Harper goes full on North Korean ...

Jeremy Nuttall describes the Friday noontime fiasco when Harper gathered Ottawa-bureau reporters in one place, had them sign an embargo on information and then cut them off, preventing them filing stories on the Harper anti-terrorist legislation.

Good read!

And, this is just the beginning. We all know Harper finds democracy an inconvenient obstacle to his hold on power. Expect more, a lot more, in the coming months. Harper is a desperate individual. Desperate people do despicable things.

Added:  Highlighting the desperation of this odious psychopath is an article from Heather Mallick underscoring his need to broadcast his penis size without, you know, actually having to show it, by producing warrior-centric propaganda ... with your money.

Chris Turner explains that Harper's behaviour is nothing short of that fake US patriotism we're all familiar with. He, along with thousands of others describes Harper's 3 minute propaganda piece as nothing but a cartoon and completely out of place in a country where duty, obligation and sacrifice do not involve beating your own chest and having band play martial music 24/7.

H/T Alison for the Chris Turner link.

Pay no attention to the liar in the cupboard

Nothing demonstrates cowardice in a politician as much as attempting to sneak things, which should be completely public, past the citizenry in a clandestine fashion intended to hide the truth.
Boris laid the groundwork here.

Why is the coward bearing the title "prime minister" so hell-bent on sole-sourcing the F-35? BECAUSE HE'S MADE A DEAL HE HASN'T TOLD YOU ABOUT. He's hiding something - he always is!

A little more for you.

Two things ...

There are two things Harper isn't: an economist nor a statesman.


Be clear on one thing. Everything Harper is doing now, on any file to which he actually pays attention, is for a single purpose - to retain power at all costs. And he will pursue any cynical course to make that happen, including the destruction of the Canadian middle-income sector.

Harper has mismanaged the economy to the point of ruination. With Canadians reeling at rising unemployment levels and shrinking wages, Harper touts himself as the only true financial manager on offer. Worse, there are media types who actually swallow that and regurgitate as though it is somehow true ... because Harper's spin machine said so.

Yet, by any metric, Harper's performance on the economy has been a dismal failure. With paltry job growth and a December 2013 loss of 60,000 jobs, Harper's claims become evidence of self-delusion.

The Canadian dollar is being intentionally weakened, not because it benefits the country as a whole, but again, it serves Harper's purposes. And, yes, they're lying about it.

Harper will stomp the economy to the ground if it means he can produce a 2015 budget that appears "balanced" or better yet, has an imaginary surplus. To achieve this goal he will ignore the economic wisdom of the better-educated and wildly more experienced and follow a course which has crushed much more robust economies than Canada's.

For years, the government’s strategy has been to cut the deficit it created and hope that exports and investment would fill in the gap. This hasn’t worked.

Despite this, Mr. Flaherty’s still believes the answer to insufficient aggregate demand is to eliminate the deficit by 2015-16. Even the International Monetary Fund thinks he’s wrong. It has recommended that, in the absence of a strong recovery in growth and job creation, the date of deficit elimination could be delayed.

Which economies have succumbed to amateur processes followed by the Harper/Flaherty lot? Owen has the answer to that.

As for Harper's statesmanship, aside from the groin rub he shared with Benjamin Netanyahu, there will be no awards arriving on his desk. Harper gushed all over Netanyahu in an embarrassingly unprofessional and unstatesmanlike manner. It became clear to everyone watching, in Canada and around the world, that Harper had stepped into something personal and was not speaking for Canadians. He was speaking purely for himself and the entourage of select right-wing religious freaks that you paid to go with him.

Why would he do that? Again, an attempt to retain power. Whether Harper is a true believer or not, his performance was intended for his right-wing religious base. It's right out of the Karl Rove playbook.

The Harper entourage was the largest such travelling road show that anyone can remember. The group nicely reflects core elements of the coalition that Harper has built with the intention of placing him in power and keeping him there. Key to the religious wing of that coalition is a collection of socially conservative evangelicals, Jews and conservative Catholics. Mainline Protestants and progressive Catholics need not apply and they were not represented on the junket.

Harper will blather on about this trip for months, as he blathers on about the economy. In the end he hopes that, on election day, you stay home, (or go to a non-existent voting place), while his energized Christian Zionist, Rapture seeking base swamps the polls.

On the economy he'll continue to paint a false picture of astute economic wisdom by presenting a "balanced" budget in 2015. (Whether it actually balanced or Flaherty had to diddle with the finance projections the way he did in Ontario). With that, the mysterious "risk" the Canada Revenue Agency says exists awaiting the decision of the prime minister in summer 2015 will become obvious: Harper will attempt to buy your vote with the offer of "income splitting".
 

“It’s the re-election! This is the million-dollar shot.”

If there was ever a question as to the purpose of Harper's lavish pilgrimage to the lap of Bibi Netanyahu, this should put it to rest.



Harper is blatantly misusing your tax dollars for a re-election photo op. I wonder which senator he learned that from? Oh, right. I forgot. The Conservative Party bag-man, and Harper-appointed senator, is along on the junket.

Added: Alison provides some entertainment value. Make sure you read her comment.

The List

Thanks to David Akin we finally have a list of the entourage Harper hauled along, on your tax dollars, on his pilgrimage official visit to Israel. Read it closely and discover the delightful people who will dine on your dime, while Harper closes research libraries, labs and facilities. Rejoice that Stockwell Day, supposedly retired, is still sucking up your money because, after all, there is no more self-entitled an individual than a right-wing religious freak jamming austerity down your throat.

And there's more. Dr. Dawg has some of the more poignant details and a must-read. 

If this trip had happened when Harper was in opposition he would have been standing on his commons desk screaming.

At the time of writing, Harper is addressing the Knesset. (Live broadcast). Not surprisingly, over half the members of the Knesset are absent, but the public gallery is standing-room-only. Of course, when you have 223 boot-lickers traipsing behind you, not to mention all the administrative and security staff, plus the media train, you can pretty much bet that virtually every public seat was taken up by members of Harper's royal progress.

And as Harper and Bibi spend the day rubbing each others' groin and making embarrassing public statements about their love for each other, there is at least one media outlet in the world making it clear that Harper is full of shit.

An absolute phoney

Harper is at it again. In a trick stolen from the Christy Clark manual of "quick wins", The Great Pretender is now holding secret press conferences.

Last week, while members of the English media were blocked from questioning Prime Minister Stephen Harper during a Lower Mainland visit, he held an event to field queries from a select few members of the ethnic media.
Some of the chosen few who attended the Jan. 6 event told 24 hours that Conservative MPs Wai Young, Nina Grewal and Alice Wong were also in attendance.
One reporter said journalists were allowed to ask Harper one question each and were given a chance to have their photo taken with the prime minister.

It was not on his announced agenda and no one knew there was any kind of public session. Oh! Wait. It wasn't public. It was exclusive. Let's end it right there. End of story. Sure there's more but who ... fucking ... cares?!

Every one of those reporters was subject to a PMO clamp before they ever walked into the room. They had to submit their questions in advance and they had to stay on the PMO topic. Ask your question, get your pic with the turd and get the fuck out.

Would the PMO choose to challenge me on any of that? Feel free to grace the comments section ... at your own peril.

So what else is this phoney sonofabitch up to? Well, how about denying the facts about unemployment; how about failing to address corruption in a senate scandal HE created; how about failing to address the needs of veterans HE sent into combat; how about overseeing the destruction of this country's accumulated knowledge?

How about it, Harper? Where are you on the things that are starting to bore into the guts of all Canadians?

Here's where.

Nowhere. Instead he feeds you propaganda and, oh, sister, Joseph Goebbels would have had a hard time pulling this one off. He fed you one that didn't even exist. It's some weird daydream and a dream without a plan is never a goal.

“The Canada Job Grant will result in one important thing – a new or better job,” said the reassuring voice-over in the TV ads.
The problem: The program was never launched and is still on hold. The job grants were announced in the 2013 federal budget, but it called for an agreement with the provinces, which have so far refused to buy in.
Employment and Social Development Canada spent between $2.5 million and $2.6 million on the ad campaign. That figure excludes radio ads funded by the Finance Department.

 Don't believe me? Go to any community college or vocational school and ask them. There's nothing. 

[The] cash came from an $11-million fund set aside last year for Employment and Social Development Canada to promote the government as a job creator.
Before the Canada Job Grant TV ad went to air, the government paid Environics Research Group almost $70,000 to conduct market research. Focus groups saw a near-final version of the commercial.
Environics concluded: "The main message was consistently seen as positive and one that inspired hope…. In light of seeing the new ad for the Canada Job Grant, most now believe the Government of Canada is on the right track regarding skills training and the job market in Canada.”

 Shall I translate that for you? Sure. It's called bullshit. They had nothing, they fed you a line and in the end you get absolutely nothing. Stephen Harper set aside $11 million to feed you a line of bullshit. There is no job training program and there are no jobs.

He's lying to you ... in your face. And he's doing it to you with your money.

Why?

Power. Harper, never known for being able to think on his feet, likes all the perks of power and he is quite willing to lie to hang onto it.

The economy of this country is tanking ... fast. The central bank has so much as said so. While the Bank of Canada would like to raise interest rates to keep the currency stable, Harper and his cabinet idiot, Flaherty, are pursuing a course which will drive the Canadian dollar to 68 cents on the US dollar and full-time unemployment to record levels. In the end there will be a dazed population wondering what the hell hit them.

I can hardly wait for his memoirs.

Harper is a phoney. He can't deal with open questions from the media; he leaves questions asked of him in parliament to the daily-appointed crippled moron with a government title; he lies to you over and over and over and then he has it paid for with your tax dollars.

Get this guy in the open, without the screen of protection he has built around himself, and he can be devastated in 30 seconds. Without a script he is reduced to a mail-room clerk.

Stephen Harper is a phoney, a liar and he's costing us our country.

You aren't going to believe this one UPDATED

But it's on YouTube. And YOU are paying for it.

... this latest initiative is more in-depth and appears to be another effort by the Conservative government to bypass the mainstream media and communicate its message directly to Canadians.

Wanna see? Don't bother with the popcorn, but you might want a spew bag handy.



Wow! The same guy who is destroying the Canadian Coast Guard by underfunding it, won't fix the Canada Pension Plan because it's too expensive, has an "enemies" list, has laid-off so many public servants that the government is operating in crippled mode ... all in the name of austerity ... is wasting millions of your tax dollars having a documentary of himself produced.

It's eerily North Korean.

Honestly, propaganda should at least hold your interest. This is just sad. If it wasn't so expensive.

A grade 11 art class could do a better job ... for a whole lot less money. In fact ...



Montreal Simon has more, more, more.

Take note of something else: The comments section in the Harper YouTube are CLOSED. Guess they didn't want, you know, citizens offering their appraisal of the bullshit they've just paid to watch.

His Immenseness will come out of his hole in ... Mill Bay, B.C.

... And then he'll make sure he's securely insulated from anything British Columbia by hiding behind the locked gates of a conservative bastion for the wealthy, Brentwood College School.

Prime Minister Harper visits Cowichan on Tuesday for a private Tory party event at Brentwood College School.
The 1 p.m. gathering, hosted by members and donors of the Conservative Party of Canada, promises to be popular among party faithful wishing to hear the PM's speech.

Wow. One would have to wonder what brings a self-serving bastard like Harper to Cowichan. It's not, you know, in a big, important area code. And one thing is absolutely certain: he wouldn't bother with the place unless it was to his personal advantage.

Ahhh. This.

Harper thinks he has a chance at a Reform Conservative win in a newly drawn riding.

You just knew he wasn't here to see the people.

Your government doesn't like it when you know things

So much for anything resembling freedom, freedom of information or freedom of the press. The Harperites don't like it when you know stuff.

The Harper government called in the RCMP to investigate a politically embarrassing story involving the decision to sole-source the purchase of the F-35 stealth fighter, claiming it was a breach of national security, The Canadian Press has learned.

The Mounties conducted a five-month review into an alleged leak of cabinet documents under the Security of Information Act, recently used to charge a naval intelligence officer in an apparent spy case.

Records obtained under the Access to Information Act show investigators had doubts almost from the outset in July 2010 that any laws were broken in the Globe and Mail story.

The story revealed angst within government about possible alienation from Washington if a competition was held to replace the air force's CF-18s.

Still, the review pressed ahead and drew in one of the RCMP's four Integrated National Security Enforcement Teams, whose job it is to chase terrorism threats.

It was shut down in December 2010 for lack of evidence.

Oh yes, it gets better.

The case file shows the complaint was laid by Wayne Wouters, clerk of the Privy Council, the country's highest-ranking civil servant and adviser to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, shortly after the article appeared on June 11, 2010.

On orders from His Grace, you can bet. When a Harper hack moves on something like this it's because Harper issued a command.

So, to conclude ...

The RCMP closed its file in November 2010, but was forced to "re-activate" the case and "investigate further" because it was noted no one had talked to Wouters.

The file "should not have been concluded at this time before the complainant was met and had a chance to explain why he thinks there was a leak of 'secret cabinet documents,"' said a Dec. 22, 2010, notation.
The investigator apparently tried to contact Wouters, seeking clarification and was rebuked by the National Security Criminal Operations Branch, which noted the complaint had been filed by letter through the commissioner's office.

It took Mounties in charge of the case two-and-a-half months to get their hands on an actual copy of the letter, which had been "kept at the commissioner's office."

Any questions about who and what we're dealing with here?

It doesn't get better than ...

#HarperHistory - 


Cathie.

Honestly. Harper stands in the House of Commons and one-lines a pack of lies in an effort to discredit his political opposition.

Actually, he tried to smear them on the basis of "the fault of their ancestors". Except that their ancestors did not do what Harper said they did.

But Harper did indeed do this.

By STEPHEN HARPER and STOCKWELL DAY

Today, the world is at war. A coalition of countries under the leadership of the U.K. and the U.S. is leading a military intervention to disarm Saddam Hussein. Yet Prime Minister Jean Chretien has left Canada outside this multilateral coalition of nations.

This is a serious mistake. For the first time in history, the Canadian government has not stood beside its key British and American allies in their time of need. The Canadian Alliance -- the official opposition in parliament -- supports the American and British position because we share their concerns, their worries about the future if Iraq is left unattended to, and their fundamental vision of civilization and human values. Disarming Iraq is necessary for the long-term security of the world, and for the collective interests of our key historic allies and therefore manifestly in the national interest of Canada. Make no mistake, as our allies work to end the reign of Saddam and the brutality and aggression that are the foundations of his regime, Canada's largest opposition party, the Canadian Alliance will not be neutral. In our hearts and minds, we will be with our allies and friends. And Canadians will be overwhelmingly with us.
But we will not be with the Canadian government.

Modern Canada was forged in large part by war -- not because it was easy but because it was right. In the great wars of the last century -- against authoritarianism, fascism, and communism -- Canada did not merely stand with the Americans, more often than not we led the way. We did so for freedom, for democracy, for civilization itself. These values continue to be embodied in our allies and their leaders, and scorned by the forces of evil, including Saddam Hussein and the perpetrators of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. That is why we will stand -- and I believe most Canadians will stand with us -- for these higher values which shaped our past, and which we will need in an uncertain future.

The fat little man, who had never darkened the threshold of a recruiting office door, ever,  was writing letters demanding the spilling of Canadian blood in support of a George W. Bush invented war.

He went nuts when we didn't dive blindly into Iraq.

He stuffed himself into the corner of the worst kind of moron the world has ever seen take the reins of the last surviving military superpower.

Not much has changed.

Harper is a whole lot less than what his spin merchants portray.

The truth is, he is a self-absorbed idiot.

It's on the hidden agenda

Therefore it's not on the agenda you can see.

The Harper government has served notice that thousands of same-sex couples who flocked to Canada from abroad since 2004 to get married are not legally wed. 

But speaking in Halifax Thursday, the Prime Minister said the issue was not on the agenda for his majority Conservatives. “We have no intention of further re-opening or opening this issue,” Stephen Harper told reporters when asked about The Globe and Mail’s report. 

The reversal of federal policy is revealed in a document filed in a Toronto test case launched recently by a lesbian couple seeking a divorce. Wed in Toronto in 2005, the couple have been told they cannot divorce because they were never really married – a Department of Justice lawyer says their marriage is not legal in Canada since they could not have lawfully wed in Florida or England, where the two partners reside.  

I am about the furthest thing from a lawyer, but I'm betting lawyers from Whitehorse to Moose Jaw are reading this report with a significant amount of horror. James C. Morton holds out one of the easy examples of where this leads.

This is your Harper government. Their leader stands there and lies to you while they disassemble the rule of law.

Corrected Moose Jaw; two words; just down the road from Regina. TUVM Regina Mom.

Why does Turkey count?

Well... to a hillbilly government led by a donkey... it doesn't.

Campbell Clark lays it all out. 

Harper is way too shallow to work in the background. That takes finesse and the willingness to know how to wield the power from a second chair. And an awareness that extends beyond the horizon of pumping asphalt to Houston.

Turkey’s growing economy hasn’t featured in Mr. Harper’s push for trade with emerging-market countries. There were exploratory talks about free trade in 2010, but none in 2011.

Because he's too much of an ideological turd to actually know here he really sits in the world. He wants to be the leader of a superpower. Parades, pictures of himself everywhere, glorification at Timmy's (not the upscale version), and adoration from the gun-tottin'  gopher shooters.

You'd think that one of the overstrengthed battalion he employs as communications staff could figure it out.

You'd be wrong.

The tough road is accepting your opposition at the table

Have you read James Travers yet?

No?

Do it now.

I don't like coalitions any better than the next person, but if it guarantees anything, it guarantees that my vote actually has more impact.

Yeah. And what Montreal Simon said.

Before you head out shopping today ...

Pig-in-a-Poke

And, if you're thinking of doing some seasonal shopping, in most places across the country you'll want to do it today and not leave it until tomorrow. The weather, in many places, is going to deteriorate, later in the day.

The west coast can expect a 995 millibar Low to move into Vancouver Island (and eventually the mainland) by mid-afternoon bringing heavy rain to the entire coast. The Fraser Valley will experience a severe drenching by Sunday.
Alberta will be clear, although temperatures are going to drop rapidly by Sunday. Same goes for southern Saskatchewan, although, according to the crystal ball, there will be blowing snow on Sunday and wind-chills in the -30+ range. (That's "stay-in-bed" weather).
Winnipeg will experience a normal day with wind-chill in the -30+ range, a bit of snow and then experience a sudden temperature drop by Sunday.
London, Ontario will have a clear day which will then turn messy on Sunday. As the temperature drops the east winds kick in, more snow is in your future.
Southern Quebec may have a problem. Today will be relatively clear, but as the winds rise and the temperature drops there is a very good chance of a minor ice-storm in around the Montreal area by Sunday.
The Maritimes will have some flurries or mixed rain and snow today. Overnight, however, the temperature will drop, winds will rise and everything will get icy.
St. John's Newfoundland will be positively balmy today. The daytime high will be -3 but it will be sunny and calm. By Sunday, expect the winds to rise, but then the temperature will too.

So, pretty much a normal winter weekend across the country with today being the better of the two days. Go shopping today and then button up tomorrow.

When you come back from your day at the bazaars, sit back and do a little reading. I know! Go take a look at Impolitical and then Far and Wide. That will warm you up. They will send you off to read David Pugliese which will cause your body temperature to rise even more.

You will then realize that all that comparison shopping you did, that concern for the effect of Christmas on your credit cards, the attempt to get just the right item for the very best price is how every purchase should be made, including those made by the Harper government.

Oh yes, for those special people who actually check out consumer reviews on big-ticket items before making a purchase, good on you. That's the way to make a proper assessment of expensive items. It means the item has to be on the market and available. Of course, you'll also be checking out the "return policy" of any place you shop.

Strangely, the Department of National Defence had pretty much the same policy when it came to buying military aircraft: Buy no aircraft which is not in operational use by an allied air force.

And then Harper hillbillies came to power. They look at the glossy brochure, check out the colours on the box and then blow the limit on your national credit card. They don't believe in smart shopping when it's them spending your money.


Cautionary note: Readers are advised not to make decisions based on the weather forecasting above. Despite the use of very accurate models from various sources, you should always refer to the official forecast issued by Environment Canada for your area. 

And for those who thought the weather was the most interesting part of this post ... check out Moderate Man. 

Speaking of things that fly ....

Can you say awkward?

Questions are being raised about the Conservative government's procurement of Russian helicopters that Canadian pilots have been secretly using to fly troops into combat in Afghanistan.

Until this week, the government had been silent about the MI-17 "Hip" helicopters that were leased last year. The government still refuses to provide any details of their procurement, including how much the lease cost.

Ooooh. I would think the auditor-general might have wanted to know about that. In the AG Fall 2010 report there is diddly about an MI-17 acquisition.

"It was competed, it was open, but for reasons of security I really can't go into any other details," Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Wednesday.

I wouldn't be too sure about that. Since the AG missed it in a detailed report entitled Acquisition of Military Helicopters, one has to question the veracity of MacKay's statement. Sounds like some details weren't available to the AG.

So off to the digs and what do we discover? Ah yes, there was an idea way back when it was realized that the CH-47 Chinooks we ordered were not going to appear before the previously scheduled end of the Afghanistan mission. 

Shortly after the RFP’s release, Canadian defense think-tank CASR began pointing out 2 potential solutions to this dilemma. One is the possible solution discussed during November 2005 coverage of Canada’s “emergency” purchases for Operation Archer: buy Mi-17 helicopters, the same type flown by East European NATO allies and by the Afghan Air Force. A Russian trade delegation made that precise offer during their March 2006 visit to Canada, and a Canadian company named Kelowna Flightcraft is already cooperating with the Mil factory in Kazan, producing Mi-17KF “Kittiwakes” with fully Westernized avionics and rear loading ramps.

Right. And if you read the above you'll notice that the original had a bunch of links in it back to the Simon Fraser University based CASR think-tank site. Back to that, right after this.

Mi-17s wouldn’t be a substitute for the Chinook. Their load is 24 fully-equipped troops at best, with an external sling load of 3,000 kg, vs. the stated Canadian requirement of 30 troops and 5,443 kg. Hot and high altitude conditions will reduce those totals further. On the other hand, their cost is about 1/8 that of a new CH-47 Chinook, and deliveries would have been rapid. They would create a temporary solution, one which could be repurposed later to other military roles, given away to the Afghans, or even given civilian rescue or disaster-related roles as Chinooks become available.

So, the Chinook would still have to be purchased, but to fill an immediate need, these things might work. However, cost conscious Canadians would see the price differential and ask, "Why, Peter?" 

Ah yes... those CASR links. Don't waste your time. Despite the fact that Defense Industry Daily was able to link back as recently as 28 Oct 2010, CASR now has this statement regarding all previous things MI-17.(highlighting mine)

This Background Index previously focused on the Canadian Forces medium-lift tactical helicopters required for Afghanistan. That medium-lift role has now been filled through the purchase of six ex-US Army CH-147D Chinooks. At the end of Canada's Afghan mission, remaining CH-146s  – one CF Chinook is said to have been lost to enemy action – are to be sold back to the US government. Those 'D models will be replaced by CH-147F MHLH (Medium-to Heavy-Lift Helicopters).

In earlier Background pages, we covered CF options and alternatives to hard-to get Chinooks. With CH-147s in place with Canada's JTF-Afghanistan Air Wing in Kandahar, those alternatives became moot and the pages have been removed.

Really?! Not so moot. And the timing is so ... coincidental.

In the CBC article we hear from University of Calgary political science professor Rob Huebert.

Defence analyst Rob Huebert said the huge price difference between the two helicopters might help explain why the government has kept the deal secret.

"From a political perspective, one can also see that the Conservatives may not want to be seen to be undermining their claim that they needed the Chinooks to the degree that they did," Huebert said.

But he said the air force was wise to choose an American helicopter to be a permanent part of the Canadian equipment in order to have access to experts or spare parts. That could be a concern if relations with Russia start to freeze up, he said.

Whoa, there! First part good. Second part bad.
Yes, there are a lot of questions as to why the Harperites kept this deal secret. The MacKay line of security is a load of crap. Huebert has it right that this has a lot of potential to embarrass the Conservatives. And they could be left wanting for any coherent answer.

No. Huebert is over-simplifying and playing at "cold war" mentalism with regard to suppliers. While the MI-17 (MI-172) "Kittiwake" is a Russian-built airframe, it incorporates avionics from BAE in the UK and (brace yourself) Kelowna Flightcraft in Canada. As they are only too happy to point out.

No, the problem for the Conservatives is that having leased Russian helicopters, and with Canadian companies involved, it makes the northern dance with the "Bears" look a lot less ominous and the theatrics of MacKay and Soudas even more pathetic.

Worse though, is that Harper and MacKay have yet to learn that it isn't their money. Any suggestion that this was "open" is misleading at best.

Another question: "It was competed," says MacKay.

Against what? Who were the other contenders? Where did it appear so all of us could be assured of a proper bidding process? Where?

Mind you, given the Harper/Soudas/MacKay definition of a competition it was probably a tossing of credit cards into the middle of the table to see who was going to pay for the drinks.

It's November

And in November is when someone pulls the pin. It's when the hillbillies in Harper's office get caught with their pants around their knees. Something happens that they weren't prepared for and they have to resort to drastic measures to save their own asses.

It is now tradition. Harper will do something to further erode the conventions of Canadian democracy to serve his own needs. We are in very real peril of having some bloody-minded little prick like Harper turn Parliament into the Government's whore.

This past week, it was the unelected Conservative senators audaciously killing a climate-change bill passed by a clear majority of elected MPs in the House of Commons. 

The week before, it was Prime Minister Stephen Harper, with tacit agreement from the Liberals, deciding to bypass the Commons in any debate over extending Canada's troop commitment in Afghanistan — a decision that itself flew in the face of a Commons vote to end the mission in 2011.

Real democracy taking a real hit from a real autocrat.
Harper, who only came to govern on a backlash punishment vote, all the while promising to diminish the limited influence of the Senate, has turned the upper house he claimed to despise into a weapon against the voters and representative authority.

And he's not done yet.

This is the time of year when the political animals running the endless Harper campaign from the PMO miss something or miscalculate and event. At that point, any shred of democracy standing in the way of their retaining power is trampled by the scramble to retain power. Government runs for the bunker in hopes of avoiding a pasting. Twice now, that has involved shutting the doors of this country's representative assembly.

I predict it will happen again. What will be the issue the gamers in the PMO have missed while stuffing their faces with cheese puffs?

Ahhh. There's one now. A showdown the Harper/Soudas gang didn't see coming.

It's November. Prorogue is in the air.

(h/t Scott)

Told ya so!

Like Cathie, I'm just shocked!

Well, not actually. Because as we, and Cathie have been regularly pointing out, Harper never planned to depart Afghanistan.

So... Harper can tell you he didn't really lie. He just had Soudas emerge from his sty and do it for him.

What kind of mission?

Come again?

Up to 750 trainers and at least 200 support staff would work outside the combat zone at a training academy or large training facility for Afghan soldiers and police officers, the CBC's James Cudmore reports. They would remain in Afghanistan until 2014 at the latest.

Where did that come from and who decided it? Why is this information not out there for all of us to digest? And while the loyal opposition hasn't even been given the opportunity to have a look at... whatever this plan is, neither has anyone else. Harper is now using the members of the Canadian Armed Forces as his own world-stage ego brush.


Want to know who else doesn't know? The troops who are going to have to keep going back to Afghanistan. Nobody has a clue and they are none too happy about it.


Here's the prime line of the day from the bazaars neither MacKay nor Harper are allowed to enter:


Oh, isn't that fucking lovely. We'll have more people "training" the Afghan army than we will have training our own. We've got a critical backlog of basic training to the rank of corporal and we're going to train a bunch that has a desertion rate that's right off the scale. Fucking brilliant.


I don't think I even want to add to that.

Remember Fort Chipewyan From your high school history?

Here it is now.

Welcome to Stephen Harper's world.

Casualty rates are an inconvenience on the way to his majority.

And that's a little problem we have, Steve.

I almost missed this. Thankfully I came back into cyber-range and caught this.

So... little Stevie apparently flaunts the rules, breaks a few regulations and goes out to play on a tundra-based airstrip.

Nope. Staged event. His handlers orchestrated this for the dumb and stupid. Security risk? Zero. Media response to stunt? Huge.

Do it.

Then the the chain breaks.

The rogue PM eventually returned to the aircraft where he was surrounded by reporters and photographers, one of whom wondered whether he had a licence to operate the vehicle — especially on restricted space such as an air strip?

“I think I make the rules,” the PM quipped.

That's the problem. He thinks he makes the rules. Except that he knows he doesn't. And when he is faced with the outfit which actually does make the rules, he has it shut down and then runs and hides.

The little prick is a phony.