Weekly Highlights from our Conservative Overlords

Weekly Highlights from our Conservative Overlords

Monday, April 28, 2014

Comments - Week 156 - April 21-28

I've got to be honest, dear reader.  I'm just burnt out on this stuff.  I'm not paying much attention.  I think Steve won....

It's amazing what happens when an issue hits critical mass.  I guess temporary foreign workers are something everybody can understand and everybody can complain about.  Rednecks hate that "they" are taking our jobs.  Liberals hate that everybody is getting taken advantage of.  The government kind of has to respond.  No more temporary foreign workers in the food services sector.  Shit...actually, just in the "fast food" sector.  Funny that the CEO of McDonald's Canada is impressed that the Conservatives understand what he is trying to do.  And criticism of what he is trying to do is "bullshit".

The CD Howe Institute suggests that the temporary foreign worker program is contributing to joblessness in Canada.  338,000 temporary foreign workers?  It seems that might be a cause of Canadian unemployment..."But these lazy Canadians refuse to work the night shift cleaning toilets for minimum wage" sez the business owner.

Skilled immigrants get an express pass into Canada.

The Harper Government has ensured that whales in the path of Northern Gateway tankers are no longer threatened.  Well.  They're threatened by the tankers, they're just no longer considered to be a "threatened species".  Sez a biologist: Northern Gateway tanker traffic will increase whale strikes

Here's the fact of the matter:  Nancy Greene is a total fucking idiot.  She's an expert on fish farms now?  Fuck off.

Seeing as Stephen Harper's cabinet is nothing but lawyers...how do they keep fucking all these legal decisions up?  The Supreme Court tells Steve his Senate plans won't work.

Okay, this is pretty great news.  Pierre Fancypants has given up on ramming the stupidest of stupid "Fair Elections" Reforms through.  But this comment is solid gold:
“citizens will now be able to sign an oath attesting to their local residence” What oath? Most of the damn NDP and Liberal supporters, those that strongly oppose vouching, are committed atheists. Their only “bible” is David Suzuki’s “10 commandments” of global warming radical activism.
That's some solid gold crazy, right there.

Thanks to "Zalm" commenting on this story here.  Beautiful stuff.  Decent story too:
Wot? Aren't you driving on socialized and subsidized roads with your subsidized gas guzzler made by auto companies propped up by our tax dollars? Haven't visited the doctor for your dose of socialized medical care or picked up your socialized prescription made safer by that socialist bastion of publicly-funded research, Therapeutics Initiative? Weren't educated in a socialist school by union teachers? your wealth isn't protected by socialist police forces and courts, and that grand old game of socialist umbrage, the professional army? Your property maintaining its value nicely thanks to socialist zoning and property use bylaws?

No more charges in robocalls, outside of Guelph.  I think the key here being "witnesses didn't cooperate".

I think it's funny that the PMO won't say whether or not Stephen Harper was around to participate in drunk-teen-gate.

It's Jason Kenney's job to support incumbent MP's as they wage nomination battles?  Speaking of which...Jason Kenney ignored suggestions that his job data was bunk.

Eve Adams.  Still a shitstorm.

The government has responded to Lac Megantic with new regulations.

Elizabeth May is pretty funny!

Thomas Mulcair thinks the deleted Wright/Duffy e-mails stink.

Pamela Wallin regrets paying back her expense money.  I'd imagine there's a healthy dose of "I didn't think they'd hang me out to dry once I paid the money back" in this statement.

A story on the lack of access to information from the Canadian government.

I held off commenting about this over the past few weeks, but the Heartbleed bug response by Revenue Canada has been lacking.

There hasn't been much progress on holding tax cheats accountable.

The people in the United States that are responsible for negotiating international copyright agreements - and dictating requirements to Canada - work for the companies and organizations that will reap the benefits.  It's a government/lobbyist revolving door.

Monday, April 21, 2014

Scaring Russia - Week 155 - April 14-21

Really?  We're sending six CF-18's to Eastern Europe scare big old Russia?

Nigel Wright appears to be let off the hook.

This whole temporary foreign workers thing is a disaster.  Another story out of Saskatchewan where  a bunch of waitresses have been displaced by temporary foreign workers.  This is starting to stoke some crazy racism and anti-immigrant rhetoric.

Conservatives don't like the answers that they're getting on Economic Action Plan Ad questions.  So they're not going to ask the people of Canada what they think any more.  In other survey news, Canadians aren't convinced that pipelines are the answer.

I tend to not put too much stock into these "Conservative insider" reports.  But really...who would be shocked that Conservatives think Pierre Poilievre is a douchebag?  Where has this cartoon been all my life?  From the Tyee article hereAnother summary of the terribleness of the "Fair Elections" Act.

This is an interesting theory.  As Conservative incumbents flock to safer ridings, who is going to fight the tougher battles?  This could impact their numbers at the next election.

My argument against owning Real Estate in Vancouver has long been this - the carrying costs for the average home are far higher than the average annual household income.  If the average person can't come close to affording the average home, how can that be sustainable.  Garth summarizes this nicely.

Monday, April 14, 2014

Jim - Week 154 - April 7-14

Man.  What a depressing end.  Serve as Finance Minister to an asshole, retire and then die a few weeks later.  Poor Jim Flaherty.  Garth nicely sums up the good and bad of Jim Flaherty.

Pierre Poilievre is doubling down on awful.  He's accusing Marc Mayrand of a power grab in his opposition of the "Fair Elections" Act.  Is it really a power grab if you want to keep doing the job that you are paid to do?  Can you believe these Conservative jagoffs have decided that the talking point needs to be that Elections Canada shouldn't be in the voter turnout game?  As well, looks like the guy who is supposed to take over investigations from Elections Canada wasn't consulted either.


These people are children.  One Conservative minister makes a "shooting a gun" gesture at an NDP MP, and then another runs over and trots out the beautiful "Say it outside of Commons!" refrain.  These people are idiots.

This is awesome.  "Sleepy Time" Rob Anders lost his nomination battle.

It's remarkable the job Stephen Harper has done of shirking any responsibility for Patrick Brazeau.  Not to kick a man when he's down, but it seems like it's all really unravelling.

Another tough on crime bill doesn't survive scrutiny by the courts.

In Australia, government employees aren't allowed to criticize the government online.  "Shit, what a great idea!" somebody in Ottawa just said.

More companies taking advantage of the temporary foreign workers program.

Why are MP's allowed to accept paid travel from companies/organizations/countries?  If it is important enough to go, Canada should pick up the tab.

Trudeau took shit for not letting his bullying candidates run for nomination.  Steve has no problems with his bullies...shit...it might be a prerequisite.  Eve Adams is allowed to continue.


Greenpeace is asking for an investigation into the ties between the Conservatives and "Ethical Oil" from an election finance perspective.  Interesting response from the "grassroots" Ethical Oil.

An interesting idea.  CBC asked people to tweet their stories about vouching/getting vouched for.  Of course Conservative commenters point out that these people are all probably lying about it.

Kitimat decided that it doesn't want a pipeline.

More bad news for Attawapiskat.  And Theresa Spence.  Her partner/the co-manager of the first nation, has been charged with fraud.

There's some fallout from decreasing subsidies and no more Hockey Night in Canada.  600+ at CBC are out of work.

Huh.  This guy talks a bit about the potential speed restrictions coming to the de-restricted sections of the Autobahn.  He equates it to the gun control argument in the US.

A bunch of yahoos that work for the Minister of Public Works have been accused of interfering with access to information.

More Quebec corruption with ties to Stephen Harper appointees...or attempted appointments...or something.

Monday, April 7, 2014

Sandbaggin' - Week 153 - Mar 31-April 7

Leona Aglukkaq points out that the Conservatives are doing really well with cutting CO2 when you compare the real world numbers to imaginary ones that they made up.

Beautiful.  I love this article.  Why would we sell our oil resources so cheaply?  Other countries have proven that oil companies will pay to get at this non renewable resource.

Don't you love it when bad things happen to bad people?  I had no idea that Dimitri Soudas' fiance was Eve Adams.  They seem like the kind of couple that brings out the worst in each other through reinforcement of shared bad qualities.  This article reminded me that this definitely isn't the first weird Conservative relationship fiasco.  Eve Adams seems like a bad person.  So does Dimitri.

Sheila Fraser comes out against the "Fair Elections" Act.  Calls it...well...calls it lots of bad things.  Conservatives are up in arms because She has taken $2500 in payment from Elections Canada.  So of course she is biased in wanting them to continue as an organization.  Of how about this..."Of course we can't trust her...another arm of government gave her some money!"

I remember reading somewhere about...I think it was Team America...where they added a few scenes that were just so over the top so they could focus the censors on a couple of things that they were willing to cut and just slide through the rest of the things they wanted.  I feel like vouching is just that for the Conservatives.  "Let's add some really stupid ideas, fight hard for them for a month or so, then cave in on one of them so we can force the rest of our stupid ideas through."

Some more Michael Sona/Robocalls info is coming out.  Seems like it most likely wasn't just Michael Sona.

I was a toddler when the USSR got its ass handed to it by Afghanistan.  How many thousands of movies have been made about not fucking with Afghanistan?  Yet Peter MacKay says things like "I don't think the ferocity of the mission perhaps dawned on even military leaders, let alone political leaders of two different governments,"  What an idiot.  Delusional idiot.

The fake Rob Ford election signs have inspired me.  Come the next election, I'd like to create some election signs for Pre-PM Stephen Harper running against current Stephen Harper.  These comments about election reform are perfect.

Justin Trudeau swore at a boxing match.

The Conservatives are freaking out about some things Justin Trudeau said about Israel and Iran.  Unfortunately, he didn't say them.

This guy thinks that Stephen Harper is trying to criminalize criticism of Israel.

A nice little summary piece of how terrible Stephen Harper is.

Nobody seems to be able to make sense of Poor Irwin Cotler getting poisoned in Russia.

No surprise.  Canada's richest now have a lot more money.

A pretty great comment on GM recalls and how this calls bullshit on the need for high paid CEO's.  When the CEO of GM has no idea what is going on and shirks all responsibility, why do we pay her millions?

This article, sort of, lays out how Private Equity works and why it is bad.  Simple, yet difficult to follow.

An article pointing out the science deniers on the US House Science Committee.  Yikes.