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30/06/2006 The railway to Llasa -- another excuse by Beijing to destroy TibetIf anyone needed more proof that the Butchers of Tianannmen Square want to destroy Tibetan culture as we've come to know and regard it, consider this: A new rail line opens on Saturday connecting Golmud, Qinghai to Llasa, Tibet. It's 1140 km long and is the highest railroad in the world -- in fact, they've had to put pilings to support the railbed from sinking into permafrost; and the cabin of the railcars are pressurized just like on an airplane and the windows are ultraviolet proof.
It's not that I'm against progress. But this is not my idea of progress. The Three Gorges Dam has already proven to be an environmental disaster even though it won't start producing power for another two years. Now they want to destroy both a peaceful people as well as one of the most delicate ecosystems on the planet. This will be just another excuse to shove Beijing values on a population that wants nothing to do with it but has no choice.
Canada refused to recognize the occupation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by the Soviet Union over five decades. It's time for Harper to state unequivocally that we recognize Tibet, as well as Taiwan, as free and independent states even if it wrecks our trading relationship with Beijing. I'd rather trade with New Delhi, corrupt as it may be, because at least India is a democracy and minority rights are far more respected there than in Big Red next door.
To vote for this article at Progressive Bloggers, click here. 14 year old gets beer from cab companyThere was a Page One story in the Hamilton Spectator today about how a local cab company is being investigated for delivering beer to several minors, including a fourteen year old who suffered alcohol poisoning. He's okay, thankfully, but admits he and his buddies regularly call for a beer run and they never get turned down. Not only was the sale of alcohol to a minor illegal, it also appears the company didn't even have a liquor licence -- but they do have one for a casino operation.
The sanctions are potentially harsh, up to and including the entire cab operation shut down. But that's not the point. It goes to the values argument. What kind of parents allow their kids to have parties, totally unsupervised? What kind of idiots do taxi drivers think they are, knowing full well their clients are underaged? And yes, school's out for the summer, but shouldn't we be educating kids that beer, wine and liquor are as much drugs as cigarettes are?
The shocking thing here is that the deliveries were made with no ID whatsoever. The "We Card" program may be a bit of a joke on some levels, but it is effective as a deterrent when applied to the letter. It's been mostly a voluntary program, but maybe it's time stores and other delivery agents demand ID each and every time someone buys alcohol or tobacco -- whether they're 18 or 108.
I still get orders at the call centre asking if we deliver beer or tobacco. We don't, ever, and the limited number of our locations with a liquor licence only sell it for in house meals. I don't know how many times we try to emphasize this, but some people don't get it.
Including this fourteen year old, who came close to dying but says he'll keep on getting his fix.
To vote for this article at Progressive Bloggers, click here. 29/06/2006 US Supremes give thumbs down to Gitmo gulagA major victory for human rights today. The US Supreme Court has ruled, by a vote of 5-3, that the Bush Administration's "enemy combatant" program is illegal. Writing for the majority, Associate Justice John Paul Stevens said that the Detainee Treatment Act violates both the Uniform Code of Military Justice as well as the Geneva Conventions; furthermore, Congress had no right to say that the federal courts had no jurisdiction for persons being held at Gitmo and other like facilities.
[Full text of the decision in Hamdan v Rumsfeld (05-184), as well as the dissents, can be found here.]
The bottom line of the ruling is that the detainees can't be held forever and indefinitely without charge; there must be an indictment or like filing of some kind or they have to be released. As well, military commissions are out; suspects must be tried either in civilian federal courts or in courts martial.
To say the least, this is a huge defeat for Team Dubya. Their entire case rested upon the notion of illegal combatants; and that even if those captured didn't do something to earn their arrest, they still had to be detained so they could be stopped from doing what they wanted to do. And that's the problem. Merely thinking about something, or being in the wrong place at the wrong time, is no sign of guilt. It's the act of conspiracy, colluding with others to commit illegal acts, that should be sought out.
GWB is on record as saying he wants to close Guantanamo. Now he probably will have no choice, unless he asks Congress to name him Dictator for Life.
UPDATE (12:49 PM EDT, 1649 GMT): Think Progress suggests the Hamdan decision is so sweeping, it could also be the end for another of Dubya's pet projects: warrantless wiretapping.
To vote for this article at Progressive Bloggers, click here. Name that Gregorian ChantSome Catholics are clicking their heels with glee over news that rock music may be cut from the Sunday Mass. I'm not one of them. Sure, I personally draw the line at heavy metal and goth, but what's so wrong with using rock and roll to bring people to the Rock of Ages? And frankly, I find a guitar or even a piano a lot more soothing than an organ and far more bearable than Gregorian Chant. Mind you, I don't think I've ever heard the Te Deum Laudamus performed at any Church I've attended to begin with.
Because Jesus lived in Palestine, he used the fig tree in many of his analogies. If he lived in California he would have used the sequoia, or if in Germany the Black Forest. If he lived on Earth today, he'd use the language of the streets, which includes that of hard rock.
Count on a lot of congregations thumbing their nose at this decision, too. Contemporary Christian music is just one of the reasons why people are starting to go back to the Church. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
To vote for this article at Progressive Bloggers, click here. Robbing Peter to Pay Paul: Harper rips a page from TrudeauSo we're finally getting an idea of what Harper means by fixing the "fiscal imbalance" between the federal and provincial governments -- and so far, it doesn't look good. To borrow a good line from Yogi Berra, it looks like déjà vu all over again. And it looks like he's provoking a war with an unintended adversary -- Québec Premier Jean Charest.
During the 1970s, the Trudeau Administration gave the provinces and territories a greater share of tax room so they could better fund social and health programs. Federal taxes were reduced and in return provincial taxes were increased. It was robbing Peter to pay Paul, to be fair, but people generally accepted it because at the time taxes didn't change that much overall -- they were paying so much to begin with the shift was inperceptible. And since the provincial amount was buried in the tax withholdings (except for Québec, which line items it separately) most probably didn't even realize there had been a shift of what are called "tax points."
Whether it's from one level of government to another or from one method to another -- such as shifting income taxes to consumption taxes or user fees -- tax points only work if there if three things happen.
First, there is overall revenue neutrality.
Second, people understand the reason for the shift and how it impacts their lives and pocketbooks. That's why the three year gap in the tax reforms of the 1980s introduced by Mike Wilson (now Canada's Ambassador in Washington) with major income tax reductions coming first followed by the introduction of the GST in 1991 floundered, at least at first. People saw it as a grab of money they thought they had won after working for decades to get income taxes to a more reasonable level.
As usually understood, however, "tax points" do mean a shift of income taxes and that's what we all presumed was going to happen again -- federal taxes would go down further, provincial taxes were going to go up, and transfer payments reduced since provinces were taking up the taxing authority and raising the money themselves rather than going begging.
So that leads to the third thing, which is a robust economy. If things are sagging, the provinces are put in an even greater bind because they have to still run the schools and hospitals and pay welfare cheques -- and the federal safety blanket no longer exists.
Some media outlets reported the other day that the current Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty, suggested that provinces should raise their sales tax by a percent to make up for a corresponding cut in the GST coming this Saturday. Needless to say, Charest pointed out correctly that's not what Harper promised.
It doesn't bode well for federal-provincial talks on how to reform transfer payments coming up in the next few months. That, plus reports the Conservatives took $2 million in illegal donations at a time when they were pouncing on the Liberals for embezelling funds from the Treasury (and the Libs eventually were forced to pay back over a million bucks) gives the Cons even less credibility.
If you're going to increase transfer payments, do that. If you want to shift income taxes, fine. But sales taxes? That's an insult to the middle and lower classes who pay the bulk of consumption taxes to begin with. We got fooled twice. We sure as hell won't be fooled a third time.
To vote for this article at Progressive Bloggers, click here. 28/06/2006 Reforming Canada's tax system: A previewMany Canadians often forget that there was a time when most of Canada's revenues were drawn not from individual and corporate taxes, but from import duties and resource royalties. I am not suggesting we go back to 1867, but I do think some of our so-called "priorities" are out of place.
With some major tax changes coming this weekend in Canada -- including a cut in the GST, a hike in personal income taxes, and a shift of the Child Tax Benefit from the poor to the rich -- I'm going to revisit some of my posts from the last year about social and tax policy. My intent is to see if I've changed my mind about anything I've written, and to put forward a series of ideas on how we can really reform our tax system, not just tinker with tax credits and offer rebates that are in reality just a fraction of the stated amount.
These will be coming in the next few days; and will deal with such issues as the GST, individual and corporate taxes, payroll levies, taxing native Canadians, and how best to deal with families and seniors. I would like to apologize in advance if these come off as somewhat technical. I'll try to put them in layperson's terms if I can. But since the debate is entirely within a small circle of so-called "experts" and government officials, I would like to put forward what I think should be simple and common sense.
I hope to start with these entries this weekend. I would appreciate any comments, criticisms and counterproposals as I make them.
To vote for this article at Progressive Bloggers, click here. US Government turns back on hurricane victims for good; fire sale for unused Katrina motor homesIn what one only can describe as a sign of the times, a local RV dealer here in Hamilton -- not sure which one, but they put an ad on the radio this week -- has cut summer clearance prices to the lowest they've been since 1998. They're not just getting ready for the 2007 model year; they like other sellers have gotten their hands on some of those thousands of trailers that were procured by FEMA for the Katrina disaster but wound up unused and left in a huge parking lot in Hope, Arkansas, the birthplace of Bill Clinton and far from the disaster zone.
We still have heaven knows how many refugees, and that's the best the Bush Administration can give them? Is Dubya, Rummy, Richard and Karl so strapped for cash to fund their misadventure in Iraq that they have to sell emergency shelters to middle and upper class people who'll promptly take them on the cross country tour they've dreamed of?
Call me weird if you will, but that just comes off as totally cold-hearted. Kudos to the dealers for picking up a heck of a deal; but shame on Washington for permanently abandoning the victims in the Deep South who still don't know when they can come home.
To vote for this article at Progressive Bloggers, click here. 27/06/2006 Another Catholic schism in the offing?In the last couple of weeks, the US Catholic Bishops, under pressure from the Vatican, ordered some changes to the form of the Mass. It will take about two years to implement but already a major showdown is brewing between the liberal and conservative wings of the laity -- and could cause a rupture that issues like reproductive rights and women priests still haven't.
A bit of background first: It was four decades ago that the Second Vatican Council brought the Roman Catholic Church out of the Renaissance and into the twentieth century. The reforms adopted by the bishops of the time were sweeping. Among these were the denunciation of anti-Semitism and the acceptance of religious freedom.
The most important changes, of course, were made in the session of 1963 and they deal with the form of the Mass. Among these were.having the priest face the congregation (rather than having his back turned on them), allowing the use of more spiritual and gospel music, permitting sound amplification (i.e. microphones, previously priests had to speak from a pulpit raised well above the congregation so he could be heard), and the decision to allow vernacular (or local) languages to be used for the celebration of the Liturgy. While the intent was to have these Masses along side the Latin, the fact is that nearly all of the national churches simply decided to do away with Latin all together with the exception of one Tridentine Mass per month in each diocese.
For many, the changes were too much. They saw their church as being unique and above the rest and they saw the universal use of Latin as a unifying force, not a divisive one. Being forced to tolerate Protestants was bad enough; but to actually accept Jews as the "chosen people" that they are was also too much for them. I learned in my Catholic high school that at least 500,000 people, in the United States alone, left the Church in disgust.
Part of what led to the more recent decision was how the Latin Mass was translated into local languages -- and in this case, the English. Many think it was a rushed job, and to be fair a lot of the poetry was lost. The debate is whether Vatican II wanted the translations to be in "the mother tongue," or in the everyday language people speak.
In recent years, there have been some slight alterations that haven't gotten too many hackles. For instance, in the Gloria in Excelsis Deo and the Angus Dei, the phrase "the sins of the world" has been replaced by "sin of the world" (singular). The Apostles Creed and Nicene Creed now say that Jesus upon his execution was "descended to the dead" (as opposed to hell as it once was said). The Third Eucharistic Prayer technically still has a line that says "From Age to Age" and "From East to West," but many parishes now replace this with "from generation to generation" and "from the rising of the sun to its setting."
The new form of the Mass that is being proposed, however, could cause quite a few ruffles. And frankly, I have some concerns myself.
Consider a few examples.
The Mass begins with "The Lord be with You." The proposal is to change the response from "And also with you," to "And with your spirit." This in itself could cause a backlash. For it elevates the priest or bishop to an exhalted level. And it goes against what I was taught. First, that in the ancient church, the Followers of the Way used the phrase "and also with you" to see who responded and who didn't -- the non-speakers, of course, were the Roman spies who were trying to crush the Church in its infancy. Second, the priest is not a demi-god but first among equals.
Currently, the Gloria begins "Glory to God in the highest, and peace to His people on earth." They want to change this to "Peace on earth to people of goodwill." Does that exclude those people who don't have goodwill? Isn't it the mission of the church to bring the lost sheep back into the fold?
And that's just the start of the service. They still have to go through the Eucharistic Prayers (four "all-purpose" versions, three for children and the two for Masses of Reconciliation). One of the changes that the US bishops have rejected was to change a line in the Nicene Creed from "one in being with the Father" to "consubstantial with the Father," on the grounds that most people don't understand what consubstantiality entails. (No kidding!)
The way things are going, one could see a situation where the American Church uses one translation; Canada, the UK, Australia and the Caribbean another; and many Third World English countries a third -- and all with the approval of the Vatican because the translations are "in line" with the original intent.
I'm all for trying to clean up some mistranslations -- but it should be done in a manner that is consistent with Biblical teaching as well as what people are prepared to accept, and not to rush it like was done in the 60s. Alienate too many people, and they could be driven away. That's the last thing the Catholic Church needs right now; and after over a year or so of some positive "goodwill" (no pun intended) from the current Pope I wonder if it is in danger of being wiped out.
To vote for this article at Progressive Bloggers, click here. 26/06/2006 Four days left, still not convinced to joinFour days and counting to the membership deadline for the Liberal Party of Canada. I still can't make up my mind whether or not to join -- or in my case, rejoin.
It's not from a lack of will. It's mainly because I consider myself a fiercely independent person and one of strong mind. I'm not entirely sure the party will be ready for prime time when the next election is called. I also strongly suspect that Stephen Harper will deliberately call a snap election before the convention this December in Montréal in the hopes to take advantage of a totally "disorganized" party so he can get a majority and get the carte blanche he's so desperate for.
There are still two sticking points for me. First: The Liberals are called the "natural governing party" of Canada, but I think it has to go beyond that. Rather than claim it's entitled to power, the Liberals need to say why they have earned the right to regain the reins of government. Second: I wonder how many of the candidates are fair-weathered friends, just running to make a point and not intending to stand for election as an MP when the writ really is dropped.
Do the Liberals want a hawk or a dove? Do they want to go back to the Trudeau days of "tax and spend and I don't give a damn;" continue the Harper course of "slash and burn and I don't give a shit;" or the Third Way of fiscal conservatism and social liberalism that was championed first by Chrétien and later by Clinton and Blair -- which is the prudent course, the one progressives believe in, but is also fraught with danger and prone to corruption as we've learned all too well? And of course, the more the candidates argue, the more Harper can claim that the Liberals don't deserve government because they aren't united -- the same way Bush and Rove exploit the divisions of the Democrats to prop up the GOP vote and hope to one more time this fall.
Could there be a Fourth Way we haven't heard yet, or that the candidates are keeping close to their chest? Anyone? I hope the candidates are reading this, because you have until Thursday night to convince me to go online and take out a membership. If you can do that and can make your case, let me know. Let me state again: Your case will not guarantee you my in the delegate selection process. It will only get your party a new /old member.
To vote for this article at Progressive Bloggers, click here. 25/06/2006 Working where the sun don't shineThis is from our fellow Canadians Bowser and Blue, and it's way too funny.
To vote for this article at Progressive Bloggers, click here. 24/06/2006 Snoop Doggy CheneyHappy Fête Nationale to my Québec readers.
Many intelligence victories are the kind we never hear about; acts of terrorism or financial fraud that are stopped even before they have a chance to take root because of missteps taken or from the fact someone is on the inside. Sometimes, this requires going outside the law and the covert consent of a country that would otherwise object to such an operation.
However it's when things get out of hand -- such as when there's a broad sweep looking for a needle in the proverbial haystack rather than a focused search -- that questions should be raised. We don't want spies to have the equivalent of diplomatic immunity even though many do to protect them in case they are captured. We want them to respect the laws and customs of their guests.
It was reported yesterday that the United States has received the cooperation of a financial clearing house in Brussels which handles a huge chunk of financial transactions around the world -- a middle man in a way, much like the Interac consortium in Canada but much bigger. Several trillion dollars worth of transactions, in fact, pass through this otherwise "small" operation every day. The idea was to search for suspicious transactions and sort them out to see if money is being laundered for terrorist acts.
Dick Cheney's response yesterday?
"What I find most disturbing about these stories is the fact that some of the news media take it upon themselves to disclose vital national security programs, thereby making it more difficult for us to prevent future attacks against the American people. That disturbs me."
What we should be disturbed about is a fishing expedition. I don't mind focused searches, based on concerns raised by financial institutions which lead to search warrants. To hear the US Government claim even law abiding people don't have a right to privacy when they wire money to another country smacks of Big Brother.
It goes to the argument of the Originalists: If it's not in the Constitution, it doesn't exist. Yet the Second, Third and Fourth Amendments (bearing arms, banning of quartering of militia in civilian homes, and search and seizure) all rest on an inherent right to privacy. The "pursuit of happiness" is also based in part on a right to be left alone. If one was to take the argument to the extreme, electricity, telephones and the Internet should be banned because they're not mentioned in the Constitution -- the "press" in the Bill of Rights would only mean the printed one.
One also has to wonder whether the Bush Administration, despite its attempts to coddle Muslims, are alienating them further (over and above the war in Iraq) by putting too much scrutiny on hawala; which works on principles similar to the wire transfer system we're accustomed to but at far lower commission rates. It's as if every Muslim in the First World who sends money to his or her less well off relatives in the Middle East or South Asia is automatically presumed to finance terrorism.
Long story short, even some Republican legislators including Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) want to know how far this has gone and whether it has borne any fruit of worth. For my part, I want to know if Dubya has hacked into Interac and knows the personal information of every Canadian -- he's supposed to be President of the United States, not King of the World.
To vote for this article at Progressive Bloggers, click here. 23/06/2006 Private pensions or not, seniors deserve dignity tooI find it interesting that Stephen Harper wants to go at an "everybody's equal" approach when it comes to child poverty -- i.e. all kids should get the same amount of money even if their parents are Old Boys or Girls; even though it's been proven that a geared to income approach to handing out a Child Tax Benefit or Earned Income Tax Credit (or whatever you want to call it) is the more prudent one.
However, when it comes to those who have built out country -- Canada's seniors -- Harper is of a totally different mindset. The 2006 Budget announced a doubling of the exemption on those who have private pensions or Registered Retirement Income Funds (RRIFs) -- from $1000 to $2000. That will save seniors who do have private pensions (including my father) about $165 federal tax plus whatever the provincial income tax might be.
All well and good, except that many seniors who subsist only on the near universal Old Age Security and the means-tested Guaranteed Income Supplement (these are the pensions paid out of general revenues, not the Canada and Québec Pension Plans which are funded by payroll taxes) don't get anything out of this. The GIS, aimed at low income seniors, is completely tax free. The OAS is paid to all seniors, pensioned or not, and while taxable (as it is for everyone else who receives it, including seniors with other sources of income from the moderate to the high heeled) it winds up tax free for low income seniors, after the personal exemption is factored in.
I know many people who've worked thirty or forty years who resent those who receive the GIS, even though they themselves get the base OAS as an entitlement -- about $484 a month for this quarter. (It and the GIS are indexed every quarter.) They say they've never worked a day in their lives so why should they get anything? But as I pointed out last fall, we as a nation decided years ago that the most vulnerable of our population would be protected. That's why OAS and GIS are the first tier of pensions, not the third.
After taxes, wealthier seniors will get to keep another $750 after taxes (assuming a national marginal rate of 25%, it varies from one province to another). As a matter of fairness, the GIS should be increased by a similar amount for those without pensions -- that's $62.50 a month, over and above the $17 for singles and $29 for couples to kick in next year on top of a similar increase this one.
That would bring the maximum supplement for single seniors and spouses (under 60) of seniors (65+) to about $656 a month, for jointly senior couples to $453 each, spouses between 60-64 to $937, and widowed partners between 60-64 to $1030 a month.
Of course we can afford this. If Harper wants to spend $15 billion on untendered matériel, he certainly can spare about a billion to give poorer seniors dignity. Mind you, this goes nowhere near where I believe pensions should be -- any combination of private and government pensions should take a senior to at least the poverty line. But it would be a step in the right direction.
To vote for this article at Progressive Bloggers, click here. The twelve percent solutionI would have written this last night, but for my late work shift -- however, it's something that I find both amusing and alarming. Radio Canada reported yesterday that fully 12 percent of eligible families have not applied for the universal and punitively taxable "Universal Child Care Credit," which replaces the formerly tax free and geared to income Young Child Supplement.
There are two possibilites this might be the case. One, the Harperites haven't advertised this enough so many parents don't even realize they're eligible. Two, and I suspect it's this one, parents realize how little money they're going to get -- in some cases as little as fifteen bucks a month net after clawbacks, so they're not even going to bother.
My colleague at Cowboys for Social Responsibility calls this a boondoggle, which is what I have felt it has been all along. If Harper had wanted to do this the right way, he would have added the hundred bucks a month to the already successful Young Child Supplement and made it geared to income -- effectively giving genuine tax relief to all families with incomes of up to $172,000. Instead he chose to favour rich families over poor ones knowing the higher income ones will pay little or no tax on the amount.
Boondoggle? Try heart of darkness.
To vote for this article at Progressive Bloggers, click here. 22/06/2006 More fallout from the Kentucky censorship rowI've noticed a couple of blogs including the National Journal have linked to my and other writers' entries about the crackdown on left-wing blogs at Kentucky government offices, such as the Blue Grass Report.
Let me make one thing clear: No, I don't have contacts with any main stream media outlet or high-ranking government officials, in most places in Canada or the United States. I have spoken with my Member of Parliament in the last couple of months via telephone but that's it. When I see something in the press or another blog that piques my interest, I decide whether to write about it then call it as I see it.
Did I add to the piling on along much more recognized sites like TPM and Think Progress? Perhaps. But there is one very important detail here that the right wing is missing. It's only left wing blogs that have been targeted. Mark Nickolas has reported that, as of this morning, KY employees can still access such sites as the Drudge Report, Rush Limbaugh and Captain's Quarters (and as you can see on the left, I do frequent two of those three). So, set aside the issue that this may be retaliation against what is perceived as sour grapes on the part of Nickolas, who has been trying to get press credentials at the State House in Frankfort for the last year or so.
If the executive in the Commonwealth wanted to restrict access honestly so as to make sure employees stuck to their jobs, they would have targeted sites on both the left and right. I don't think many fair minded people would argue with that.
But this kind of targeting is more than just mean-spirited. It's just plain wrong. Mark has every right to call it "bullshit" because that's what it is.
Note: Welcome to my new readers from the National Journal and Free Dominion. Hope you stick around; you might find there's some stuff here you agree with.
To vote for this article at Progressive Bloggers, vote here. Everybody hates Rona Ambrose, but the Liberals don't hate her enoughLet's see if I have this right: For weeks, Environment Minister Rona Ambrose has been going from one crisis to another to the point that her predecessor, Liberal (and one-time Olympic medallist) David Anderson, looks like a genius. Not only did she cancel the Energuide and One Tonne Challenge, two programs that were starting to bear fruit in terms of reductions of greenhouse gases, she had the chutzpah to go to an environmental forum and state Canada would no longer meet its Kyoto targets.
The ultimate insult and injury was Ambrose's continued reticence to appear before the House of Commons Environment Committee. The committee which has oversight over endangered and threatened species, clean air and water, emergency toxic clean-ups and of course Canada's national weather service. (National parks were spun off years ago to the Heritage Department, but this committee still has some sway over them.)
Short of issuing a sub poena (which Parliamentary committees have the power to do but is a hammer rarely exercised) the opposition parties, which have a majority on the committee, agreed it was time for Ambrose to go. The NDP proposed a motion, which was supposed to be voted for yesterday, demanding that Stephen Harper fire Rona Ambrose. A positive vote, which was practically guaranteed because even some Conservatives on the panel have gotten fed up with her, would have gone to the floor of the House.
In effect, it would have been a no-confidence vote not in the Government itself but just in one minister. I have felt for a number of years this should be possible in a Parliamentary system; impeach a member of the Cabinet without bringing down the entire Ministry. But Stephen Harper, who for years has said that confidence only carries on budget and appropriation bills, suddenly flip-flopped and said he would call a snap election if the House voted to fire Ambrose.
So the Liberals took the coward's way out. They voted with the Conservatives on the committee and the motion was defeated.
Eight days are left for me to re-activate my Liberal Party membership to participate in the leadership contest. This act of stupidity, based on bowing to something which has no constitutional legs to stand on, now makes me reticent to do so. Besides, my NDP MP, Chris Charlton, is doing more good for my district in just the last five months than a Liberal ever did for eighteen years. I'm not a socialist but I go with strong voices. The NDP has one. The Liberals are stumbling over themselves trying to find one.
To vote for this article at Progressive Bloggers, click here. Tom Cruise: Katie is my slaveJust when we thought we heard enough from Tom Cruise's big mouth, we now learn he wants to enslave Katie Holmes with ten children.
If Holmes who has a thousand times more talent than Angelina Jolie will ever have has any sense left in her being, she'll do a quickie wedding, divorce the next day, and get the megabucks she's entitled to. Three kids should be plenty for most -- and Cruise already has two, the ones he adopted with Nicole Kidman and with whom he still has joint custody.
To vote for this article at Progressive Bloggers, click here. 21/06/2006 The National Socialist Republic of KentuckyThis morning, in the most blatant example of government censorship since 9/11, one of the most popular websites in the United States was suddenly blocked from access to government employees in the Commonwealth of Kentucky: Mark Nicolas' Bluegrass Report. Then they blocked a few other left-wing sites, including Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo and TPM Muckraker.
For months now, BGR has been peeling away at the corruption of Kentucky's government, which is almost entirely in the hands of Republicans. So much so, in fact, that one of the State's Senators, Mitchell McConnell (a Republican, no less), has now distanced himself from the indicted Governor, Ernie Fletcher -- a man who clearly favours cronyism over the merit principle of the permanent public service, which was well established in the state long before it became acceptable in the rest of America.
BGR has been at the forefront of the need for political reform in the state, and to see this is absolutely ... well, I think Stephen Harper thinks this might be interesting. Next thing we know, he'll block Progressive Bloggers and all its affiliates from federal public servants.
To vote for this article at PB, click here. Air India inquiry finally begins -- 21 years too lateTwenty one years after one of the worst acts of terrorism, we may finally get some answers. A judicial inquiry was officially launched today, supervised by former Supreme Court of Canada Associate Justice John Charles Major.
I made extensive comments about the terrible story of the Air India bombings nearly a year ago and since then not much has changed my thoughts about it at all.
Will we finally find out whodunit? I doubt it. But if it helps prevent another 9/11, it will be well worth it.
To vote for this article at Progressive Bloggers, click here. 20/06/2006 Environics poll says: Suffer the children, don't make them sufferI'm not the least bit surprised by the latest Environics poll, commissioned by the Globe and Mail. What's even more remarkable is that publicly funded child care has broad based support across all parties, all economic classes, in both rural and urban areas -- and, horrors! -- both working mothers and those who stay at home.
In fact, the poll indicates that while parents preferred the Liberal framework over the Conservative pay out and shut up money, many -- a solid majority in fact -- would like to have both at the same time. I have said that the government can do both; and can make the allowance completely tax free.
Harper now concedes that a lot of parents won't spend the money on child care after all. What an effing suprise. Just as it's starting to dawn on people in this country that the so-called tax incentives to create spaces don't include with it money to keep the spaces running, exactly what the Liberals wanted to do.
The money for the current program runs out on March 31st of next year, which still gives us plenty of time to persuade Harper to be of a different mind. Not just of the desperate need for spaces and to make real and tax free enhancements in the Child Tax Benefit rather than his plan which transfers money from the poor to the wealthy, with lower income Canadians paying punitive payback rates and upper income families paying little or nothing at all. But also to convince him this is a religious and moral issue, that we must "suffer the children," not make kids suffer; that kids needs a real head start both in terms of healthy living and pre-school education.
I've set this issue aside for a while because there were other things on my mind. But I'm going to keep coming back to it. This is far too important to just let Harper get away with it. When the food banks start getting even bigger lineups this fall, then people will realize just how evil the shut up money really is.
To vote for this article at Progressive Bloggers, click here. First anniversary of my blogIt's been a year since I started writing this journal of thoughts about the issues of the day. I've been having a lot of fun with it, and I hope that during the next twelve months it can be even more so.
A few items of note:
First: So Edmonton lost to Carolina in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. I had a hunch that's how it was going to play out, but fans shouldn't be all that disappointed. This is the first time in a long while that two middle market teams have had the resources to build a strong bench and front office; and the tough no-nonsense approach to officiating has finally wrested ice hockey from the goons and enforcers and put it in the hands of those who actually play the game.
One may lament the trophy is in the South again; but in a region where all anyone can think of is NASCAR, rodeo and professional wrestling, it gives the sport a badly needed boost. How did I know Carolina had won? The number of calls we got for food orders dropped like a tank in the ocean.
Second: Lord Conrad Black may be in danger of forfeiting his near record setting bail of $20 million US after it turns out a beach house he put up as surety for his bond was co-owned by his wife, Barbara Amiel, and that the mortgage was defaulted on. Not to mention the market value was grossly understated by Black -- as the federal DA in Chicago, Patrick Fitzgerald, alleges.
Many might get some satisfaction from seeing a law-and-order guy behind bars, but I wouldn't celebrate. I just lament how a man could squander what was given to him -- both his talents, and his resources.
Third: A committee of the Senate of Canada was shocked to learn there were at least 300 "drive-throughs" of people crossing the border last year -- in other words, they failed to stop for inspection. Often times they were at crossings which were either unmanned for the night or had just a single border agent -- and they don't even have deployable spike strips. Of those, only 70 were apprehended.
As someone who's probably even nuttier on this issue than the Liberal dominated chamber, which has been warning about security issues for years only to be heard by the deaf ears of Chrétien and Martin, this should be a wakeup call. There should be much better surveillance of unmonitored points, two guards should be on duty at all times at all legal crossings, and every agent should be armed.
The Harperites have boosted spending, but it'll take three years to get things up to snuff. In the meantime, why not send some Mounties or armed servicepeople to help out? If the US is putting military people along its borders, so should we. We have a responsibility to stop illegal immigrants and terrorists and our borders are the first and often last line of defence.
To vote for this article at Progressive Bloggers, click here. |
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