Just my opinion . . .

For some reason, Chris Alexander and Kellie Leitch remind me of the mutants in the Midwich Cuckoos . . .

Change abounds . . .

MANY CHANGES — some good, some bad — are headed our way. Hopefully an end to our political CONstipation will be one of 'em, especially if folks who think nationally will act locally.

Even the Canadian Mint is getting into the act. "VOTE FOR OUR 2017 POCKET CHANGE" is a new promotion, inviting us to "Celebrate Canada's 150th anniversary with pocket change designed by Canadians and chosen by you".

Until October 9, vote as often as you like for your favourite coin design in each of our five categories. The more you vote and share your choices with your family and friends on Facebook and Twitter, the more you increase the chances of seeing your favourite designs on our 2017 coins.  

Some of them are quite nice, like the design you see above, others are awkward. As I reflect upon what Stevie's economic policies have done to our Loonie, I have a suggestion . . .

What, me worry? Compared to the election, this is chump change.

Just in case you didn't grasp the obvious ...

Stephen Harper thinks his own supporters are too stupid to see past his monotonously unaltered talking points regarding his intransigent and shameful approach to a global refugee and displacement crisis. (You can find the oft repeated talking points right here).

First, he tells us that a majority of these refugees come from a "Terrorist War Zone", as though that is somehow unique.

The truth of the point he won't acknowledge, (and none of the media have jumped on him for it), is that over the centuries virtually all refugees are attempting to escape terrorism and war. There is nothing unique in the nature of this crisis. But Harper keeps pounding that one point in an effort to keep his real reason for not acting, (whatever that is), from surfacing.

Then, he hits his second scripted talking point. He tells us he has a great concern about security and that all refugees must be thoroughly screened and vetted, (so, there will be no acceleration of a very slow process). Because ... they come from a terrorist war zone.

Really. A conservative screening process is the last thing any of us should trust. These guys cannot properly vet candidates that get caught peeing in cups on public TV programs or have public You Tube channels where they engage in lewd and arguably illegal behaviour.

All of this could tell us many things, but without Harper coming out and telling us what's going on in his head, we can safely assume two things: Harper has no idea what a refugee is, and; Harper cold-bloodedness comes from not having the intelligence to grasp the magnitude of the problem. 

Rock around the clock . . .

Pointers . . .

Perspective . . .

THANK-YOU, Mound of Sound.

A Burger for Stevie . . .

Burger King Japan’s Kuro Pearl burger,
which has a black bun, black sauce and black cheese
in addition to black-pepper heavy beef patties.

ACCORDING TO SALON, Burger King Japan is re-introducing its pitch-black cheeseburger.

Goths will love 'em . . . 

If I ran any of the anti-Harper parties, I'd air-freight 400-500 of 'em from Tokyo. Put each one in a nice re-cycled cardboard box with Stevie's picture on it . . . hand 'em out to the Press Gallery and such . . . call it the Harper Tar Burger . . .

Opinions . . .

TARFU: THE HARPER HELL

Dear Canada ... Kiss your navy goodbye

The Royal Canadian Navy, your navy, is now in worse condition than it ever was under any other government since before the 2nd World War.

Today the RCN announced that HMCS Iroquois is so badly rusted out and so dangerous to sail that it may never return to service.

That leaves the RCN with one, that's right, one serviceable destroyer. The RCN has one, that's right, one replenishment ship.

What that means is that the RCN is able to put ONE under-strength task group to sea in the event of a crisis, whether military or humanitarian. In a country bordered by three oceans, we have to choose ONE and hope it's a correct guess.

The RCN is conducting patrols with clapped-out, continually useless Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels, the likes of which don't even have a useable gunnery system and present a useless sick-bay.

So much for the myth perpetuated by the Harper government that the Conservatives are all about defending Canada. You'd have to go back to 1936 to find Canada's navy in such a deplorable state.

Harper lied to you and he lied to the armed services.

JobScam. An idea without a plan ...

... is nothing more than a dream.

That's what the weasel in a prime minister's suit is now trying to peddle to you. Having spent $2.5 million in advertising on a program that did not exist, this is how he explained it away. (From Aaron Wherry and you really need to read the whole piece).

“Mr. Speaker, I noted that the Canada Job Grant was in fact very well received by those in the marketplace,” Mr. Harper enthused, “by people who want to upgrade their skills, want to receive more training, want to gain jobs and, by pluralism, want to create jobs.”

Well, that just makes you all squishy thinking about all those happy people dreaming about the imaginary jobs they're going to get when the Harper government finally gets off their collective asses and actually negotiates a deal with the people who will be providing the access to training. Someday. Maybe. Would you like a sparkle pony with that elephant turd pie?

We may well have known a lot less about this fiasco if we'd relied solely on the information provided by Advertising Standards Canada. It took a leak for us to find out that ASC had forwarded fraud complaints on the expensive advertising and that the Harper government quickly removed them. The ASC, because the Harperites hauled their ads immediately after the complaints started piling in, won't identify the public abuser because they "withdrew" before the council could adjudicate. The only identity you'll see on the ASC website is Service Provider, buried amongst the restaurant, used-car and cheap air fare scams. 

The council publicly posts complaint reports, but there are two different ways of handling the disclosure, she said. Some transgressors are identified, others are not.
If an advertiser pulls or changes an ad after people complain to the council, they don't get publicly identified.
"If the ad was not withdrawn or amended until after the council decision, that's when the advertiser is identified," said Feasby.
And so it is that a posting on Advertising Standards Canada's website shows that a "service provider" with a national television campaign advertising "a new program of services" attracted 22 complaints last year.
"To the council, the commercial conveyed the general impression that the services were universally accessible," says the posting. "In fact, they would not be accessible for some time."

That's Janet Feasby. She won't tell anybody who the identity of the Service Provider is because the explicit rules say so. However ... back in August she wrote this about the Harper scam:

"In reality, the implementation of this program is not imminent, and the process of obtaining such agreement may well take a considerable length of time if, in fact, an accord with the provinces and territories (on the grant proposal) is even possible," said the letter leaked to Global.

And that one did identify the Harper government and it did make the point that the whole program, top to bottom, was blatantly fraudulent.

But yesterday, Harper told the country that everybody just loved it. He tells you all kinds of things. Most, if not all of them, are untrue. Yesterday's attempt to put lipstick on a pig shows a level of desperation in that he, and his cohort of thugs, have no amount of hesitation when it comes to insulting the intelligence of Canadians ... and spending your money to make themselves look good.

And when he tells you that they are the most fiscally competent herd in the field, keep in mind that they have yet to demonstrate anything resembling competence at anything. Clearly management and organization are absent with this crowd and without at least those two things, you don't have a government.

Harper couldn't organize a one man rush to a three hole outhouse ... but he can dream about it.

Can you hear me now?

Most of you have seen this:



This is just a part of the latest $9 million advertising campaign embarked upon by the Harper government to convince you that they are wrapping their loving arms around you and are going to give you everything you ever wanted on your smartphone for a whole lot less money than you pay now.

But, as with all things Harper, it is an ad campaign about nothing. You will not have more choices, you will not get lower prices and you will not have better service.

The strategy, (if you can call something so poorly conceived and managed a "strategy"), set forth by the Wii-generation occupants of the PMO, was to lure in new telecommunications companies by auctioning off the 700 mHz frequency spectrum. The idea was that this would allow a fourth major player into the game of "long term evolution" (LTE) and the market pressure of competition would give you more choice, lower prices and, along with sparkle ponies and rainbows, service even in the deep woods.

The problem from the outset is that the pack of wise-asses in Ottawa who dreamed up the idea have the attention span of a two year-old and the research acumen of a kindergarten class. In the last sell-off of spectrum they watched small companies buy in and then within a year attempt to sell themselves to the big three telecoms. That should have taught them something. It didn't.

In order for a fourth player to enter the wireless market it first needed a banker. Wind Mobile had one, but things went kind of badly. The Dutch company which was to be funding Wind Mobile's expansion wanted something in return for their investment. Something like ... financial and corporate control. That spawned an investment review by the federal government and then the serious people from down the street dropped their bombshell. The Dutch company was controlled by Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman who is busy fighting off Russian courts over some shady deals with the Russian government. If the brats advising cabinet had done more than 30 seconds worth of research they would have known this from the beginning and would have been fully aware that their so-called plan was doomed. Not to mention that Wind uses equipment provided by a Chinese "private" company which has raised security concerns in the U.S. (Huawei has been labelled a "Security Threat" by more than one country). That too, should have been readily apparent to the short-pantsers.

So, as the 700 mHz spectrum is put up for bids today the Harper government will allow the same old companies to swallow up your property and charge it back to you for the same old rates with the same level of gouging. Wind Mobile pulled out.

As Michael Geist points out, this whole effort having resulted in total failure, the only option left is to impose regulation on the wireless industry in Canada. Good luck with that. It's not going to happen.

This is just the latest in a stream of propaganda. Lots of advertising, costing lots of money and resulting in absolutely nothing. More vacant activity from the phoney who pretends to be a leader.

A scheduled Harperectomy . . .

SOCIAL MEDICINE:
People like the Koch brothers, Stevie and Rob Ford are actually mentally-ill from the POV of rational humanist social norms.

By their lights, though, their greed is 100% rational and desirable, regardless of cost to others. The sad truth of history is that other people who think like that have managed to do a lot of damage before they were stopped.

THE POLITICAL SCALPEL:
Unfortunately, the Koch brothers stubbornly persist, but Canada is scheduled for a Harperectomy in 21 months or so, may the patient survive.

For pre-op conditioning, we've got to think nationally but act locally. Your vote is your blade.

"It wouldn't be B.C. without it"

The words issued by the so-called prime minister of Canada when a protester managed to breach his security yesterday.

Wouldn't it now?

In other words, Harper expects to come to BC, (as little as possible), and be faced with people who vocally express their displeasure with his wrecking-ball policies, his smear politics, and his lying, cheating performance behind the doors of his office.

The only reason Harper is in BC is to try and beat the bushes in redrawn ridings and to generate support among well-to-do conservatives gathered at their mahogany hog-troughs. And the only comment he has when his insular bubble is burst by a single, momentary event is ... it's typical British Columbia.

Nice! Between insulting British Columbians and ignoring every major natural event east of Brandon this guy is showing he's truly a god-king. Stephen Harper, better than all others.

Well, Harper, here's another thing it wouldn't be BC without. As you hunker down in rich-kid country there will be some noise at the gates. (I hope the organizers of this thing realize there is more than one way in to snob central).

Oh yes, a little reminder of what we think of you. It wouldn't be Harper without these.

Killing the Canadian Coast Guard. One massive hack at a time.

You would naturally believe that Harper and his hillbilly cohort would be strengthening the Canadian Coast Guard for several reasons, not the least of which would be to strengthen any claim on the Arctic with positioned Arctic escort ships, search and rescue and just plain hanging a flag. Another reason would be the woefully inadequate CCG resources to deal with the upcoming traffic jam in Douglas Channel. Given that Harper's national shipbuilding fantasy includes a bevy of new ships for the Coast Guard you'd expect them to be viewed as essential, and thus insulated from Harper hatchet work.

Not so, it would seem.

The ongoing gutting/changing of budgets and services at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and the Canadian Coast Guard are beginning to defy logic.

...

The bulk of the cuts are expected to come within the Canadian Coast Guard, where the story said $20 million will be shaved off and as many as 300 people could be shown the door.
Many insiders knew the axe was going to fall, but I would hazard to say few people expected it to be quite this dramatic.

Ah yes. Harper didn't get his extreme austerity when he had a minority government. Given that it is the lone tool he knows how to use after being trained as second-rate economist, he intends to tell you in 2015 what a wonderful manager of the economy he is and kindly ignore the fact that our SAR resources don't sail, our aids to marine navigation have rotted on their cables and vessel traffic control in congested areas simply doesn't work. Oh yes, you might also want to ignore those 300 unemployed seafarers.

One of the more stunning elements could come in the form of what looks like a major reduction - a $4.2 million budget cut and 23 job losses - in Canada's offshore surveillance of foreign fishing vessels. That would mean less monitoring of foreign vessels fishing outside Canada's 200-mile limit. 
What's more perplexing than the decision is the rationale for it.
The powers-that-be suggest they've done such a good job of reducing "serious" (a word DFO has worked very hard to cut out of its list of fishing citation reports in recent years) foreign overfishing infractions in the last while that we just don't need as much monitoring any more.
I won't ramble on about the rationale, only to say it's comparable to firing the cops because you haven't had a serious crime in a while.

Bingo (I say in a singing voice).  This is the tough on crime bunch who, despite plummeting crime rates, spent billions and forced the provinces to spend billions to lock up more people than ever because they knew there was more crime out there than we could actually see ... or that we reported. You'll recall Brother Stockwell lying through his teeth to convince you that spending billions of dollars on crime prevention was worth it, if only because he loves watching people who make him feel icky, suffer. But when illegal fishing, particularly off the Grand Banks and the Flemish Cap gets curtailed ... (well, not so much curtailed as reported using different language to make it look like there are fewer violations) ... that's cause to dismiss your patrol force and the unique experts who staff it.

What is particularly interesting about this investigative piece is that it noted top bureaucrats in the department - including the deputy minister - have advised against making the cuts and have recommended spending be increased - not slashed.

 ...

If the federal government is making these cuts in spite of what their own top people are telling them, then why are they doing it, and where is that information coming from?

Ah, yes. The $200 million question. Where is their information coming from?  How about ... the PMO? The frat boys in short-pants don't know a coast guard from cattle dung. If it isn't important to them, to hell with advice.

And let's not forget the court jester running the Treasury Board. Tony Clement, a refugee from the Ontario Mike Harris fiasco, a man who never saw a tax dollar he couldn't spend on himself, simply told DFO to lose a few hundred million of budget line items. It doesn't matter what they are because this whole coast guard thing is way too expensive and anyway, they have no presence in Muskoka except to harass people about their boat operator cards.

It also demonstrates the weakness of Gail Shea, so-called Fisheries Minister. Clearly she has about as much influence at the cabinet table as Flaherty's pet cockroach. This wouldn't be happening if she'd threatened to resign, which makes her another Harper knob polisher.

(O)ne minute a bottle of champagne is being broken against a new Coast Guard ship or a brand new station is slated for construction.
The next minute, people who work on those ships or in those stations are getting their Records of Employment (ROE) and being shown the door. 
Government logic. Certainly an oxymoron.

No, not actually. What it shows is two things, both of which highlight the fiscal and administrative incompetence of Harper and his chosen ones. No logic, but worst of all no plan. 

You (and Harper) already blew it!!

Harper knob polisher, Michael Den Tandt offers up the results of gazing at the Conservative crystal ball with a set of 2014 predictions on what to expect from (missing in action) Harper. It's actually quite stunning. Den Tandt pines away for the "Charm Offensive" he has oft predicted from Harper but which has never happened. It seems to escape Den Tandt that Harper doesn't have it in him and if it's scripted for him, that fact becomes obvious. More on that in a minute.

... Harper in 2014 will make a visible effort to re-engage – likely through more frequent speeches, perhaps even more frequent press conferences. He will do so not by choice, but by necessity.

Really?! Because, the gods forbid, when he was handed a late 2013 opportunity to "re-engage" he refused to come out of his hole. If, at any point, he had wanted to appear to be a leader in any way, shape or form, all he had to do was actually show up. But that ice-storm was a natural, short-notice event - not something scripted well in advance by the short-pantsers running the PMO. Re-engagement, as Den Tandt is suggesting will happen, requires long, detailed preparation. No rehearsal - no show.

The Wright-Duffy mess, the sheer scale of the venality and dishonesty exposed within his own office, among people he appointed, has shaken his personal standing. The only practical remedy is to shore up his positives, namely his reputation for competence and intelligence. He can only do so by communicating.

Competence and intelligence in a leader would suggest being able to read the character and qualities of individuals appointed to positions of prominence and influence. We haven't seen any of that and Den Tandt says so before he makes the impossible leap in the other direction. I question Harper's intelligence at times but his competence is not up for debate. This is one of the least competent prime ministers Canada has ever endured. Owen has more to offer on that along with this very poignant observation:

For a man who doesn't like people, Harper has chosen a curious profession.

Which is why when hundreds of thousands of Canadians are without heat in the middle sub-zero temperatures at the darkest time of the year the "re-engagement" comes in the form of a solitary 14-word Twitter offering. 

Conniving CONs . . .

THE SENATE HOO-HA'S origins, as seen by my friend Scanner, who I believe has created an accurate account of how things came to be. I wish the RCMP every success, good luck and good weasel-hunting.

I have written this before but in light of SJH's unequivocal answer to the question whether he was aware at the time of a plan to have the Conservative party reimburse Mike Duffy for his questionable expenses, this is what I believe happened.

At some point two or more years ago, SJH and members of his closest clique came up with a scheme to increase Conservative fundraising while making the taxpayers of Canada pay for it. 

They schemed to recruit media stars like Mike Duffy to travel all over Canada attending Conservative fundraisers, but by making them Members of the Senate, have their expenses paid by the Senate. 

The PMO and the Privy Council were fully aware that the eligibility of Duffy and Wailin and others was questionable a best but since this has never been a problem before, did not even consider this.

These recruits were told to just expense what they needed to, that no-one ever questioned Senate expense reports and to get out there and start raising money.

I believe the PMO and SJH expected some level of discretion on the part of these flacks but made no attempt to monitor them. I bet Wallin's travel costs were a surprise even to SJH who has never tried to curb his own expenses.

Now they are caught in an ever expanding ring of lies to cover up the real crime - that the Prime Minister, The members of the PMO, the Privy Council and the Conservative Party of Canada colluded in a scheme to enrich the coffers of the CPoC by defrauding the people of Canada.

To cover this up, SJH is willing to lie at every turn and to destroy anyone near and loyal to himself and the Conservative Party. If the real facts come out they may all face prison. I hope they do. If you can't face the time, don't do the crime.

The Stevie Claus . . .

Thank-you, Radio 3.

CON control . . .

SETTLER TREATY CARD: a fine concept from the folks at Briarpatch. Click on the link to see a giant-size version, 'cause the fine-print ‘some conditions apply’ is worth reading.

The secret sell-out . . .

STEVIE'S SECRET SELL-OUT: according to Sunny Freeman and Daniel Tencer at HUFFPOST BUSINESS, in an article “Trans-Pacific Partnership Chapter Released By WikiLeaks”, it's so secret it took WikiLeaks to get the details. And truly, the Devil is in the details.

A trade agreement Canada intends to sign will have “far-reaching implications for individual rights and civil liberties,” WikiLeaks says.

The group known around the world for publishing state secrets has released a draft chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal being negotiated under what it calls an “unprecedented level of secrecy.” Critics say the agreement favours corporate interests over consumers.

The leaked intellectual property chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement proposes sweeping reforms including to pharmaceuticals, publishers, patents, copyrights, trademarks, civil liberties and liability of internet service providers.

“If instituted, the TPP’s IP regime would trample over individual rights and free expression, as well as ride roughshod over the intellectual and creative commons,” WikiLeaks’ Editor-in-Chief Julian Assange, said in a press release.

There are 11 areas of concern. Click on the link to find out why you should get perturbed. Love liberty? Stop Stevie. It's that simple.