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Weekend
You made it. Welcome to the weekend, kiddies.
Rock and ROLL!!!
Yes. The planet got destroyed.. #OWS pic.twitter.com/SeRo8012kF
— Claudia O (@skunkt) January 31, 2014
Famous Last Words
Sedgwick, John "Uncle John," General (1813-1864) "They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist--."
General John Sedgwick was a corps commander in the Army of the Potomac during the Civil War. At the battle of the Wilderness, while inspecting his troops, he approached a parapet and peered out over the surrounding countryside. His officers and men urged him to take cover from small arms fire, but Sedgwick scoffed at their concerns, "What! What men! This will never do, dodging from single bullets!"
As the general spoke his last words, he was shot in the head by a Confederate sharpshooter.
I call bullshit
I used to work for HRDC. Since thepurgedownsizing in 1999, I have watched the staffing levels of local Service Canada offices plummet.
Note: actual figures of cuts to Service Canada staff and programs are all but impossible to come by. Kevin Page is STILL struggling with this.
David Macdonald at CCPA comes closest to clearing away the fog. Specific numbers notwithstanding, if Julian Fantino and Stephen Harper are telling veterans that they can join the queue at Service Canada offices along with EI recipients and applicants, Passport applicants, CPP and OAS recipients and applicants, and god-knows-who-all-else, and consider that their needs are being met ...
I call bullshit.
Check out this headline: Festering EI backlog prompts pre-Christmas violence to get some insight into the fresh hell that Fantino and Harper consider as enhanced services for folks suffering from PTSD.
Shameful
As usual, Dr. Dawg has it right.
This isn't who we are.
Puppy Love
Thanks, Trud!
Howl
via this isnt happiness™ Peteski
In case you missed it ...
Angry Fantino can't understand why "living" veterans can be more like the ones honored in government tableau and television ads. #cdnpoli
— Coco Cabrera (@coco_urnews) January 29, 2014
Okay
Okay, okay. I give. I'm on Twitter. @MJGlass2. NO idea what I'm doing.
What's this hashtag thing, anyway?
Unscheduled Musical Interlude
You only get to be two once
Happy Birthday, Benjamin Michael!
Even-handed, right?
So Stephen fawned all over Israel, but also gave some money to the Palestinians. So, even-handed, right?
No.
Not even.
Freedom
South of the Medicine Line.
The land of the free, and the home of the brave.
The home of the brave, absolutely. You would have to be brave (or crazy) to live there.
The land of the free? Not so much. Not when the you ess of eh has only five percent of the world's population, but twenty-five of the world's prisoners.
But brave? Goddam right! And free? Well, IN ADDITION TO THE ABOVE, maybe not so much.
"Although easy access to guns is supposed to be an issue of personal freedom, look how it restricts us with metal detectors and fears that going to the movies or to school or to the local mall may be a fatal decision," said Gordon Livingston, a psychiatrist in Howard County."Myself, I think the terrorists won.
January 29, 2014: ETA THIS, courtesy of Dr. Dawg this: Old-school executions: U.S. states consider return to firing squads, electric chairs and gas chambers for death penalty
The rest here.
Stephen Harper is Canada's Herbert Hoover
"Mr. Flaherty is simply not prepared to do what is necessary to raise aggregate demand in the economy. For years, the government's strategy has been to cut the deficit it created and hope that exports and investment would fill in the gap. This hasn't worked. . . Even the International Monetary Fund thinks he's wrong. It has recommended that, in the absence of a strong recovery in growth and job creation, the date of deficit elimination could be delayed."More here.
My Newest Hero
Damn near enough to make me rethink my entire attitude towards politicians ...
More Eric. Canadian Famous.
Canadian Famous by Kevin McMahon, National Film Board of Canada
Too Good Not To Be True
Calvin and Hobbes
Rick's Rant
Welcome to the weekend, kiddies
It's the weekend, kiddies. Cut 'er loose.
The CBC belongs to CANADIANS, NOT Harper
Free The CBC from Political Interference
Not that our Beloved Leader eschews the media.
Kings Tombs
When I was about 8 or 10 years old, my mum and dad took my sister and I down from Indian Head to visit Uncle Gus and Auntie Betty on their farm just outside of Kipling.
This would be sometime in the early 50's.
This would be in the days when all the roads were gravel.
On the way home, we stopped - on a gravel road, in the middle of nowhere - to investigate a little building, out in the middle of a field.
It turned out to be a repository of religious icons. Wax figures. Looking like death. Like corpses. A prairie storm building in the distance. Sorrowful, and spooky as hell.
Especially for a little Anglican boy in small town Saskatchewan.
This video has some of the same flavour.
Ominous. But not nearly as eerie and scary as that little shack halfway between Kipling and Indian Head for a little kid in the early 50's.
For me, this is part Momento Mori, and part "Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
What We're Reading
Norwegian Fairy Tale
The hero came to a crossroads where there are 3 signs: "He who travels down this road will return unharmed"; "He who travels this path may or may not return"; and, "He who travels here will never return". Of course, he chose the third. (Simms)
h/t Pat Bauer
Amen
I am proud to be able to call this man one of my dearest childhood friends.
My hero then, and my hero now.
You are a good man, Eric. Go get'm!
More Eric.
I'm With Neil
Headline: Prominent Canadians Support Neil Young's Oilsands Campaign
Sign the AVAAZ petition here.
What We're Reading
Thanks, Aim!
If you think ...
via this isn't happiness™ Peteski
"We're all just walking each other home."
- Ram Dass
The problem with running government like a business
"Ministers used to take their responsibilities seriously. Liberal Sheila Copps resigned because she broke an election promise and Brian Mulroney's fisheries minster John Fraser stepped down over the tainted tuna scandal. But in the corporate world of the quick or the dead, ethics is for losers. And when government is run like a business it's just a matter of time before the infection spreads."
Read the rest of Murray Dobbin's blog post here.
Junket
Huge Canadian delegation to Israel includes representatives of the crony, extremist, and wingnut communities. #cdnpoli
— Coco Cabrera (@coco_urnews) January 19, 2014
5:21 pm - ETA this: Dr. Dawg gives us chapter and verse. Coco exaggerates not.
But Coco Cabrera is, of course, a satirist. Easily dismissed, right? So who really IS on Harper's plane to Israel?
NOT just CEO's who will bring back economic benefits in the way of taxes and jobs to Canada? NO????
Sorry, Bronwyn. Too bad that in your philosophy, and in Harper's Canada, ideology trumps truth.
January 26, 2014
ETA even more coals to Newcastle. THIS.
No door-to-door, no debate
January 23, 2014 - ETA THIS: "Canada Post and Conservative Party spokesmen have painted a picture of a crown corporation in crisis, hemorrhaging money that poor taxpayers would be on the hook for. Finally, the truth is starting to emerge even in the corporate press and this narrative is beginning to crumble."
More here.
And for even more coals to Newcastle, scroll down to January 4th.
Listening is an Act of Love
If you have the time (22:37) check this out:
News Flash
Dear Authoritarians,
Guess what?
Although it is true that cream rises to the top, it is equally true that feces floats.
Welcome to the weekend, kiddies
Now go on out and have yourself some fun, children!
Research Cutbacks By Government Alarm Scientists
"What we have done in Canada is turn off the radar," Ross told the fifth estate's Linden MacIntyre. "We are flying along in an airplane, and we've put curtains over the windshield of those pilots, of that flight-crew, and we've turned off the instruments. We don't know what is coming tomorrow, let alone next year in terms of some of these potentially catastrophic incidents in our oceans."
Read the rest here.
Review in horrifying detail the timeline here and here.
Read Rick Salutin's article "Dismantling of DFO libraries a blow to democracy" here.
And watch "The Silence of the Labs" here.
More? Really??? Okay, one more nail in the coffin of Canadian science.
Anyway, who needs libraries? This is what we REALLY need: Tim Horton's.
One last thing: We're saving money, right? So we must be going to use our savings on something special, right?
Yup.
Election 2015.
Here it is
Mearnsie found it. Bless'm.
Coming at you from radio XNB 660
On Power, Rights, and Interests
Headline: "Indigenous peoples have the law, but government has the power"
Disputes can be settled in one of three ways: Power, Rights, or Interests.
What we are seeing now is a government that wants to settle disputes by means of Power. We have a majority, so we can do whatever we want. Why? Because we said so. Because we can. Tough noogies.
Inevitably, then, aboriginal groups and others (like the The Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board) resort to Rights. We'll take it to court. These groups have done this, and will continue to do this until this present regime is retired.
The harper government refuses to sit down with any group other than the oil industry and the multinationals to discuss in a reasonable fashion what is in the best interests of the groups, the government, and the country.
And, oh yes, the planet.
Too bad. Issues that are settled on the basis of Power or Rights are resolved. But not without some nasty residue left in the wake. Only resolving issues on the basis of Interests results in win-win.
Our present democratic deficit all but precludes this possibility. But the way forward is clear. We need an alternative to our adversarial first-past-the-post system, where the party in power is seated across from Her Majesty's Loyal Oppositon at a distance of two swords' lengths. And until this happens, we need to take every opportunity we can to stand up. Unfortunately, this means taking it to court, and demonstrations, and petitions, and phone calls and e-mails to our elected representatives - however futile these things must seem.
We have little choice. Opting out IS an option, but it is not an option.
Chuck Strahl, Arthur Porter, Stephen Harper, China, and the Decline of Canada
I'm No Arthur Porter
We're screwed. Because people are stupid.
Dr. Dawg has more.
Pick It And Play It
Sending this one out to my sensei pogge, and my old band-mate Ken, who both understand the itch of the fingers for strings.
And, of course, to my dear nephew Drew, mandolinist par excellence, a mandolin player extraordinaire.
Love Song
Dog Photobomb Of The Day
Dear Pilsner
Dear Pilsner,
First, I would like to thank you for all of the happy times we have spent together.
I would also like to thank you for your generous contributions to my wardrobe, and for your continuing collaboration with the Riders. Please note that I am not unaware of the connection here.
But all that is history. We are not here to talk about brand loyalty. What I want to talk to you about today is your latest "innovation".
Tonight, when I opened a two-by-four, I was immediately struck by the sight of a new can.
I was struck by the sight of cans with RED PULL-TABS!!!
NEW!!! EXCITING!!!
And immediately to the right of each pull-tab, in the one-o'clock position, was a dimple.
No. Wait. NOT a dimple.
A nipple.
I had a vague notion of how to proceed, but I have to admit that, as usual, I screwed up the first attempt. Really, what happened was (pardon my french) "fuck-all".
The second can, I met with more (slash start sarcasm font) success (slash end sarcasm font).
NOTE: MORE, not COMPLETE, success.
Looking back on it now, I gather that the idea behind your latest innovation is to allow the user the option of relieving the pressure of the can prior to popping the can by sliding the top of the pull tab over the nipple, thereby puncturing the can with a small hole, and thus relieving the internal pressure prior to levering open the main (i.e., drinking/pouring) hole.
This was not my experience.
My initial (unsuccessful) experience has already been characterised, appropriately and succinctly I think, as "fuck all".
But with my second, (god knows I am, if nothng else, PERSISTENT) and more (lol) succesful experience in sliding the tab over the tit resulted in (precious) beer spilled on my lap. And my FOLLOWING manouever to undo the larger opening resulted in EVEN MORE spilled beer, and a crinkled can.
Dear Pilsner. Please be advised that , although I DO appreciate your continuing commitment to innovation, I will be forgoing your latest "improvement", but will, instead, pop the tab in the old time-honoured manner.
No more tits for me.
The red tabs are a nice touch, though.
Regards,
etc. etc.
January 23 - ETA THIS: Dear Pilsner. Sorry. I have now mastered your latest innovation, and I take back all of the above. Except for the references to my wardrobe and the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Keep up the good work.
What We're Reading
Inuit Cree Reconciliation
From 1966 to 1972 I worked as a geophysical technician all over northern Canada. I lived and worked with both the Cree and the Inuit.
I love this film.
Lorri, and Auld Lang Syne
Wow. "Forgiveness is a delicate miracle that occurs when the unjustly treated receive back what has been taken from them" C.Levan on #ford
— Lorri Neilsen Glenn (@neilsenglenn) January 5, 2014
Saving Canada Post
Read about it here.
Sign the petition here.
January 23, 2014 - ETA THIS: "Canada Post and Conservative Party spokesmen have painted a picture of a crown corporation in crisis, hemorrhaging money that poor taxpayers would be on the hook for. Finally, the truth is starting to emerge even in the corporate press and this narrative is beginning to crumble."
More here.
R.I.P. Phil
Phil Everly Dies at 74
Welcome to the weekend, kiddies
Made it through the first week of 2014! Good for you!
Kick your shoes off, pour yourself something nice, and click "play".
Keta
Keta | The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows from John Koenig on Vimeo.
Chaos Cinema
Part 1:
Chaos Cinema Part 1 from Matthias Stork on Vimeo.
Part 2:
Chaos Cinema Part 2 from Matthias Stork on Vimeo.
Part 3:
Chaos Cinema Part 3 from Matthias Stork on Vimeo.
via Open Culture
Love Song
FOUND: Stephen Harper's New Year's Resolutions
via Press Progress
Happy New Year!