fact we had two boats concurrently deployed, if that doesn’t speak to the success of the program, I don’t know what does. (National Post, Jan, 2019)
Isn't that great news! After almost twenty years and billions of dollars spent, our submarine program is a proven success because the Royal Canadian Navy can put two submarines to sea at the same time...
Putin won't be messing with us now!
But along comes Johnny Canuck with stars in his eyes and a hard-on for submarines. Yessiree, when you've got all this coastline you definitely need a sub fleet! Nobody seems sure why, but apparently it's got something to do with Putin.
The UK subs were designed in the seventies, built in the eighties, commissioned in 1990, and put into storage four years later. The official reason was that the Cold War was over and they didn't need them anymore. The real reason was that they were crap. Anyone who ever owned a car or motorcycle built in Britain in the '80's wouldn't expect their submarines to be any better.
But buy them we did. There ensued fifteen plus years of refitting, rebuilding, repairing, renovating, renovating the repairs, rebuilding the renovations, refitting the refits, and general dinking around, to the tune of billions of dollars.
And for good reason, I might add.
Unlike your forty year old car or motorcycle, when a submarine conks out, you can't just thumb a ride to the nearest town.
But you can breathe easy, taxpayers of Canada! Finally, some good news on the submarine file;
In an interview with The Canadian Press, Royal Canadian Navy commander Vice-Admiral Ron Lloyd said the diesel-powered submarines — HMCS Chicoutimi, Victoria, Corner Brook, and Windsor - have finally turned a corner.
Lloyd specifically pointed to HMCS Chicoutimi’s having recently spent 197 days in the Pacific and Asia even as HMCS Windsor was patrolling the Mediterranean with NATO as proof the submarines are living up to their potential.
The fact we had two boats concurrently deployed, if that doesn’t speak to the success of the program, I don’t know what does. (National Post, Jan, 2019)
Isn't that great news! After almost twenty years and billions of dollars spent, our submarine program is a proven success because the Royal Canadian Navy can put two submarines to sea at the same time...
Putin won't be messing with us now!
Saturday, June 8, 2019
Meanwhile, back in the real world....
There's been a lot of hullabaloo in the media recently about how the Rap's playoff run showcases the diversity of Toronto.
Fair enough.
I love Toronto. You can take a meal in any downtown or uptown (who remembers the difference?) restaurant and expect to see all sorts of folks, be they black or white or brown or Asian, hanging out.
Together.
Give it another generation or so, everybody in Toronto is going to be some shade of beige.
And that's a beautiful thing!
But pro sport remains a tool that the few use to manipulate the many.
Fair enough.
I love Toronto. You can take a meal in any downtown or uptown (who remembers the difference?) restaurant and expect to see all sorts of folks, be they black or white or brown or Asian, hanging out.
Together.
Give it another generation or so, everybody in Toronto is going to be some shade of beige.
And that's a beautiful thing!
But pro sport remains a tool that the few use to manipulate the many.
Own the ultimate camper combo for a mere thousand bucks!
Here you go; a all-wheel-drive Subaru and a Rockwood tent trailer for a thousand dollars!
I've been trying to unload this shit so long that as you can see, a gigantic pine has grown out of the sunroof of the Subaru.
That's why I've reduced the price.
A thousand bucks. Deal of a lifetime.
Bring cash.
I've been trying to unload this shit so long that as you can see, a gigantic pine has grown out of the sunroof of the Subaru.
That's why I've reduced the price.
A thousand bucks. Deal of a lifetime.
Bring cash.
Boomer does Pride
I was somewhat taken aback when I was informed that I was taking Boomer to the Owen Sound Pride Parade.
Boomer is our last surviving hound. The last time we took her out in public was to the Port Elgin Pumpkinfest.
That was a few years ago. It did not go well. Five seconds after disembarking the car, Boomer was dragging the Farm Manager down the street. Literally.
We aborted the mission pronto.
So I had some misgivings about the Pride Parade.
Boomer is well into her dotage now. She's got a bit of incontinence going on. She no longer hunkers down to take a crap... she just drops those dog turds as she's ambling along. Me and her in the Pride Parade?
Sure! Everybody else is dancing down the main street with Pride flags while I'm carrying a baggie of dog poo...
By chance, Pride Parade this year fell on Bubby's birthday. She's 89 this year, and still has all the marbles rolling in the same direction. Last year we gave her a salute as the parade passed by her retirement home. She said at the time that she'd like to be a part of it.
So this year, she was.
Back row, me and the FM. Front row, Boomer, the Bubbinator, and Aly Boltman
The Bubbinator, aka Ruth Gorbet, has been the Grande Dame of Owen Sound Little Theatre for well over sixty years.
We pushed Ruthie along the parade route in a wheelchair today.
For her 90th, we'll make sure she has her own float.
Happy birthday and all my love, Bubby!
Boomer is our last surviving hound. The last time we took her out in public was to the Port Elgin Pumpkinfest.
That was a few years ago. It did not go well. Five seconds after disembarking the car, Boomer was dragging the Farm Manager down the street. Literally.
We aborted the mission pronto.
So I had some misgivings about the Pride Parade.
Boomer is well into her dotage now. She's got a bit of incontinence going on. She no longer hunkers down to take a crap... she just drops those dog turds as she's ambling along. Me and her in the Pride Parade?
Sure! Everybody else is dancing down the main street with Pride flags while I'm carrying a baggie of dog poo...
By chance, Pride Parade this year fell on Bubby's birthday. She's 89 this year, and still has all the marbles rolling in the same direction. Last year we gave her a salute as the parade passed by her retirement home. She said at the time that she'd like to be a part of it.
So this year, she was.
Back row, me and the FM. Front row, Boomer, the Bubbinator, and Aly Boltman
The Bubbinator, aka Ruth Gorbet, has been the Grande Dame of Owen Sound Little Theatre for well over sixty years.
We pushed Ruthie along the parade route in a wheelchair today.
For her 90th, we'll make sure she has her own float.
Happy birthday and all my love, Bubby!
Bird IQ
I've got a little finch feeder hanging from an arbour about twenty feet off the stoop where I laze away sunny afternoons. (After doing a goodly turn of chores in the morning I should add, just in case the Farm Manager reads this.)
A blue jay has parked himself on the arbour, sizing up the possibilities. He's too big to perch on the ledge the feeder provides, but over the past few days he's come up with a strategy. He'll land on the ledge, which tips the feeder enough that a few seeds will spill out of the tray. Then he drops to the ground for a snack.
He's repeated the cycle at least a dozen times over the past couple of hours.
That blue jay is demonstrating learning ability and problem-solving skills that would be the envy of many a college graduate!
A blue jay has parked himself on the arbour, sizing up the possibilities. He's too big to perch on the ledge the feeder provides, but over the past few days he's come up with a strategy. He'll land on the ledge, which tips the feeder enough that a few seeds will spill out of the tray. Then he drops to the ground for a snack.
He's repeated the cycle at least a dozen times over the past couple of hours.
That blue jay is demonstrating learning ability and problem-solving skills that would be the envy of many a college graduate!
Friday, June 7, 2019
US sanctions strangle Venezuelan economy
Finally, an honest headline about Venezuela on the CBC!
Well, not quite. The full headline reads "Venezuala exodus passes four million as US sanctions strangle Venezuela economy."
The exodus.
The sanctions.
The strangulation...
Canada's shameful "leadership" of the Lima Group is aiding and abetting the strangulation of Venezuela. Does anybody think that it's Maduro and his buddies who are skipping meals because of this strangulation?
Of course not. We, the politically correct and infinitely virtuous people of Canada, are fully aboard with America's strangulation of Venezuela's economy, realizing full well that it's the little people who are most hurt by those sanctions.
Hurt enough to flee their country in the millions, according to this story.
And if we persevere, if we help Uncle Sam tighten the noose around the neck of the Venezuelan people, maybe, eventually, those desperate people will acquiesce to having a leader imposed who they never voted for.
That will be a tremendous victory for democracy and freedom!
Well, not quite. The full headline reads "Venezuala exodus passes four million as US sanctions strangle Venezuela economy."
The exodus.
The sanctions.
The strangulation...
Canada's shameful "leadership" of the Lima Group is aiding and abetting the strangulation of Venezuela. Does anybody think that it's Maduro and his buddies who are skipping meals because of this strangulation?
Of course not. We, the politically correct and infinitely virtuous people of Canada, are fully aboard with America's strangulation of Venezuela's economy, realizing full well that it's the little people who are most hurt by those sanctions.
Hurt enough to flee their country in the millions, according to this story.
And if we persevere, if we help Uncle Sam tighten the noose around the neck of the Venezuelan people, maybe, eventually, those desperate people will acquiesce to having a leader imposed who they never voted for.
That will be a tremendous victory for democracy and freedom!
Thursday, June 6, 2019
Ottawa resident learns he can't take public transit to his new middle class job
There was jubilation all round when Amazon broke ground on their new Ottawa Fulfillment (not to be confused with fulfilment) Centre last August. Amazon execs and politicians, from the US ambassador to PM Fluffy to local councillors, congratulated themselves for bringing hundreds of great middle class jobs to town.
Amazon is now hiring for those jobs. They've even been shamed into upping the pay to $16/hr! That should gross out at around $32k per annum, at least for full-time employees.
Jon Corignan is one of Amazon's new hires, and he knows something the politicians don't, namely that on $32,000/yr he's not going to have both an apartment and a car. Although in times of yore a "middle class" family could typically afford both, he's even willing to forgo the car, but wants the city to provide public transit to his new workplace.
Jon is to be commended for his eco-friendly choices, even if "choice" is perhaps not the right word in his situation. He of course retains the choice between having an apartment vs. having a car. As long as he gets a car that'll accommodate the whole family, he should be good to go!
If working at an Amazon warehouse is a good middle class job, then having families living out of their cars in the Amazon parking lot is the new middle-class reality.
Amazon is now hiring for those jobs. They've even been shamed into upping the pay to $16/hr! That should gross out at around $32k per annum, at least for full-time employees.
Jon Corignan is one of Amazon's new hires, and he knows something the politicians don't, namely that on $32,000/yr he's not going to have both an apartment and a car. Although in times of yore a "middle class" family could typically afford both, he's even willing to forgo the car, but wants the city to provide public transit to his new workplace.
Jon is to be commended for his eco-friendly choices, even if "choice" is perhaps not the right word in his situation. He of course retains the choice between having an apartment vs. having a car. As long as he gets a car that'll accommodate the whole family, he should be good to go!
If working at an Amazon warehouse is a good middle class job, then having families living out of their cars in the Amazon parking lot is the new middle-class reality.
Wednesday, June 5, 2019
Russiagate: the hoax lives on
When we read news on RT or Sputnik, most readers will take it with a grain of salt. After all, those outlets, financed by the Russian government, will no doubt be putting a pro-Russian spin on their stories.
If, however, we read a story published by NATO, there is no salt required. Of course not! NATO is us... the good guys! Not NATO nor anyone in our media would put a pro-Western slant on a story. It's strictly objective truth and nothing but the truth!
The CBC has a story on view regarding Russian Twitter trolls. A NATO "academic journal" has unearthed more proof that the Ruskies were meddling in the 2016 election! Writer Kaleigh Rogers reminds us that "the goal of the Russian campaign was not to sway voters one way or the other, but to stoke debate and division among Americans," as if Americans need outside help becoming more divided.
In the first place, it's a pretty lame-ass election-meddling strategy the Ruskies have cooked up if its goal wasn't to sway voters.
More importantly, if encouraging debate and division is election meddling, isn't that what the Americans have been doing with Radio Free Europe since 1949?
If, however, we read a story published by NATO, there is no salt required. Of course not! NATO is us... the good guys! Not NATO nor anyone in our media would put a pro-Western slant on a story. It's strictly objective truth and nothing but the truth!
The CBC has a story on view regarding Russian Twitter trolls. A NATO "academic journal" has unearthed more proof that the Ruskies were meddling in the 2016 election! Writer Kaleigh Rogers reminds us that "the goal of the Russian campaign was not to sway voters one way or the other, but to stoke debate and division among Americans," as if Americans need outside help becoming more divided.
In the first place, it's a pretty lame-ass election-meddling strategy the Ruskies have cooked up if its goal wasn't to sway voters.
More importantly, if encouraging debate and division is election meddling, isn't that what the Americans have been doing with Radio Free Europe since 1949?
Monday, June 3, 2019
When is a volunteer not a volunteer?
There's another dose of White Helmets propaganda on view at the Globe and Mail today, courtesy of Mark MacKinnon.
Seems that a few of those brave White Helmet volunteers that Israel allowed transit to Jordan last year remain stuck in Jordan, instead of finding their way to a warm welcome in Canada. Apparently there are "security concerns," and our Foreign Minister sounds like she's trying to fob them off on some other Western country, one that doesn't vet their young Muslim immigrants of fighting age, coming from combat zones, as thoroughly as Canada does.
Call me skeptical, but the White Helmets saga has smelled mighty fishy from the get-go. The official story, that these are local volunteers saving their neighbours from the vile Assad's relentless attacks, sounds good on the face of it.
So why does that bit of local altruism require an ex-SAS guy from the British Army by the name of James Le Mesurier to organize it? And how can a "volunteer" group soak up well over $100 million in Western financing over four short years? That's well over $25,000 per "volunteer." To put that into context, $25k is about 20 years salary for a conscript in Assad's Syrian Arab Army.
Either these are the best paid volunteers in the Middle East, or James and his Mayday Rescue outfit are siphoning off one hell of a management fee.
MacKinnon recycles the stale tale of the White Helmets expose of Assad's use of chemical weapons:
Videos made by the White Helmets also provided the initial evidence-later substantiated by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-that the regime had used chemical weapons against its opponents.
Mark is being disingenuous with that claim. Google "OPCW news" and see what comes up. The integrity of the OPCW has taken a huge hit in recent weeks, and Mark is surely aware of that fact. Why not mention it in his story?
Instead, he quotes Chystia Freeland blaming Russian smears.
Not sure exactly what it is you're doing, Mark, but it isn't journalism. Propaganda, perhaps?
Seems that a few of those brave White Helmet volunteers that Israel allowed transit to Jordan last year remain stuck in Jordan, instead of finding their way to a warm welcome in Canada. Apparently there are "security concerns," and our Foreign Minister sounds like she's trying to fob them off on some other Western country, one that doesn't vet their young Muslim immigrants of fighting age, coming from combat zones, as thoroughly as Canada does.
Call me skeptical, but the White Helmets saga has smelled mighty fishy from the get-go. The official story, that these are local volunteers saving their neighbours from the vile Assad's relentless attacks, sounds good on the face of it.
So why does that bit of local altruism require an ex-SAS guy from the British Army by the name of James Le Mesurier to organize it? And how can a "volunteer" group soak up well over $100 million in Western financing over four short years? That's well over $25,000 per "volunteer." To put that into context, $25k is about 20 years salary for a conscript in Assad's Syrian Arab Army.
Either these are the best paid volunteers in the Middle East, or James and his Mayday Rescue outfit are siphoning off one hell of a management fee.
MacKinnon recycles the stale tale of the White Helmets expose of Assad's use of chemical weapons:
Videos made by the White Helmets also provided the initial evidence-later substantiated by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-that the regime had used chemical weapons against its opponents.
Mark is being disingenuous with that claim. Google "OPCW news" and see what comes up. The integrity of the OPCW has taken a huge hit in recent weeks, and Mark is surely aware of that fact. Why not mention it in his story?
Instead, he quotes Chystia Freeland blaming Russian smears.
Not sure exactly what it is you're doing, Mark, but it isn't journalism. Propaganda, perhaps?
Sunday, June 2, 2019
Tienanmen Square "tank man" thirty years on
I never got why the guy standing in front of the tanks became a hero. It wasn't he who stopped the tanks.
It was the commander of that first tank. He's the guy who put the brakes on.
Wonder what happened to him?
Toronto Star exposes BDS as Iran plot!
In case you were wondering, the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction movement is a plot cooked up in Iran. That's according to the Toronto Star's Rosie DiManno in her page 2 column today.
Those damned Persians!
Yup, it's all "anti-Semitism, don't kid yourself," Rosie assures us. Rosie came to this conclusion after attending a Al Quds Day rally in Toronto without her cigarettes, a fact her editors somehow find relevant to the story. Or maybe she no longer has anyone edit her idiocy. After all, it's been tough times in the news biz. Tossing the editors over the side was just another cost-saving necessity.
That's why the Canadian media bigs went cap-in-hand to the government to wrangle a $600 million subsidy from taxpayers to subsidize their failing news titles, so they can continue to publish anti-Palestinian hate-speech like DiManno's effort today.
DiManno obviously has high regard for "that sliver of democracy in the Middle East." Good for her, but I think most diaspora Jews under thirty are embarrassed by it. Google we know where every bullet landed and you'll see why. There's nothing praiseworthy about IDF snipers killing unarmed Palestinians.
Nothing.
DiManno gets one thing right; there is no two-state solution. It may take five more years or fifty, but eventually a one-state solution will prevail. That will be a state in which every resident is a citizen, and every citizen has an equal vote. At that point, Israel will be more than a Jewish state; it will be an authentic democracy.
Those damned Persians!
Yup, it's all "anti-Semitism, don't kid yourself," Rosie assures us. Rosie came to this conclusion after attending a Al Quds Day rally in Toronto without her cigarettes, a fact her editors somehow find relevant to the story. Or maybe she no longer has anyone edit her idiocy. After all, it's been tough times in the news biz. Tossing the editors over the side was just another cost-saving necessity.
That's why the Canadian media bigs went cap-in-hand to the government to wrangle a $600 million subsidy from taxpayers to subsidize their failing news titles, so they can continue to publish anti-Palestinian hate-speech like DiManno's effort today.
DiManno obviously has high regard for "that sliver of democracy in the Middle East." Good for her, but I think most diaspora Jews under thirty are embarrassed by it. Google we know where every bullet landed and you'll see why. There's nothing praiseworthy about IDF snipers killing unarmed Palestinians.
Nothing.
DiManno gets one thing right; there is no two-state solution. It may take five more years or fifty, but eventually a one-state solution will prevail. That will be a state in which every resident is a citizen, and every citizen has an equal vote. At that point, Israel will be more than a Jewish state; it will be an authentic democracy.
Saturday, June 1, 2019
Bird action
How ironic that I would be posting this the same week I got my first CPP payment.
We've always had bird feeders. I never paid much attention. Now and then the Farm Manager would say fill the feeder, and I did, and that was about it.
I knew birds were coming to eat the stuff we put out, and it was mildly entertaining, but I never really gave it any thought.
But I'm starting to.
Right now there's a couple of hummingbirds battling over the hummingbird feeder. They keep chasing each other off. Brownie likes to have a sit-down on the rim of the feeder. Greenie keeps herself airborne at all times.
A little further off the stoop we've got a feeder filled (well, not for long) with safflower seed. It's been so popular I'm filling it every day.
Until very recently, birds were just birds to me. Sure, I could tell a seagull from a crow from a Canada goose, but you pick that up by osmosis. I didn't really care.
Now I'm getting to know them. The feeder is very popular with Grosbeaks. We have a variety of finches as well, and some woodpeckers. We've seen Blue Jays but no Cardinals.
D. Neumann, bird watcher?
We've always had bird feeders. I never paid much attention. Now and then the Farm Manager would say fill the feeder, and I did, and that was about it.
I knew birds were coming to eat the stuff we put out, and it was mildly entertaining, but I never really gave it any thought.
But I'm starting to.
Right now there's a couple of hummingbirds battling over the hummingbird feeder. They keep chasing each other off. Brownie likes to have a sit-down on the rim of the feeder. Greenie keeps herself airborne at all times.
A little further off the stoop we've got a feeder filled (well, not for long) with safflower seed. It's been so popular I'm filling it every day.
Until very recently, birds were just birds to me. Sure, I could tell a seagull from a crow from a Canada goose, but you pick that up by osmosis. I didn't really care.
Now I'm getting to know them. The feeder is very popular with Grosbeaks. We have a variety of finches as well, and some woodpeckers. We've seen Blue Jays but no Cardinals.
D. Neumann, bird watcher?
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