Trashy's World

The Cons ran a focus group to get some ideas about the best ways to divert the public attention away from all of the bone-headed moves they have made lately.

So here are the Top Five ideas they came up with.

1. Hire a cargo ship. Hire a couple hundred Tamil refugees. Put said refugees on said ship. Have said ship steam toward the western coastline, this precipitating an immigration crisis that only the CPC is capable of dealing with.

2.Turn the short form into a longer form. Thus shortening the long form that is now shorter but not really because the questions on the long form will still be asked on the long form as well as the short form… creating a medium form.

3. Invent one of those instant memory loss devices. Just like the one used in Men in Black. Then stream it into every computer and TV in the country and hope for the best.

4. Take the summer as a mulligan and ask the GG for a do-over.

5. To capitalize on the both the popularity of vampires and of hockey, have His Glorious Leader avoid sunlight for a month and coach a hockey game with a bombastic bigot Don Cherry.  DONE!.

Other stuff…

OC Transpo, OC Transpo, OC Transpo... up to your old tricks again, I see. 6:30 buses coming at 6:48… 200 m ahead of the 6:51 bus. The 7:50 #86 simply forgets to show. And two west-bound buses from the ‘burbs swoosh through Hurdman like there was a pack of wild hamsters ready to swarm any unsuspecting bus that happened to stop.

Heading to China again in the fall… tickets have been booked. But there is no word whether it will be the real or imaginary China. Or whether we will be travelling on a imaginary airplane that takes off from an imaginary airport with imaginary crew on board. I’d better call Stock to get his take on thing… always good for a laugh!

Did you know that the fear of Friday the 13th is called friggatriskaidekaphobia, frigga meaning “Friday”?

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Montreal Simon has a good take on why the ReformCons are taking a quick veer to the libertarian right… abandoning, at least momentarily, their courting of the centre soccer moms in order to win that elusive majority.

In short, to pander to the centre as well as the Christian right, the Harperites have had to put aside some if the principles espoused by their Libertarian supporters. And not just put aside, but downright demean them, most blatantly in a speech given by Harper in March of 200:

… Over the next twenty minutes or so, we would be treated to one of the most bewildering speeches I’ve ever heard Stephen Harper give.  After launching into a sweeping defence of conservatism he would direct his attention towards classical liberals and libertarians who he acknowledged, some of whom were in the very room he was speaking.

The speech also contained a definition of what conservatism is.  In his words it is made up of the “three Fs: freedom, family and faith”–a definition which might leave some libertarians feeling even more uncomfortable with it’s social conservative undertones.

Harper took the gloves us last night.  He made it clear who’s in his tent.  The message was clear: libertarians need to get on board or get out of the way.

Now, with the decision on the length of the form thingy, and on the questioning of affirmative action in the hiring of public servants, he is paying the piper in an effort to get the Libertarians back under the tent.

Of course, they chose to blow these horns in the summer with the expectation that Canadians wouldn’t hear them over the din of loons and motor boats.

Oops.

In other news…

I dunno if Iggy’s super cross Canada tour will truly have any impact on his popular support (he has yet to take my advice on what to do next), but Justin Trudeau is sure doing his darnedest to get in on every photo-op possible!

A BCer in Toronto has more!

Been a crazy last week before my Holidays… and I am left with one question:

• Why are they called “pairs” of pants or “pairs” of underwear?

There are two legs or leg holes, but that is all of the “pairishness” I can find. Anyone?

What is $700 million? The size of the OCDSB budget.

What weighs over 5 pounds? The information package just sent to me by Board Services… and I’m thankful, but they coulda sent me a CD instead to save paper and postage.

Conrad Black is out on bail! And he might come back to Canada! Woo-hoo!

I am not being completely tongue-in-cheek here.  Despite the fact that I really have never felt warm and fuzzy for the guy, I think he was railroaded somewhat by the American “justice” system… and he, like anyone else, is entitled to due process. And this due process says that he can go free on bail… so no bitchin’ about it…

Obscurantism. (French: obscurantisme, from the Latin obscurans, “darkening”) is the practice of deliberately preventing the facts or the full details of some matter from becoming known. I just love this word.

Glenn Beck - why not his voice?

Sarah Palin- why??

Helena Guergis - The PM should say sorry and buy her some nice flowers… um, sure….

Tony Clement- here’s hoping that folks in my old stomping ground have the sense to turf this moron at the earliest opportunity. But I’m not holding my breath.

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As part of my ongoing mission to enlighten the ignorant, I submit, the pleasure of Cons everywhere, the following word:

Obscurantism (French, obscurantisme, from the Latin obscurans, “darkening”) is the practice of deliberately preventing the facts or the full details of some matter from becoming known. There are two, common, historical and intellectual, denotations: 1) restricting knowledge—opposition to the spread of knowledge, a policy of withholding knowledge from the public, and, 2) deliberate obscurity—an abstruse style (as in literature and art) characterized by deliberate vagueness.

Friedrich Nietzsche said: “The essential element in the black art of obscurantism is not that it wants to darken individual understanding, but that it wants to blacken our picture of the world, and darken our idea of existence.”

Tomorrow: “Pork barrel politics“.

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Seems like the Harperites have been giving lessons to the White House in how best to exploit the infrastructure funding they been dishing out as part of the economic recovery glorious slush fund.

I’ll be glad when all of the ugly signage is removed for good. But don’t expect that to happen until there is a change in government.

- Some polls are showing that the public mood is about as stable as the Great Wall… others are showing a Grit uptick… who is right?

- Rand Paul. Whatta dork. Yes, Mr. Paul, the Tea Baggers are a bunch of radical yee-haws.

DES MOINES, Iowa — A billboard created by an Iowa tea party group that compares President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin is drawing sharp criticism – even from fellow tea party activists who have condemned it as offensive and a waste of money.

The North Iowa Tea Party began displaying the billboard in downtown Mason City last week. The sign shows large photographs of Obama, Nazi leader Hitler and communist leader Lenin beneath the labels “Democrat Socialism,” “National Socialism,” and “Marxist Socialism.”

Beneath the photos is the phrase, “Radical leaders prey on the fearful & naive.”

And yes, Canada has an equivalent. Though not as strong and public, you can bet that they have been behind many of the Con policy decisions lately. They DO have to cater to their core from time to time…

- More OC Crapspo hi jinks
I just waited for 10 minutes to get a connecting bus from Hurdman to Tunney’s Pasture. In that time only two buses that were going as far west as Tunney’s showed up and one of them – a 34 – stopped at the far end of the platform before hurrying away, in spite of at least three would-be passengers trying to flag it down. Finally a 38 showed up and actually stopped to pick up riders. Imagine that! A driver thinking it his job to allow riders on the bus! And on a Friday too!

Gawd, their service sucks sometimes… I wonder when the next strike/lock-out will be?

Pretty soon, if mayorlarry manages somehow to get re-elected. The vid that was posted on YouTube by Jim Watson’s peeps was sure funny, but won’t go a long way in establishing Jimbo as a credible alternative. A lot of folks think that it was a little juvenile. Add this to the entry of Clive Doucet into the (why, Clive why?) and some left-of-centre vote splitting is almost certain… with a certain bald guy named larry taking full advantage of his appeal with the Timmie’s crowd.

Don’t count him out!

- BP. Boycott them and all of their products. Forever.

- Steinbrenner dies… and I won’t diss him… In fact, even if you thought of him as an egotistical, micromanaging blowhard, ya can’t argue the fact that he brought success to the franchise that everyone, including me, loves to hate.

- Did I mention that OC Transpo sucks?

- The World Cup is over for another 4 yrs. Some surprises and some scandals. England was completely underwhelming. Ghana was tragic. Brazil was amazing – until their final game. Italy and France sucked.

At least the EPL starts up again in about a month! Go Gunners!

And if I ever hear another vuvuzela, I will scream.

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We can dance if we want to, we can leave your friends behind
‘Cause your friends don’t dance and if they don’t dance
Well they’re no friends of mine

HA! I love it when I’m right! Did I not just recently say that the Harperites were setting themselves up to drop the writ in late summer or early fall? Didn’t I ?

‘Shore ’nuff, one of the head CPC minions has thrown down the gauntlet over proposed amendments to C-9 -- the budget enabling and kitchen sink mega-omnibus Bill that is currently in the Senate. The huffing and puffing little Doozer was positively ebullient in daring the Grits to go to the polls.

“Let’s dance,” Conservative Senator Doug Finley said Thursday after Bill C-9, a mammoth 883-page piece of legislation, was chopped down by the Liberals and one Progressive Conservative at a meeting of the Senate finance committee.

“I think there’s more than enough issues here to run an election on, and I’m ready,” Mr. Finley said. “I’ve got buses, I’ve got planes, I’ve got a war room, I’ve got advertising already in the can. We are constantly at work on our policy and platform. I’ve got a tour two-thirds planned.”

Wow! I haven’t heard a Con being that enthusiastic about something since the Blogging Tories were as jittery as schoolgirls over the “illegal” attempt at a coalition between the Dippers and the Grits.

And who can blame the guy? Even the most cursory read of the latest EKOS poll (you know, those guys who were mega-biased against the DeceptiCons a way back a coupla months ago) tells a tale of Liberal woe. It supports my contention that the worse case scenario for Stevie would be a return to another minority Parliament with his willing unofficial coalition partner safely in tow.

Yup, we here in Ontario, and other provinces as well, are going to come down with a severe case of election-sign fever this fall as we head into municipal votes in October as well as a federal vote somewhere between Turkey Day and the end of November.

Of course, for a political junkie like me, this is pure paradise.

Friday miscellany

1. It’s hot, hot, hot here in Bytown!

So hot that there seem to be furious debates about what is appropriate to wear to work. Check out XUP’s take on this…

Of course, furious debates about just about anything are everyday activities here in Ottawa. Remember the big lawn chair debacle of 2007?

Me? Meh. My rule of thumb is that if it’s over 30, I will at the very least throw away the tie unless I have meetings with folks outside of my Department. If it’s over 35, I go naked.

Now THERE is an image to haunt your weekend.

You’re welcome.

2. Lindsay Lohan to be jailed 90 days for breach of probation? ROTFL!!!!!

3. The Huffington Post had a good piece the other day on how scentisits, desperate to get accurate measurements on the extent of the big spill in the Gulf, are being kept away from the area and are encountering roadblocks wherever they turn.

A group of independent scientists, frustrated and dumbfounded by the continued lack of the most basic data about the 77-day-old BP oil disaster, has put together a crash project intended to definitively measure how much oil has spilled and where and how it is spreading throughout the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

An all-star team of top oceanographers, chemists, engineers and other scientists could be ready to head out to the well site on two fully-equipped research vessels on about a week’s notice. But they need to get the go-ahead — and about $8.4 million — from BP or the federal government or both. And that does not appear imminent.

No matter who is in control, spin is the order of the day, eh?

And I’m glad Jacques Cousteau isn’t around to see this.

4. Looks like the quake did a bit more damage to the homestead than originally thought. Our patio door -- although admittedly old and in need of replacement -- won’t open or close very easily since the quake… it comes right off it’s runners.

Damned quake.

5.  Finally -- GO Spain!!!!!!

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We all have to make them from time to time – tough decisions that is.

Usually there is a time limit on these choices because beyond a certain point in time, the choice of whether to go with Option A or B becomes moot.

There are also varying degrees of impact of one decision over another. Sometimes for some people, the selection of one path forward over another has impacts that radiate out from yourself to others.

I am faced with one of these choices right now and have been agonising over what to do for over a month now.

Note to family and friends… And Mom… I’m fine. It’s all good. This isn’t about anything bad or negative or anything like that. Chill.

This is a choice that, if I choose to take one path, there will be impacts on my time and energy, my family and perhaps even my career. It would be a commitment that I would not be able to back away from – if I were successful in achieving my goal that would be the preferred end result of my decision.

Later nights…. would have to stay up past 10 pm on some nights (??!!) Less time with the kids… though I would try to avoid this consequence as much as humanly possible. Likely wouldn’t have the spare energy to continue my climb up the corporate food chain… though I am kind of happy where I am right now.

The upside of choosing to take the challenge on over choosing the status quo is big. Little pecuniary advantage, but a huge thumbs up for my own personal goals and – if I am any good at it – my community.

The thing is that I’m getting to a point where I have to either fish or cut bait. And I’m having a hard time doing so. I am not normally like this; I tend to make hard choices fairly easily.

So, what do you do when faced with difficult decisions? Put them off as long as possible and then go with your gut? Do you have a hard-wried decision tree ingrained on your brain. Do you flip a coin?

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This does NOT give me warm and fuzzy feelings…

‘The public has nothing to fear with this legislation and the way the police will use this legislation. It really comes down to a case of common sense and officer discretion.’— Sgt. Tim Burrows of the G8/G20 Integrated Security Unit

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In the news….

More titter-titter about le gaspillage in and around Parry Sound / Muskoka wrt the Gee-Ate pork-a-thon!

Local residents, unaccustomed to such attention, are expecting a massive tourism boom…local entrepreneurs arranging guided tours of the childhood home of Bobby Orr, the Magnetawan haunted bridge, the Rosseau General Store, and, of course, the now famous Orrville gazebo…

A Request for Proposals for the construction of a gilded statue of MP Big Tony Clement is being prepared by local staff…

In the States…

Obama sends BP oil mandarin to his room for a time out…GOP Congressman apologises for apologizing to BP for the “shakedown” by the President.

GOP execs send said Congressman to his room for time out.

In soccer…

Noisy bee sound making plastic things are turning off fans and players alike. Claims by South Africans that these vuvuzelas are a part of their culture is nullified by the fact that plastic horns --  made in China -- have no place in the African archaeological record.

Upsets, upsets… Spain attack nullified by strong play by the Swiss in the neutral zone… get it? Neutral zone?

France loses to Mexico and immediately appeals to FIFA for a replay of the match due to an undisclosed injury to Thierry Henry’s hand… which hampered 100% of the the French goal scoring ability…

England must win today to be assured of moving on. South African police on guard for hooligans armed with valazuzas… ear plugs on standby.

Right now, Trashy is thinking about…

• whether he should take the leap and attend a certain information session tomorrow.. tough call.
• why, oh why is the forecast for every single Saturday filled with rain? Ain’t right, I tell ya!
• how much dynamite will it take to open the fault line close to the building where I work? Workers are blasting rock at a construction site and seem to be trying to find out.

CPC drop continues… and so does the Grit inability to capitalise…

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Yup, “Heroes” by David Bowie is one of my all time fave tunes. Haunting and melodious, he tells the story of a couple in love in the shadow of the Berlin Wall. I saw this performed by Bowie here in town a few years back… the crowd was mesmerized.

The best lines are these:

I, I can remember
(I remember)
Standing by the wall
(By the wall)
And the guns, shot above our heads
(Over our heads)
And we kissed, as though nothing could fall
(Nothing could fall)

This leads me to recount an interesting Facebook exchange last night with an old friend from my Trent days (where I did my undergrad degree). I don’t normally copy a FB back and forth onto my blog -- pretty lazy, IMHO. But this is an exception because I like the topic.

My bud -- let’s call him “Ike -- was wondering aloud about what makes a hero and who might they be. He posed his question in the form of a status update:

is thinking about heroes… real ones; not Superman et la… Just been thinking about the incredible people I work on various causes with and that they are the real heroes; and our troops; and our cops; smoke-eaters and EMS eagles…. I’m curious; in the cynical age we live in; do you have any living heroes ? Who are they ?

To which someone immediately came back with examples of a cop, a U.S. Air Force dude and a paramedic. All fine examples of who that particular person considers to fit the mold of hero… but I had to take issue…

Sorry man, we really differ on the whole heroes thing…

My old friend still remembers me well enough that when I am called out on something, I’ll usually take the bait -- being the opinionated bastard that I am.

I KNEW you’d call me on this!

Heroes are strangers worthy of my respect because of some act that they have performed. Not that I’m anything special and not that worthy of my respect is above being worthy of someone else’s respect; but you asked.

I am certainly no hero.

Cops. Yup, they will occasionally put their asses on the line. But the bulk of their time is spent hassling folks who dare to question authority. And I’m 47 yrs old and still saying this.

Most of the cops I have know in my adult life have been on ego trips to beat all hell and really don’t give a crap about being heroes more than satisfying their own dominating, macho, misogynist agendas.

Yup, there are exceptions, but I’m speaking from experience.

I’m NOT going to go on about the military because that will just invite flames -- not from you, but from others. Let’s just leave it at that. Sure, they are heroes at times… but that’s their job.

Sure -- EMS folks -- I’ll go with that… but still, that’s their job and what they are paid for -- right?

But what about those who are in the shadows and receive not recompense?

Here are some of my heroes:

- The anonymous woman in Sudan who stands in front of the soldiers to protect her kids -- after her husband has been murdered in cold blood…
- The anonymous middle-class family in Halifax who spends one day a week delivering food to the elderly
- The anonymous guy on Vancouver’s Lower East Side who brings a thermos of soup to that pathetic dude on the corner who is 15/16th the way to being dead.
- The teen who gives up her weekends to volunteer at the local old folks home… and tells her friends and family that she’s chilling with her friends for fear of being found as uncool…
- The anonymous “anyone” who stands up to authority when authority is wrongly wielded and pays for that defiance. Whether in a Vancouver airport, a ship off the coast of Gaza or at Kent State in the 1960′s.

Go ahead and say that I sound like some rambling hippie. Fair ’nuff. But there are heroes every day and everywhere… and they need not wear a uniform. Though they might.

A couple of commments later, someone else piped in with:

Interesting topic and views. A hero to me is someone who makes a difference; even if it just touches one person’s life or millions. I agree it is every day people. I would not exclude anyone because they are trained/paid to do the job. I cringe when I ask students this question and they can come up with is a sports figure. Great topic!

I couldn’t agree with this more. I guess it may be easier to describe what is NOT a hero rather than what IS one.

For example, are athletes or other celebrities heroes when they do something philanthropic?  Is the hero a researcher who dares to question the common wisdom of his field and endures criticism and ridicule from his peers; but then goes on to make a major technological/medical  breakthrough?

Sure, a cop can be a hero by disarming a bad guy intending to do harm. A firefighter will willingly enter burning building to save a trapped child.  A soldier in Afghanistan can heroically save his comrades and innocents by disarming a bomb or leading a sortie into hostile territory. I’m not saying that these men and women for whom being heroic is part of their c.v. are not heroic, but I am saying that they are not automatically heroes because of their chosen field.

So. Who is your hero? And why?

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Possible VIA strike

Word this morning is that VIA ticket vendors and maintenance workers have voted for strike action at the end of June if a settlement cannot be reached. Bad timing for riders, of course, but a strategic move for the Union as the summer tourist season begins.

I’m not going to comment on a possible strike and what a hassle this will create for those of us who use the service, but rather on some of the comments I’m reading on the MotherCorp story.

Check it out:

There is something wrong. In many countries rail travel is the most economic way to travel. No not in Canada here in Canada to go from Winnipeg to Vancouver, economy class Via Rail: $258.76. Greyhound bus: $96.00. Like the roads the rails are there.
What make this so ” humane kind of travel” so expensive.
Right the “Via Rail workers have voted in favour of going on strike “.
They are pricing Via Rail out of business.
I love rail travel but not at those prices. As one commentator said: “Take away the subsidies and make it private.

The writer is making two points – rail is too expensive, and that the system should be privatized.

Yes, it is expensive compared to travel by road and is about on par with a flight for many cases. Against the air option, there is no contest, rail wins hands down. When I am traveling for biz to Montreal or to Toronto, I almost always go by rail; the exception being if the meeting I am attending is near the airport. No hassle. Comfy seats. Good food. and best of all, NO security!

And it IS used by many, many commuters in the Windsor to Montreal corridor – contrary to what this guy says:

Not a good move, I can’t name one person who relys (sic) on Via to get them around! Train travel is now a novelty thing , the odd tourist, vacationer thats (sic) about it.

Hmmm… it just occurred to me that comments like this may be coming from the West – where many like to bask anything that may be perceived to have an Eastern Canada bias.

Besides, privatization would only be effective if there were a profit to be made. In this vast country with wide spans between destinations, could a private firm offer a palatable service, pay their workers a living wage and still get a half decent RoI? I’m not so sure.

One other comment I want to say something about:

Here we go – the Union dummies don’t realize we are still in a recession.

Um, apparently this dummy doesn’t realize that we are NOT in a recession anymore. They should Google the definition.

I can’t begrudge the union trying to get a wage increase. As someone who belongs to a union that has been completely de-clawed (no cost of living increases for the next few years, meaning that our purchasing power will be 5-8% less three years from now than today) by the Harperites – as have all Federal Unions, I say go for it and good luck!

Another thing that caught my eye:

Apparently, a planetary alignment today is going to cause earthquakes, tsunamis and whole bunch of other end-of-the-world stuff.

Kongpop U-yen, a Thai engineer who works at the US National Aeronatics and Space Administration (Nasa), said the alignment of the planets today could cause natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis.

NDWC chief Smith Dharmasarojana agreed with the forecast, saying it was backed by scientific data.

The forecast, however, met with criticism from the scientific community as authorities did not clarify the prediction.

Mr Smith recently said during a TV interview that a solar eclipse was due to occur on June 12 as a result of the alignment of the Earth, the moon and the sun.

He said the alignment would release considerable cumulative energy, which could affect the Earth. Mr Smith, quoting Mr Kongpop, said the phenomenon would have a direct impact on the Earth in the forms of climate disruption, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

WHOA!

And finally:

How true it is…

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