Buckdog has an excellent summary of the senate scandals to date, along with a wonderful picture of Duffy, Wallin, and another senator who cannot be identified because he/she has covered his/her eyes with his/her ears.
Friday, May 31, 2013
5:21 pm
Alberta Bound
Welcome to the weekend kiddies! BIG thanks to all of the angels who have been looking after the littlest angel these last few days. See you SOON!
Friday, May 31, 2013
4:14 pm
Pen Pals
This is the second email I have received in the last week. The first one was from Jenni Byrne, National Campaign Manager 2011. The subject of that email was "Not Criminally Responsible". Talk about irony.
I am sorry now that I did not bcc myself when I replied. I seem to remember being quite elequent. Then again, I had been drinking.
Anyway, today I received THIS:
Subject: Build a Stronger CanadaThis time I DID bcc myself - and, like the first time, also cc'd my MP - Conservative, Randy Hoback.
From: dan.hilton@conservative.ca
To: mjglass@hotmail.com
Date: Fri, 31 May 2013 21:15:11 +0000
Conservative Party of Canada
Michael,
Today, we learned our economy is growing at its fastest pace in nearly two years - a clear sign that our plan is working.
Canada has added more than 900,000 new jobs since June 2009 - the best record in the G7. We've lowered taxes by over $3,000 for the average family - and we're on track to balance the budget.
We have a lot to be proud of as Canadians - but we still have a lot of work left to do.
We're not immune to global economic challenges, and the Liberals and NDP want to take our economy down a dangerous path, with higher spending and higher taxes.
That's why we're focused on the issues that really matter to Canadians, like the economy.
Until our country is as strong and as free as it can be, we'll continue working hard to make our country the best place to live, work, and raise a family.
I'm asking you today - are you with us?
Help us build a stronger Canada - add your name:
http://Conservative.ca/StrongerCanada/
Sincerely,
Dan Hilton
Executive Director
Conservative Party of Canada
Mike GlassIn the interests of fairness, I belatedly noted that Dan's email contained the following postscript:
4:09 PM
To: Dan Hilton, Conservative Party of Canada
Cc: Randy Hoback
Dan,
The first step in building a stronger Canada is getting rid of the Conservative government.
The next step is to get rid of the Conservative party - a "conservative" party in name only.
These are not, as you must know, your father's tories.
They are red-neck hillbilly evangelical reformers who owe their allegiance not to their constituents, or to the nation, but to the multi-national corporations. Their contempt for science, for the working man, for seniors, for the poor, for the unemployed, and for the vast majority of voters in this country beggars belief.
I don't know you, Dan. I have never heard of you, or from you, before. I must say, it surprises me that given the daily scandals surrounding the CPC that there is anybody left at all who is not deserting the sinking ship, let alone send unsolicited emails to people who no doubt score minus fifteen on the CIMS scale.
Please add my name to your list of avowed enemies: those will make damn good and sure that you and the gang of thieves you work for have had their last pull at the public trough.
Regards,
Mike Glass
You received this email because you are currently subscribed to the Conservative Party of Canada e-mail list. We believe email is an important way to stay in touch with Canadians. If you no longer wish to receive e-mail updates from us, click here to unsubscribe.Never mind how such a travesty could have occurred in the first place. I have now - I admit, somewhat reluctantly - unsubscribed.
I say "reluctantly" because I was starting to have fun.
And I don't have very many pen pals.
But I do obviously have too much free time.
Friday, May 31, 2013
9:57 am
Source: humortrain.com via Katie on Pinterest
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
4:19 pm
Dateline Gronlid
In the matter of Dr. Porter
This issue is yet another tasty side order in the banquet table being set before Harper this week. Arthur Porter was arrested in Panama, along with his wife, and, hopefully, will be extradited to Canada and brought up on charges.
The interesting thing for me was the implication that somehow, like Nigel Wright, Porter was a fine upstanding human being and very, VERY competent, who had either somehow managed to dupe the most influential power brokers of our country, or who had suddenly snapped and 'went rogue'.
Must be the former, right? A crafty supervillain! His credentials, we are being led to believe, were impeccable. This is a man who had rubbed shoulders with George Dubya Bush and Dick Cheney.
(Like I would want that on MY resume! Slash end snark.)
But ... um ... wait a second. I seem to remember a documentary on the man. Someone help me out here. Wasn't there something fishy about his career in the States prior to being hired by the McGill University Health Centre, and subsequently, being appointed by Harper to the Security Intelligence Review Committee - the five-person body that is supposed to keep tabs on the operations of Canada's spy agency, CSIS - that should have raised red flags?
Something along these lines:
A cautionary messageThere's lots more here: Meet Arthur T. Porter, the man at the centre of one of Canada's biggest health-care scandals.
It was in 2003 when John Crissman, the dean of the medical school at Michigan's Wayne State University, received a call from a headhunting team from Montreal.
Dr. Crissman's message about Dr. Porter was straightforward: Proceed with caution.
"Dr. Porter is a talented administrator but often dilutes his efforts," Dr. Crissman recalled saying, trying his best to diplomatically wave red flags about Dr. Porter's web of private business pursuits around the globe. "I told them to be very careful about their agreement and to include language to control Arthur's multiple outside interests."
Next question period, I would love to hear Mr. Mulcair ask Harper the following question:
"Did the Prime Minister know that Arthur Porter was a sleazeball when he hired him?"
What's it to be, Mr. Prime Minister. Are you venal, or just stupid?
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
5:17 pm
Last one today. Promise.
In Re:
In regard to l'affaire Duffy, and the heroic (but doomed) attempts from Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition to get some straight answers from the government benches (and hugely enjoying it, righteously so, eh!), and because I have been jonesing for some Heathens anyway, and with a tip of the hat to my sensei, this:
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
4:26 pm
Otra vez
Forseeable Consequences
"Forseeable consequences. We're awash in them, and we don't care."
- Ian Welsh
Agreed. And this might help explain why.
Why we're awash, and why we don't care.
Tuedsay, May 28, 2013
3:28 pm
Later That Same Day
H/T The Galloping Beaver
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
2:03 pm
Dateline Gronlid
Valedictory
My Government Valedictory by David Martin
Mr. Martin's experience parallels my own in many ways.
Hear hear.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
1:57 pm
Dateline Gronlid
On Leadership
Dr. Dawg has it exactly right:
Daniel Alfredsson for PM.
Saturday, May 25, 2013
6:23 pm
Sorry ...
... I couldn't resist.
Now try unremembering THAT!!!
Shakira.
Rock and Roll!
Saturday, May 25, 2013
5:43 pm
It's only fair ...
It's only fair, I suppose, that once we have sold Canada to the corporations, they should be allowed to pound their logos onto our lawns, and project their commercials onto the House of Commons.
After all, it's theirs now. We sold it to them fair and square.
Slash end sarcasm font.
Saturday, May 25, 2013
12:22 pm
Surprised?
Another Spending Scandal in Saskatchewan - Star Phoenix, May 25, 2013
"The scandal, if you will, is the wholesale dismantling of government institutions, including the Canadian Wheat Board, Canadian Grain Commission, Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration, Community Pasture Program, and Agroforestry Development Centre, to name a few."
(snip)
"So who pays for these cuts and fee increases? You guessed it. The Canadian grain farmer, who will face an added cost of $2,750 on a 5,000-acre farm."
(snip)
"Saskatchewan voters - more than half of whom voted Tory in the last election - must be wondering what they did to deserve this."
"How elegant! How choice! How gay!
To think one doesn't have to pay."
- Edward Gorey
Friday, May 24, 2013
4:02 pm
Friday!
Welcome to the weekend, kiddies! Cut 'er loose! Hope it's Hot Like That!!!
Friday, May 24, 2013
8:49 am
Soon ...
Source: imglols.com via IMGLOLS.com on Pinterest
Thursday, May 23, 2013
3:21 pm
On Duffy, Wallin, Wright et. al.
"If this has hit the government harder than anything in its seven years in office, it is possibly for similar reasons. This matter of Nigel Wright and Mike Duffy is not a matter of simple pork (the G8 Legacy Fund), nor complicated accounting and procurement (the F-35), nor electioneering (In-and-Out), nor the conditions of third-world prisons in a war zone (the Afghan detainee controversy). It is neither arcane (prorogation), nor legislative (omnibus budget bills), nor parliamentary (the 2011 finding of contempt), nor merely a matter of expensive orange juice (Bev Oda). It is, instead, the stuff of primetime television drama: the allegations are the stuff of entitlement, privilege, corruption and the evasion of justice. It is an episode of The Good Wife, if perhaps not a particularly good episode of The Good Wife. Less entertaining, but allegedly real." (emphasis mine)
- Aaron Wherry in Macleans, May 22, 2013
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
9:03 am
RIP
Ray Manzarek, the keyboardist and founding member of The Doors who had a dramatic impact on rock 'n' roll, has died. He was 74.
Monday, May 20, 2013
6:49 pm
The "Double Highs"
I realize I am starting to harp on this. Obsess. But tell me if you don't think this goes a long way to explaining politics in Canada.
In the following quote, scratch "America" and insert "Canada".
Not that it DOESN'T also apply to America ...
"All in all, they exhibit an amalgam of bad traits and inclinations. They're like a child who's got Uncle Harry's splotchy skin and Aunt Mildred's difficult temperament and Grandpa Pete's bow legs and... But don't feel too sorry for them. With their followers' eager help, they're ruining America."
Sunday, May 19, 2013
6:43 pm
I have been struggling lately to understnad and reconcile so many things. Like, how can so many of my neighbours, friends, and relatives support our elected representatives?
It seems that there is nothing so egregious, so heartless, so morally repugnant, that will cause the supporters of the CPC to rethink their support.
This helps.
I know that the Conservatives and the Evangelicals (often one and the same) will not read this. Or if they do, they will not understand it. Or they will repudiate it, or will insist that it relates to OTHER people, not themselves.
But I found it helpful in ME undestanding THEM.
4:26 pm
FUBAR BUNDY
The problem is not Duffy. The problem is not the senate.
The IMMEDIATE problem is the CPC. These guys need to get gone.
Question: Is it possible to recall the government in power on a question of non-confidence when they have a majority in the House of Commons?
After we rid Toad Hall of the incumbent weasels, we really do need to have a look at our system. It's rotten. It stinks.
More here.
Exactly.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
10:40 am
Holy crap!
Thanks, pogge!
Friday, May 17, 2013
6:35 pm
What?
What? Too late?
I hope not!
Friday, May 17, 2013
5:37 pm
There's this: The Authoritarians.
A little dated, maybe, yet changeless. Timeless, if you will. The principles remain the same.
And horrifyingly reverent to our situation in Canada - and the world - today, I think.
I know that the RWA's won't read this. But some of the rest of us might - I hope - and thereby have a clearer picture of just who the hell it is that we are dealing with.
One more thing. It's free. That's right, free book.
Friday, May 17, 2013
4:43 pm
May Long
Welcome to the May long weekend, kiddies. Grab yourself something that goes down cold and warms when it hits bottom. Grab yourself some Walkin' Blues. Go out and breath the air!
Thursday, May 16, 2013
4:14 pm
Feeding Pigs
We in Saskatchewan know about these things.
Here is Saskatchewan's advice on the future treatment of Duffy and Wallin.
More here - if you have stomach left.
UPDATE!!!: Who says there is never any good news? Let's just hope this is the start of the perp walk, and that Duffy and Penashue are bunny-hopping their way at the front of the line.
UPPERDATE!!!!: Wallin has joined the conga line!!!
So now Duffy sits as an independent, and Wallin has also cashed out of the caucus - whatever THAT is. Waddaya say, Canada? Never mind PEI or CPC - do Duffy and Wallin represent anyone other than fat greedy capitalists? Or the CPC? (Yeah, I know. Same thing!)
Thursday, May 16, 2013
3:54 pm
This Is What Winning Looks Like
If our politicians - all of them, all parties - knew this, then they are complicit and deserve to be turfed out of office.
If they did NOT know or foresee this, then they are stupid, and deserve to be turfed out of office.
Leave them in, then you, too, are either complicit or stupid.
No? I'm wrong?
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
7:49 pm
The purpose
I expect my dog to bark, and my cat to meow.
The purpose of a politician is to get elected, and after that, to get re-elected.
The purpose of a business is to make money.
Just that.
If any of the above actually benefits the earth, society, humanity ... people ...
... that is very nice. But it was not the purpose.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
6:00 pm
A timely reminder
It's dead motorcyclist season again. Be careful out there, friends.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
2:48 pm
Happy Mother's Day
Saturday, May 11, 2013
4:15 pm
Patronizing Dumbledore
Friday, May 10, 2013
3:55 pm
Welcome to the weekend, kiddies! Rock and ROLL!!!
Friday, May 10, 2013
3:53 pm
On Harper and the CBC
Tim Knight: Watching the Watchdog: Bill C-60 Does Canadians a Disservice
Friday, May 10, 2013
11:42 am
Not Dead Yet
We have a pulse.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
9:42 am
Any questions?
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
5:54 pm
Spider
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
8:52 am
Water
Sunday, May 5, 2013
2:29 pm
Oh look
Saturday, May 4, 2013
5:32 pm
Truth be told ...
I have mixed feelings about Bill Maher. Much like I have mixed feelings about the rest of the folks south of the medicine line.
I watch from time to time. And sometimes I am onside. And sometimes I am not.
Like when Bill Maher singles out FLOURIDE as a government plot to ... what. Not sure. Bill. What. Seriously. What.
Here, I am onside. And I think it speaks to our own propensity to vote for the cynical bastards who appeal to our baser instincts - among which "fear" is to be found - and who succeed. You can't go too far wrong, it seems, by appealing to the reptilian brain.
Watch this, and feel free to correct me with your opinions, yea or nay.
Want more? Check out Ignorant Armies by Gwynn Dyer (a Canadian, BTW) - written BEFORE the Murcans moved into Iraq.
Friday, May 3, 2013
4:43 pm
Just started watching "Walking Dead". And thanks to this ...
I'm gonna order Season 2!
Friday, May 3, 2013
3:56 pm
Welcome ...
... to the WEEKEND, kiddies!!!
Jerry Jeff Walker, ladies and gentlemen! Give'm a hand!
(Thank y'all! We enjoyed it!)
Friday, May 3, 2013
11:07 pm
Even if ...
"... even if Harper's ministers continue to behave like the jackass redneck creationists that most of them are ..."
Excellent analysis of the latest Bairdian blundering of international relations regarding the International Civil Aviation Authority - read all about it at The Sixth Estate.
("... jackass redneck creationists ... ! CANAJUN, eh?!!)
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
5:52 pm
what you know 'bout ...
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
11:08 am
Hurray, hurray, the first of May ...
(Did you watch it right to the end?)
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