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By Lorne, on May 6, 2013, at 9:00 am
Now that the weather has markedly and rather consistently improved over the past week in my part of Ontario, yard work beckons, so for now I offer this perceptive nugget from a Star reader, who sees some benefit to the Harper regime’s estrangement from the United Nations:
Canada not up for UN Security Council seat, May 2
I’m relieved that Canada is not seeking a UN Security Council seat since, if we got it, the Harper government would only use it to lobby for international sanctions against Justin Trudeau.
Steve Morris, Toronto Recommend this Post
By Lorne, on May 5, 2013, at 9:34 am
Checking my blog archive, I found that I have written a total of 22 posts on asbestos. Here is number 23.
Two years ago, Canada was the sole nation to oppose adding chrysotile asbestos to the list of hazardous products under the Rotterdam Convention. Such a listing would not have banned the export of the deadly substance, but would have required proper labelling and explicit instructions as to its safe handling. Such labelling would have enabled
developing countries — where asbestos and most hazardous substances are shipped nowadays — to be informed of the dangers. They thus have the right (Read more…)
By Lorne, on May 4, 2013, at 9:33 am
Many of us who blog, tweet, or post political views on Facebook cannot, I suspect, avoid the periodic and unsettling notion that we are simply ‘preaching to the converted’ instead of reaching a larger audience with our perspectives and commentaries. Yet we persevere, both as a catharsis for our own outrage over social and political injustices, especially (at least for me) those induced by the Harper cabal, and in the hope that our words may influence those who don’t necessarily feel as we do. But it is always just a hope.
That is why I take such delight when I (Read more…)
By Lorne, on May 3, 2013, at 2:49 pm
In his column today, Tim Harper reminds us that yesterday marked the two-year anniversary of the Harper majority government.
It is hardly an occasion that progressives take delight in as columnist Harper makes reference to some of the regime’s retrograde policies and ‘achievements’:
– streamlined environmental regulatory reviews
– the formal withdrawal from the Kyoto protocol
– the radical overhaul of the Navigable Waters Act and the Fisheries Act
– the uncertainty over the future of the Experimental Lakes Area
– the shuttering of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy
– cutting of scientific research
– (Read more…)
By Lorne, on May 3, 2013, at 8:51 am Since the story has been covered in the mainstream press, and The Sixth Estate has done his usual fine and thorough job of analyzing its implications, I have nothing to add to the tale of the missing $3 billion from the Public Security and Anti-Terrorism (PSAT) Initiative.
Not only does the story further erode the myth of Conservative fiscal competence, however, it also provides an opportunity for some lacerating humour, as evidenced by today’s Star editorial cartoon. Enjoy:
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By Lorne, on May 2, 2013, at 5:01 pm Some may think this clever. I just think it is pathetic (and I’m not even a fan of the Liberals).
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By Lorne, on May 2, 2013, at 3:37 pm
What is one of the chief effects of the Harper regime’s preference for an ideologically-based policy model over one premised on logic, facts and empirical evidence, as explored in my earlier post? The decline, perhaps even the demise, of a healthy democracy in which citizens are engaged and informed participants, thereby allowing an ideologically-driven government to pursue its agenda largely unimpeded.
In today’s Toronto Star, columnist Bob Hepburn writes about the state of our democracy and the growing gap between Parliament and Canadians. An interview with David Herle, former Paul Martin campaign strategist and principal partner at The Gandalf (Read more…)
By Lorne, on May 2, 2013, at 3:37 pm
What is one of the chief effects of the Harper regime’s preference for an ideologically-based policy model over one premised on logic, facts and empirical evidence, as explored in my earlier post? The decline, perhaps even the demise, of a healthy democracy in which citizens are engaged and informed participants, thereby allowing an ideologically-driven government to pursue its agenda largely unimpeded.
In today’s Toronto Star, columnist Bob Hepburn writes about the state of our democracy and the growing gap between Parliament and Canadians. An interview with David Herle, former Paul Martin campaign strategist and principal partner at The Gandalf (Read more…)
By Lorne, on May 2, 2013, at 10:41 am
Cause and effect. Sometimes the relationship is obvious, as in, for example, a cigarette left smoldering on a couch and the subsequent conflagration that destroys a house. Other times, to see the relationship requires some digging, some thinking, some connecting of the dots. To its shame the Harper regime, as retrograde and benighted as it is, has proven quite adept at obscuring such relationships. Thanks to this Machiavellian bent, we are all the poorer.
In a recent address to the Alberta Federation of Labour, one that, curiously, was not reported in the mainstream Alberta media, former Tory pollster and strategist (Read more…)
By Lorne, on May 1, 2013, at 8:09 am A bit of a busy morning ahead, so for now something more from our friends at Canadians Rallying To Unseat Harper that amply attests to the fact that the spirit of resistance and dissent is alive and well in Canada:
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By Lorne, on April 29, 2013, at 4:51 pm From the folks at Canadians Rallying To Unseat Harper:
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By Lorne, on April 29, 2013, at 4:51 pm From the folks at Canadians Rallying To Unseat Harper:
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By Lorne, on April 29, 2013, at 10:39 am
Since I arose uncharacteristically late this morning, I am still working on today’s post. In the interim, I take the liberty of reproducing some letters from Star readers on a topic dear to the heart of progressives: Harper’s attack ads:
Re: Tory ad war drowns out debate over free speech, April 25
The federal Conservative party professes to decry the repugnant act of cyberbullying. Definition: “when the Internet, cellphones or other devices are used to send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person.” The recent Conservative attack ads against Justin Trudeau seem to fit (Read more…)
By Lorne, on April 28, 2013, at 9:17 am
While acknowledging that Ontario politics is likely of little interest to those living outside the province, I think there is much wisdom in former U.S. Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill’s observation that “All politics is local.” If it affects a constituent ‘where he or she lives,’ either in the physical or the mental/philosophical sense, I regard much of what occurs in our country politically as local.
For example, it was local politics when, in his ongoing attempt to hobble scientific study and muzzle voices of reason and expertise that demonstrate his policies to be fraudulent, retrograde and (Read more…)
By Lorne, on April 27, 2013, at 12:27 pm The other day I wrote a blog post on one of our national disgraces, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver. While in Washington recently promoting the proposed XL Keystone pipeline through the United States, Oliver took the opportunity to insult and denigrate one of the world’s leading climate-change scientists, James Hansen.
In an interview with the CBC’s Evan Solomon, Hansen uses the occasion to set the record straight and offer his own opinion on our federal government, which he terms ‘neanderthal’ on the topic of climate change. The video of that interview is available below:
UPDATE: Read Sorry, Jim: Apologies (Read more…)
By Lorne, on April 26, 2013, at 12:42 pm I suspect only the party faithful and the ‘true-believers’ would find these pictures objectionable:
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By Lorne, on April 26, 2013, at 8:35 am While the word commit has several meanings, when it is used without the preposition ‘to’ (as in, He is committed to her cause), it is invariably associated with something heinous (John committed arson; Shelley committed fraud; Lorne committed murder). It is therefore not likely a slip of the tongue when the man who heads our government (sorry, I can’t bear to refer to him as our Prime Minister) says, at about 1:20 on the following video, that this is not the time to “commit sociology” when asked about the arrests of two men this week who (Read more…)
By Lorne, on April 24, 2013, at 8:39 am
As deeply suspicious and cynical as I am about institutions, it is probably not surprising that I view with a jaundiced eye the events surrounding the arrest of two terror suspects accused of a plot to blow up a Via Rail train. Many have asked questions about the sudden urgency of Harper’s rearranging the parliamentary agenda so that his terror bill could begin to be debated on Monday, coinciding with the RCMP announcement of the arrests.
Coincidences happen, but I am always suspicious when they do. And given the well-known politicization that the RCMP has undergone in recent years, any (Read more…) with a modicum of critical-thinking skills is bound to wonder if this is not yet another example of our national police force allowing itself to be used by its political masters, something undoubtedly unhealthy both for democracy and general trust in government.
In his column . . . → Read More: Politics and its Discontents: This Can’t Be Healthy
By Lorne, on April 21, 2013, at 3:58 pm This video probably speaks for itself, but for its full context, click here.
H/t rabble.ca Recommend this Post
By Lorne, on April 20, 2013, at 7:57 am
I hope to write an actual blog post on an entirely different topic later today, but since the latest poll shows a very strong reaction against the Prime Minister’s puerile attack ads directed against Justin Trudeau, I can’t resist reproducing a few of the letters from Star readers in this morning’s edition expressing their thoughts on the issue. Be sure to check out this link if you want to read all of them :
Tories attack Trudeau on first day in new job, April 16
These ads are pathetic. What an awful was to instill the values of leadership to (Read more…)
By Lorne, on April 19, 2013, at 8:37 am
In his column this morning, The Star’s Tim Harper points out something that I think many of us are all too aware of: Stephen Harper is a hypocrite. There really is no other way to describe the despicable partisanship that permeates our Prime Minister’s deformed soul, most recently on display in London when he took the opportunity to exploit the tragedy of the Boston Marathon deaths and grievous injuries from a terrorist bombing.
As Tim Harper tartly observes, the usual protocol of not criticizing one’s own country while abroad depends on who’s talking. There is one rule for Stephen Harper (Read more…) another rule for everyone else.
The columnist reminds us of how Tom Mulcair, during his recent trip to Washington, offered some trenchant criticism when responding to questions by Canadian reporters:
When Mulcair questioned Canada’s commitment to fighting climate change, raising the Conservative decision to . . . → Read More: Politics and its Discontents: Harper Hypocrisy on Full Display
By Lorne, on April 18, 2013, at 8:26 am Oh, I do so savor The Toronto Star.
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By Lorne, on April 17, 2013, at 8:55 pm
Apparently not to Stephen Harper, who used the tragedy of the Boston Marathon bombings to try to attack Justin Trudeau.
Apparently the Prime Minister discourages any rational consideration of crime in favour of his well-known modus operandi, knee-jerk reactions and demagoguery.
Watch the following and decide for yourself:
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By Lorne, on April 17, 2013, at 1:18 pm
By Lorne, on April 16, 2013, at 1:28 pm
The latest attack ad, this one against newly-appointed Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau, serves as a timely reminder of the Harper government’s seemingly endless capacity for hateful and divisive propaganda. In this, I make an all-too obvious observation. But I have, for some time, wondered about the audience for those ads, and searching my blog archive, I don’t think I have commented upon this aspect previously.
No matter which Conservative attack ad one chooses, and there have been many, it seems that a standard template for the imagery and the narration predominates, both always out of context and derisive
. . . → Read More: Politics and its Discontents: Harper Hate-Mongering
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