Thursday, November 29, 2012 

Four Years Ago You Were Warned That Harper's Ideology Would Be Harmful To Your Health ....


Four years ago, this blog predicted that Stephen Harper's ideology would be harmful to your health. 

I was totally accurate in that prediction!  

-XL Foods Memo: Directive For Alberta Plant Food Inspectors To Ignore Contaminants On Meat 


... where is the RCMP when you need them???? ...

Wednesday, November 28, 2012 

Really Brad?! ..... Really?


"The NDP thinks Saskatchewan's resource economy is a disease."
Brad Wall
Premier of Saskatchewan

Really Brad?! ... Really?

What diminished level of intellect does someone have to possess in order to believe this ridiculous statement? Quit acting like a bloody hillbilly ... you are far smarter than this! Perpetual election campaigns are one thing .... making statements that border on the moronic diminishes the Office of Premier of Saskatchewan!

-Contrast Alberta's Understanding Of Economics With Sask Premier Brad Wall's Limited Grasp

Monday, November 26, 2012 

Premier Brad Wall's Privatization of Information Services Corp. (ISC) Will Cost Sask Taxpayers MILLIONS $$$


Premier Brad Wall is in the process of privatizing a Saskatchewan Crown Corporation that is responsible for the registration of Land Titles.  

Sask NDP Leadership candidate Erin Weir (who just happens to be an internationally renowned economist) has done the math ... and Brad Wall's deal DOES NOT add up for Saskatchewan taxpayers!

The following article appeared in the Swift Current, Sask publication - The SW Booster on Nov 21, 2012:


The Saskatchewan government indicates that it will sell 60 per cent of the Information Services Corporation (ISC) for up to $120 million and invest these proceeds in infrastructure. In doing so, it will lose 60 per cent of ISC’s $17-million annual profit: over $10 million per year.

The provincial government can borrow at a long-term bond rate of three per cent. Financing $120 million of infrastructure investment at that rate would cost below $4 million per year.

Why would the government give up $10 million of revenue to save $4 million of interest costs? 

Selling ISC appears to reflect an ideological desire to privatize something rather than sound fiscal management.

Erin Weir 
-Economist 
-Saskatchewan NDP Leadership Candidate

Sunday, November 25, 2012 

Dear Stephen Harper: Most Canadians Don't Give A Crap About The Monarchy And The War of 1812 ... but we love Public Health Care!!!



OTTAWA - Canadians, it seems, love their universal health care. The monarchy? Not so much.

A new national poll commissioned by the Montreal-based Association for Canadian Studies examined the pride Canadians place in a list of more than a dozen symbols, achievements and attributes.

The online survey of 2,207 respondents by Leger Marketing found universal health care was almost universally loved, with 94 per cent calling it an important source of collective pride — including 74 per cent who called it "very important."

At the other end of the spectrum, just 39 per cent of respondents felt the monarchy was a source of personal or collective pride, while 59 per cent were royally unimpressed. In fact, 32 per cent of respondents found the monarchy "not at all important" — the most popular singular response.

The findings provide an interesting snapshot of the country after seven years under a Stephen Harper government that's made a priority of promoting its own blend of nation-building symbols.
The military, the Arctic, sports and the monarchy have been staples of Conservative messaging almost from the time Harper took office early in 2006.

More recently, the government has spent more than $100 million over the past four years on jaunty "economic action plan" advertising in concert with a constant refrain from Conservatives about Canada's relative prosperity in a battered global economy.

"They've definitely had mixed results," said Jack Jedwab, the executive director of the Association for Canadian Studies.

"The monarchy doesn't resonate well at all." [...]  

"One of the ones that does really well — the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms — is one the government was more hesitant about," said Jedwab.

The Conservatives consciously downplayed this year's 30th anniversary of the Charter, choosing to mark the occasion with a simple press release.

By contrast, the government has budgeted more than $28 million to mark the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, a multi-year program that includes everything from TV advertising to upgrading historic sites and striking commemorative coins.

Alas, the historic series of battles between the British and the Americans came in near the bottom of the Leger online survey, albeit still far ahead of the monarchy in perceived importance."Winnipeg Free Press

Saturday, November 24, 2012 

Canada''s MSM Never Hold Stephen Harper Accountable For The Things That He Says ...



Prime Minister Harper is a firm believer in the idea that people should be held accountable for the things they say - however, he doesn' t practice what he preaches .... neither does Canad's MSM Establishment EVER hold him to account for his vitriolic statements .....

"A culture of defeat..."
- Stephen Harper, describing the Atlantic provinces, May 2001.

"Canada is a Northern European welfare state in the worst sense of the term, and very proud of it. Canadians make no connection between the fact that they are a Northern European welfare state and the fact that we have very low economic growth, a standard of living substantially lower than yours, a massive brain drain of young professionals to your country, and double the unemployment rate of the United States."
- Stephen Harper, then vice-president of the National Citizens Coalition, in a June 1997 Montreal meeting of the Council for National Policy, a right-wing American think tank.

"Canada appears content to become a second-tier socialistic country, boasting ever more loudly about its economy and social services to mask its second-rate status, led by a second-world strongman appropriately suited for the task."
- Stephen Harper in his article "It is time to seek a new relationship with Canada," December 12th, 2000.

"In terms of the unemployed, of which we have over a million-and-a-half, don't feel particularly bad for many of these people. They don't feel bad about it themselves, as long as they're receiving generous social assistance and unemployment insurance."
-Stephen Harper, then vice-president of the National Citizens Coalition, in a June 1997 Montreal meeting of the Council for National Policy, a right-wing American think tank.

"Your country [the USA], and particularly your conservative movement, is a light and an inspiration to people in this country and across the world."
-Stephen Harper, then vice-president of the National Citizens Coalition, in a June 1997 Montreal meeting of the Council for National Policy, a right-wing American think tank.

Thursday, November 22, 2012 

Happy Thanksgiving To All My American Family & Friends


Have a great day and a great weekend! Happy Thanksgiving!

Monday, November 19, 2012 

Sask Legislative Speaker Imposes Archaic 'Traditional' Dress Code On Legislative Press Gallery Women

(Click on image to enlarge .... )

The Speaker of the Saskatchewan Legislature is Dan D'Autremont. He is a Sask Party Member of the Legislature (MLA) and has been sitting in the Chamber since 1991.

Speaker D'Autremont has recently started strict enforcment of an archaic dress code that apparently has been on the books for years but has not been taken seriously. Most of the 'offences' are being committed by women members of the Legislative Press Gallery.

CBC Saskatchewan has a nice feature HERE .... ...

....  or check out TWITTER ..  #ladiesoftheleg

Sunday, November 18, 2012 

Sask. NDP Leadership Debates Kickoff In Regina





Here's some MSM coverage of the first NDP Leadership Candidates debate last night in Regina ...

"REGINA – The first all-candidate debate in Saskatchewan’s NDP leadership race took place in Regina last night. It was a packed house at the Ramada Inn with over 450 people present for the first of 14 debates. Twelve regional forums are also scheduled in 11 communities across Saskatchewan. Leadership candidates Cam Broten, Ryan Meili, Erin Weir and Trent Wotherspoon shared their visions for the future of the party at the debate...........(more).
Leadership candidates Cam Broten, Ryan Meili, Erin Weir and Trent Wotherspoon shared their visions for the future of the party at the debate.


Read it on Global News: Sask. NDP leadership debates kickoff
REGINA – The first all-candidate debate in Saskatchewan’s NDP leadership race took place in Regina last night.
It was a packed house at the Ramada Inn with over 450 people present for the first of 14 debates. Twelve regional forums are also scheduled in 11 communities across Saskatchewan.
Leadership candidates Cam Broten, Ryan Meili, Erin Weir and Trent Wotherspoon shared their visions for the future of the party at the debate.


Read it on Global News: Sask. NDP leadership debates kickoff
-Global Saskatoon  

"Provincial NDP leadership candidates pitched their plans to rebuild the party and challenge the Wall government, as the four contenders opened the leadership debate series in Regina on Saturday. Standing before a packed crowd in a Ramada Inn ballroom, Cam Broten, Ryan Meili, Erin Weir and Trent Wotherspoon debated a range of issues, from balancing environmental and economic priorities to electing more female MLAs and reaching out to younger voters ahead of the 2015 election........ (more)
-Regina Leader-Post

Saturday, November 17, 2012 

Sask New Democrats Hold First In A Series Of All Candidates Debates - November 17th - Regina

 Regina All-Candidates' Forum

Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012 from 7:00 pm to 9:30 pm
Ramada Inn, 1818 Victoria Avenue, Regina

You can watch live stream of the event HERE at 7:00 pm CST / 8:00 pm EST

Buckdog will be there and will do a follow-up post later ....

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Saskatchewan New Democratic Leadership Campaign Blog
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Thursday, November 15, 2012 

Libs. call for a national energy strategy and a 'Trudeau' about to become their leader? Fool me once...

(Click on image to enlarge...)

Every once in awhile, Murray Mandryk .. the political columnist with the Regina Leader-Post really cracks me up!!

-Rae calls for national energy strategy - Winnipeg Free Press


-Justin Trudeau Tells Alberta That Liberal Federal Gov't Was WRONG To Implement National Energy Program (you know .. Pierre's policies)

Wednesday, November 14, 2012 

Justin Trudeau Leaves A Great Deal To Be Desired ...



Justin Trudeau was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He was born into a very wealthy family and has never had to eat macaroni and wieners for the rest of the week because that was all he had to cook in the house. I doubt that he has ever run out of household money before the pay cheque arrived at the end of the month. 

 Justin Trudeau is a member of the fiscally well off and has no idea what average working Canadians struggle with on a day to day basis just to survive. 

Justin Trudeau is therefore a perfect potential leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. 

He is absolutely the last person who should lead the nation - having almost nothing in common with average working families. 

Period.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012 

Stephen Harper's Conservatives ARE The Worst Fiscal Managers In The History Of Canada!


Conservative Party supporters like to advance the myth that their party is the party of 'fiscal conservatism'. This is total B.S. 

Put aside all of the outrageous wasteful spending (Bev Oda's orange juice - flying limos to India - fighter jets, etc etc) .... the main reason for this ongoing record Canadian deficit is the massive giveaway that the Canadian corporate sector is receiving from the Harper administration. Corporate tax cut after tax cut has put the nation into a fiscal mess ... and Harper is to blame.


"In a speech to the Chamber of Commerce in Fredericton, Flaherty said the deficit will jump to $26.2 billion — up $5.1 billion from the $21.1-billion estimate in his March budget. The fiscal books won't be in a surplus position until 2016-17. That's a year later than he had predicted.
CBC.ca

Monday, November 12, 2012 

'Faith' Based Belief Rather Than 'Fact' Based Reality Is What Left The Republicans Stunned That They Had Lost The Presidency





The enduring image I will retain of the 2012 Presidential election is the clip of Karl Rove in an angry outburst of complete denial when  FOX News joined the other networks and declared Obama elected in Ohio, hence re-elected as President.

Regardless of the facts that were being presented, Rove would not .. could not acknowledge reality. The Republicans had lost and he was having a great deal of trouble digesting the outcome.

Romney himself was unprepared for defeat .. not even having prepared a concession speech. Donald Trump briefly lost his mind and spouted extremely seditious anger. Karl Rove sat in FOX studios stuttering and stammering.

They had lost. How could this possibly have happened?

The Right wing of the political spectrum is well known for renouncing fact based reality in exchange for a hodge podge of quasi-logical beliefs.

All of the nonsense that we have endured from the Right (legitimate rape - God's will - tax cutting for the rich - climate change denial - creationism - abstinence as birth control - evils of contraception - '3 strikes yer out' - Bomb Iran - Birthers - Tea party) is based on misguided 'belief' and has very little to do with factual reality.

The Right BELIEVED they would win. They did not consider any other outcome. Nothing from the realm of 'Reality' was going to interfere with their beliefs .....

The Right lost .... they still can't figure out why ....  


-Romney earned ZERO VOTES in dozens of urban precincts!  

-Big GOP donors see small return on investment

-Romney 'Shellshocked' By His Defeat

Sunday, November 11, 2012 

There Will Be Peace ......


There will be peace:

when attitudes change;
when self-interest is seen as part of common interest;
when old wrongs, old scores, old mistakes
are deleted from the account;
when the aim becomes co-operation and mutual benefit
rather than revenge or seizing maximum personal or group gain;
when justice and equality before the law
become the basis of government;
when basic freedoms exist;
when leaders - political, religious, educational - and the police and media
wholeheartedly embrace the concepts of justice, equality, freedom, tolerance, and reconciliation as a basis for renewal;
when parents teach their children new ways to think about people.

There will be peace:
when enemies become fellow human beings.

David Roberts

Friday, November 09, 2012 

Sask Premier Brad Wall Launches Attack Against NDP Leadership Campaign



An upcoming series of NDP leadership debates around the province coupled with MSM interest in the campaign seems to have the Saskatchewan Party nervous and feeling left out of the public eye.

As a result Sask Premier Brad Wall has launched an unprecedented attack against candidates for the Saskatchewan NDP leadership. 

On an almost daily basis, Mr. Wall, his MLA's and Party attempt to bully their way into the internal New Democratic leadership debate. These attacks are clearly preemptive in nature and are largely targeted at economist, Erin Weir and his natural resource policies and vision for the province.

The Saskatchewan Party has a political Achilles Heel .... they are essentially giving the province's natural resource wealth away for far less than a fair return.

Bravado and eloquent speeches from the provincial government camouflage this reality somewhat in the public's mind. The publicity that the NDP leadership debate is receiving threatens to bring unwanted attention to Wall's extremely generous royalty and taxation arrangements for the corporate boardrooms of the oil and potash industries. 


-Regina Leader-Post: "Attack ads an attempt to stifle debate"

Thursday, November 08, 2012 

My Fave Post-US Election Tweet ... (so far)

(Click on pic to enlarge ... )

Ha!

Wednesday, November 07, 2012 

At The End Of The Day 'Batshit Crazy' LOST OUT!



-Donald Trump Calls For Revolution ... (then deletes his more offensive tweets)

-Right wing Rocker Ted Nugent Blows A Gasket

-Ezra Levant simply can't understand why people want 'free stuff' like pensions and medicare

 -Ann Coulter 's heartbroken tweet

-Brian Lilley describes Obamageddon

-'Legitimate Rape' Senator Todd Akin LOSES!

-'Rape may be God's plan' Senator LOSES!

-Conrad Black Takes A Break From Self Promotion to muse 

Tuesday, November 06, 2012 

OBAMA !!!! ... thank gawd ...


Obama wins!

Monday, November 05, 2012 

Guest Blogger - Thinking Aboot ... OBAMA-BIDEN 2012

I'm continuing with postings by other progressive bloggers in the lead up to the US election .....



The choice is stark. Do something different, or continue with the crony plutocracy. The only choice for change is Obama-Biden.  The Goodfellas style bust out of the world’s economy must be stopped. Obama will try and do this, Romney will exacerbate it. That’s the big picture that has earned Obama my tepid endorsement.  My limp handshake gripping his performance should be tempered by the fact; he faced and faces a bewildering chain of constraints.
Top Ten Reason to vote Obama
1) The middle class is his tribe.  Survival for the middle class is not rhetorical proposition. Obama may not be its greatest champion, but compared to Romney he is a Mother Teresa.
2) Without damaging the Democratic Party’s defense credentials he has ended two pointless wars. Furthermore, he derailed Netanyahoo's scheme to start a war with Iran. This achievement should not be underestimated. Its a given if both Romney and Netanyahoo govern simultaneously Iran will be preemptive collateral damage.
3) Obama care was a courageous step toward bringing America into the moral and civilised world where Health care is a human right.
4) Climate change is part of his belief system. His work on green energy and just leading the public opinion on this issue has been groundbreaking. Case in point the new mileage requirements for cars. Policies that have already become huge game changers; real change that benefits US citizens and the world every day.
5) His support for high speed rail. Anyone who has ridden the fast rails knows that a nation that does not have a high speed rail infrastructure is not going to be a player in the 21st century.
6) His reforms on education. Taking the baloney out of no child left behind.
7) His return to the world of international agreement. The king never wants to be bound by law. America has been the king for a long time. However Obama recognises the kingdom will run better if there are clear rules. The absolute rejection of the role of international jurisprudence was the worst instinct of the Bush world view.
8) His recognition that government has a huge role to play in citizen’s life. Things need to be done, so will a private organisation do a better job of running and regulating your life, or a public institution?
9) His admittance of defeat in the war on drugs. The actions have not meshed with the words yet.  However an Obama victory means this is another war that will be wound down, while Romney will clearly double down on crazy.
10) His clearheaded Vulcan like vision for NASA. Why spend scarce resources on photo ops? NASA has been revitalised to do the hard R&D, and let private enterprise fill in space.

 Steve

Sunday, November 04, 2012 

Guest Blogger - Politics Plus ...preparing for the US Election

(My friend TomCat blogs in the USA at Politics Plus. As our American friends prepare to vote .. I want to share some of Tom's wisdom and perspective ....)

Trickle Down Gushed UP

The Republican Party has been feeding us the same tired line for many years now.  If we give massive tax cuts to the super-rich, they say, the super rich will create jobs, and the wealth will trickle down to everyone.  Of course the wealth has only gushed up, and what has trickled down is inequality and financial crisis.  Republicans are desperate to prevent authoritative contradictions to their lies.
3taxcuts
The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) issued a report in September that showed that cutting tax rates for the wealthiest Americans did not spur economic or job growth, refuting a key Republican justification for the party’s continued obsession with maintaining the tax cuts for the wealthy they passed in 2003. But when Senate Republicans aired seemingly minor complaints about it, the agency  quietly withdrew the report , even as its economic team advised it to stand firm.
The report, as ThinkProgress reported in September, found that tax cuts for the rich spurred income inequality , not economic growth. “There is not conclusive evidence, however, to substantiate a clear relationship between the 65-year steady reduction in the top tax rates and economic growth,” the report stated. “However, the top tax rate reductions appear to be associated with the increasing concentration of income at the top of the income distribution.”
The withdrawal came after Republicans like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) aired minor quibbles about language the report used that he viewed as “ politically freighted ”… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <Alternet>
That report should NEVER been withdrawn.  I don’t care how much Bought Bitch Mitch gets his panties in a bunch and snivels.  The people have a right to know!  You can read the report here.
Vote_Check-mark

Thursday, November 01, 2012 

Contrast Alberta's Understanding Of 'Dutch Disease' Economic Condition With Sask Premier Brad Wall's Limited Grasp ...

(Alberta's Understanding of the Economic condition known as 'dutch disease')


"The Canadian dollar remains elevated, buoyed by high commodity prices. And appreciation of the Canadian dollar could hurt exporters. Manufacturing companies will continue to be challenged by a strong Canadian dollar and moderate external demand."
Alberta Budget 2012-13



(Brad Wall's Understanding of the Economic condition known as 'dutch disease')

(click on image to enlarge ...)




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