… of the faith-based and evidence-challenged right!

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

I might have more to say about this later, but for now I just want to highlight the idiocy of some on the right of the spectrum here in Canada.

Yesterday, when the news broke about the tragedy in Norway, the response by many in the Twitterverse, blogosphere and in the comments sections of news articles was overwhelmingly vitriolic against Muslims.

“Send them back.” “This is what happens when you let those people into your country.” “Bomb them to hell.”

Crap. It was nasty.

And this judgement was made despite the fact that there was no evidence that an Islamic group was involved. None.

And the worst of the lot on Twitter were the usual right-wing morons who always like to spout hate. If you follow Twitter, you know who they are.

But this morning, where have all the anti-Islam Tweets gone?

Now that details are leaking out, it looks like the Oslo terror may have been the work of a Christian fundamentalist or someone on the far right.

So now I assume we’ll see lotsa anti-Christian Tweets, right?

Didn’t think so.

Bloody narrow minded hypocrites.

Lately, I have noticed a troubling trend in the comments on stories that cover political issues on the CBC website.

Take today’s article, for instance on how the ReformCons have built a nearly 10 point lead over the Grits according to the latest (and evil – according to the Cons) EKOS poll.

Rightly or wrongly, there has always been a perception that CBC readers were a little or a lot to the left on the political spectrum. Indeed, this is exactly what the DeceptiCons propaganda machine has been churning out in the wake of that whole Frank Graves (non) controversy.

So, I have gotten used to seeing commentators leaning to the left – condemning Harpy for this or that… and these types of anti-government comments have been given the “thumbs-up” by those who bother to register their agreement or dislike of that particular comment…but this is changing.

More and more I have been noticing that the pro-Con thumbs up are outnumbering the thumbs-down.

Take this for instance:

The widening gap between Conservative and Liberal support shown in this graph is a direct result of Canadians realizing one party actually has a direction and a plan, and the other is a complete mess.

So whether you agree with the Conservatives or not, I’d rather vote for a right wing Conservative, or a left wing NDP / Green party that actually has a purpose of one sort or another, than a flip-flopping middleman joke party that borrows ideas from the left and right and calls them their own.

Sitting on the fence and being useless – the Liberal Party of Canada

I see many disgruntled Liberals on this board who rather than face the fact that they made a mistake will try everything in their power to discredit others who have a realistic vision for Canada.

The party in power has done a very good job in pulling the country out of the recent slump much to the displeasure of the Liberals who would sooner see the country sink under their leadership than to support a government that has done very well on the world wide economic level.

Time for Canadians to awaken to the Theo-Con INCOMPETENTS at our door…TIME TO SINK OR SWIM!!…the sooner we can go to the polls to rid ourselves of our present SAY ANYTHING DO NOTHING CON GOVERNMENT the better…ELECTION NOW!!…Canada and Canadians can no longer afford their INCOMPETENCE on every file,every issue…their(CON)attack on rights and agencies built up over the 50 years…

ANYTHING
BUT
THE
CONS…!!

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

Interesting little piece over at the MotherCorp about a mad dash to the department’s mailroom, a released and then “un”released report and similarities to Adscam.

In short, a ATIP request initiated by Canadian Press asked for the annual report on Public Works’ real estate portfolio, which contained data on such things as vacancy rates and returns on investment. These reports are never made public.

Initially, the Department OKed the release after the legal eagles said that there was no real reason to not release it.

The department’s real-estate branch had consented to the full release, and the Access to Information office at Public Works had determined after extensive consultation that there was no legal basis to withhold any of the report.

The file, though, was deemed “sensitive” — partly because it was a media request — and was sent to the Conservative minister’s office for review. The office initially gave the green light, but had a change of heart on the very day it was being mailed out.

Togneri insisted that only one small section of the report be released, despite the uniform view among Access to Information officials that the entire 137-page document could not be withheld under the legislation.

The copy was in the mail room when work from the Minister’s office was received that some minion had better get their sorry ass down there and get it back. I woulda hated to be that minion!

In the end, though, the department released only a heavily censored version just as Togneri had insisted — 82 days later than allowed under the law. The final release included just 30 pages.

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

man, are these guys for real?

I mean, seriously?

And they have enough synapses to walk and breathe simultaneously?

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

Answer

Please, alien overlords, come to Earth and smite all of those weak-kneed liberal stupid-heads. And bring some more sweater-vests too!

Question

What would Stephen Harper say if he had a chance to send a message to the stars?

I am by no means a science geek or someone who stares into the night sky looking for E.T.  (though as a kid I did… grew out of it I guess… too bad in a way). But I did run across this neat site that the Aussie Government has set up. A site dedicated to leaving a message for a planet far, far away…

Here’s how they describe the project

At COSMOS magazine, we thought it would be a cool way to celebrate National Science Week in Australia – and the International Year of Astronomy – by sending a message to a potentially habitable planet outside the Solar System.

Thanks to the support of Australia’s Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, the CSIRO and NASA, and a bunch of other really helpful people, the text messages collected on this site will be transmitted to the closest Earth-like planet that might harbour life: Gliese 581d.

At the end of Science Week, NASA will transmit the messages to Gliese 581d using the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex in Tidbinbilla.

Here are some of the messages – mostly from down-under – that will be sent to Mssrs Orn and Turng of Gliese 581d:

You are cordially invited to an Interplanetary BBQ. 6.00pm, 4th October, 2452 at my place BYO Meat and Beer. RSVP: Year 2100 Cheers
Daniel Edmonds
Melbourne, Australia

How is it that you understand English? That’s very convenient!

Sophie

Sydney, Australia

Hello from planet Earth. Please tell us how you don’t get dizzy in your spinning UFO’s – I get sick looking at Merry-Go-Rounds. Are you Aliens good looking ?

Billy

Portland Victoria, Australia

Hi. I need some new friends. Anyone out there interested ? Preferably quirky and a little left of centre. cheers !

liz

Canberra, Australia

And my message

By the time you read this, I’m sure the Toronto Maple Leafs will have won the Cup a hundred times and Canada’s conservatives will have never won a majority.

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

Yet another staffer at the PMO has flown the coop.

Carolyn Stewart-Olsen has worked for the big guy for more than seven years (!) and was the director of strategic communication. She was considered the “gatekeeper” who strictly and loyally controlled access to her boss. Ms. Stewart-Olsen is the second major cog in the PMO machinery to bail in the past little while. Kory Teneycke, the PM’s Communications Director was the last to bid adieu.

“Stephen is not the easiest guy to work for. He takes a lot of handling sometimes. And Carolyn, she was good at that,” said University of Calgary political scientist Tom Flanagan, a former Conservative campaign adviser.

Gee Tom, really? I’m starting to picture meetings with Stevo and they ain’t pretty.

“Kory, get the hell in here. NOW!”

“Ye-ye-yes sir….. wh-wh-what’s wrong s-s-sir? You look angry…”

“WHO authorised THIS picture???

“WHO, Damn it???!! I want them waterboarded!!”

“B-b-b-ut… you said the other day th-that you wanted to portray a more, uh, human image… and our strategic communications staff thought this would do the trick… sir…????”

“I look like a freakin’ WIMP! Maybe even GAY! And you KNOW what I think of THEM!” CAROLYN! GET THE HELL IN HERE!!!!!”

Hee-hee. At this rate, Mrs. Harper will be the one and only staffer in the PMO!

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

By now, everyone has heard of the incredible story of the 3 year old who drove his mini- electric car into the river, floated with it downstream for 12 klicks and was none the worse for wear at the end of it all. When rescuers caught up with the boy, the truck had capsized and he was hanging on to the axle for dear life… so we think… but based on his first words said to the rescuers as he was plucked off the ad hoc plastic floatation device -  “where’s my truck”? -  I think he was more worried about losing his truck than being swept away down the river.

A rather practical decision, wouldn’t you say? Hold on to what is dear and don’t do anything stupid that may jeopardise it.  It’s kind of like a businessperson ensuring that his or her key clients are happy with the services or goods being provided… especially in economic downtimes.  Or a country that relies on tourism as a staple of its national economy. No government in their right mind would let go of their truck during a recession. When tourists from the biggest house on the block, the U.S., is way down and those coming from other countries are steady or rising.  Why put those relationships into risk.

Well, with the recent decision to demand visas from those visitors from nations like Mexico, the Harperites didn’t just lose their grip on the floating truck, the punched a hole in it, stuffed in some dynamite and blew it out of the water!

Using an escalating number of refugees as the reason for doing so, the Harper government has in one fell swoop, nailed another nail into the coffin of our already struggling tourism sector. Mexican tourists have been on the rise for the past few years but now you can pretty much kiss that bye-bye due to this, yet another, short-sighted policy.

NAFTA. The first two letters stand for North American, right? So we can declare the continent a free trade zone but rightfully put onerous visa requirements on Mexicans seeking maple syrup in Ottawa’s By-Ward Market? Where is the sense in that?

As they plan next winters’ vacations south, Canadians should expect the same from the Mexican government.

Thanks Stevo! Now you go on and climb back aboard your truck and revisit this decision. And soon!

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

I am sitting on the deck of the cottage that we are renting for the week. The weather has kinda sucked so far with the exception of a few hours here and there. In fact, it was supposed to be t-storming, like right now. Thinking this, the girls headed off to town to catch a matinee at the Strand (I’m amazed it is still called the Strand after all these years). I was left behind to tend to Owen, who is having a nap.

Happily for me but sadly for the others, the storms have yet to appear and I just spent the past hour on the dock, with two fishing rods workin’ and enjoying every minute of it. No worries, no kids, no sounds save for the distant traffic, the odd boat and the sounds of the loon. Simply splendiferous!

I’m looking out on the lake. A clean lake that has been intelligently developed mostly without the monster homes that one can see on some of the larger lakes in Muskoka and on Georgian Bay.

I cannot help but wonder what this place would have been like if the ilk of Harper and his gang of ninnies had been in power for the past few decades instead of the Grits. Almost certainly there would have been largely uncontrolled development and few environmental controls in place. Yes, Mulroney was one of the greenest PM’s in history, but the ReformCons are not of the same stripe as Bri and the red Tories who, while I never was one of them, I could at least respect.

I suspect that if the NeoCons had been in control of the legislative agenda for the past 50 years or so, there may have been a Constitutional Amendment forced through that may have entrenched private property rights and limited the state’s role in the controlled and sustainable development of areas like these. Maybe Canada would have been at lot like certain cities in the U.s> – especially in Texas – where By-laws are non-existent or unenforceable and development is hell-mell and it’s every man for themselves. The CPC likes it that way. State bad, chaos good.

Aw hell, I’m on vacation. Why can’t I give it a rest? I dunno. I wonder if dyed-in-wool politicos like Kinsella ever take a break from thinking about things like these. I doubt it.

Owen should be waking soon. I’ll end the thread before I begin to ramble on about how the shitty weather so far this week (today excepted) was a result of climate change, which was a result of ReformCons inaction!

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

Seems like the combination of anti-Iggy ads and the Grits thumping on the election war drum has given the ReformCons a bit of an edge in the polls. While this does fall a bit within the “who cares” territory – after all, no election till at least the fall – it does point out that the Liberals do have some work ahead of them before the next drop of the writ.

Specifically, they need to better define the Iggy brand. It is not enough for the leader of the party to make election threats and fire cannonballs across the bow of the blue ship, Canadians need to better understand who he is all “about”.

Hitting the summer BBQ circuit will help rebuild the grassroots support that will be absolutely crucial to future electoral success, but it will do little to better define the brand.

My humble suggestion is that Grit staffers spend their summer canvassing all ridings – but especially those that are “winnable” – to clearly understand what is on the minds of Canadians and the role they see for the Liberal Party. From this, put together a brand spankin’ new set of policy statements that are clearly different from the CPC as well as the Dippers and the Bloqistes.

In fact, if they are smart, they would have started this months ago and are right now putting together said statements.

The party needs to distinguish itself from the trash that surrounds it. Both the party as the brand and the leader as the brand must stand out as the only viable alternative.

All that being said, I believe that the Harperites’ rise in the polls is temporary and largely reflects the desire of the nation to avoid an election at this time.

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario