pay now, pay later to a whole new level

zero tax increases --> city cutting back its social presence --> religions fill the social vacuum and before you know it, sharia is alive and well here too. taxes and the city services they fund are the only weapons we have to defend ourselves against people with whom you can't debate because they do things in the name of some supreme deity, who conveniently delegates authority only to a few "chosen" individuals.

This is how you get courts sentencing women to 200 lashes and six months in prison after being abducted and gang-raped by seven men.
http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Worthington_Peter/2007/11/28/4691235.php

CMAJ accuses drugstore chain of 'poaching' African pharmacists

Shoppers Drugmart is getting a little greedy... bad on them.

TORONTO - Canada's top medical journal is calling for a boycott of the country's largest chain of drugstores over the "unethical" practice of "poaching" pharmacists from South Africa.
In an editorial titled "Shoppers Drug Mart or Poachers Drug Mart?" the Canadian Medical Association Journal accuses the national chain of contributing to a health disaster by luring workers from the AIDS-ravaged country, a scheme it describes as "foreign aid in reverse."
"Those who poach deserve to lose business," the editorial says, citing figures from the KwaZulu-Natal province, in which three-quarters of government-funded pharmacist positions were unfilled.
The editorial suggests Shoppers should fund pharmacist training programs in South Africa, rather than exploiting the education system of a poverty stricken state.
"Shoppers has a legitimate need for workers, but it's not solving that need by bearing the cost in some way, by sharing the cost of training those workers," said Amir Attaran, Canada Research Chair in law, Population Health, and Global Development Policy at the University of Ottawa, who co-wrote the editorial.
"The South African taxpayer bears the cost in large part, and the worker is pulled away to Canada, where Canadians get the benefit. The lack of equity is obvious."
John Caplice, the company's senior vice-president, treasurer, investor relations and corporate affairs, refused to be interviewed yesterday, but said in an e-mail: "We are familiar with the editorial ... and strongly disagree with what is implied by its contents. Shoppers Drug Mart has in the past recruited a select few pharmacists from South Africa, as well as from other English-speaking nations. It is not our intention to 'poach' or damage the health care system of any other country."
The editorial, to be published in the forthcoming issue, contrasts the fair practice of "passive enticement," such as advertisements, with unfair, active "poaching." Mr. Attaran said Shoppers crossed the line by actually going to Africa and making company lawyers available to help with immigration hurdles. The company also pledges to reimburse the cost of Canadian licensing exams for successful recruits.
"In other words, they're facilitating the decision, not simply offering the option. It's the facilitation that is the problem," Mr. Attaran said. "I think we would feel very hard done by if American corporations were actively poaching away our graduates, and yet that's what a Canadian corporation is doing. And bear in mind, we don't have 19 per cent of adults with HIV; the South Africans do."
The editorial was prompted late last month when Wendy Lack, manager of associate recruitment for Shoppers, contacted Roderick Walker, dean elect of the faculty of pharmacy at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa, with a personal invitation to a recruiting drive that began yesterday.
Mr. Walker spread the word to colleagues, and co-wrote the editorial, which represents the views of the entire CMAJ board.
Ms. Lack was in Pretoria yesterday for the recruiting drive, which continues Thursday in Johannesburg, and next week in Durban and Cape Town. She did not respond to requests for comment.
For individual South African pharmacists, the question of emigration is often a dilemma that pits the welfare of their homeland against that of their families, with predictable outcomes.
"It's a good opportunity for Shoppers to be there because of the bad situation for pharmacists at the moment. ... The whole profession is under threat," said Wilhelm Venter, 40, a pharmacist who left South Africa five years ago and now owns and manages a Shoppers Drug Mart in Toronto's financial district.
He said his profession is poorly supported in South Africa because, unlike in Canada, doctors can dispense drugs as well as prescribe them. He said legislation has been changed for the worse in the last couple of years, with the effect of "bankrupting a lot of pharmacists," and so the interest in emigration is now at a peak. But he said a lack of doctors and facilities, and the high cost of medication, are far worse problems.
"Unless you have an actual private drug plan, which very few people can afford, most people can't even afford to buy medications from a pharmacy, so the pharmacist's role is pretty limited," he said. "They're going out of business. That's why they're leaving."

battlefield deciders

"Some of the best weapons for counterinsurgency do not shoot," Nagl's counterinsurgency manual says. Instead, it advises troops to get to know the locals — both individually and as groups — and gain their trust. The locals generally know which of their neighbors are insurgents and which aren't; they're already plugged into the communal network. "Arguably," the manual says, "the decisive battle is for the people's minds."

From Wired.com, ironically enough. I believe this is as important in a city like Ottawa, struggling for public confidence in its ability to provide effective and efficient needs. Retreating into service-cutting "0% tax increase" modes is counterproductive. Instead, the city should be an integral part of the community - if not, you leave the door open for other organizations to fill the void, organizations that you typically can't discuss with rationally because [god] is on their side.

the mayor speaks

There's no way in a hundred million years that the (1500?) staff at City Hall can match the intellectual capacity of the 877,000 people of the City of Ottawa.

-Larry O'Brien on a telephone interview with BOB FM this morning (26 Nov 07 around 6:20am) on municipal budget consultations.
Wow.
Akin to the 2004-11-20 Dilbert where Alice is outwitted by PHM during a performance review ("inability to handle criticism ... and you argue with people much smarter than yourself.")
Evidently, in this first-past-the-post election system, his conscience is guided by a public opinion weathervane.
Personally, I think dissing your staff in order to flatter the electorate and gain public support for overriding staff recommendations is a cheap trick. I guess he also considers having the guts to say and do stupid things that nobody else would dare as "leadership."
My only consolation is that, as time goes on, the backward slides into conservativism, the reactionary shifts between left and right, are getting shorter-lived as people start realizing neither is the panacea for public ills. Part of me is beginning to look forward to the next quantum change that resets the public's frame of reference. Isn't 2012 the year the Mayans think this (particular iteration of the) world ends?

lost in a golden age?

This is stupid. Why remove a book because it is controversial? Better thing to do is take your heads out of the sand and ask the students to discuss what they think makes it controversial. Oh but wait, that would lead to free thought...
shortlink
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071123/compass_books_071123/20071123?hub=Canada

"The trouble is that all too often in human history, churches and priesthoods have set themselves up to rule people's lives in the name of some invisible god (and they're all invisible, because they don't exist) -- and done terrible damage," Pullman writes on his website.

"In the name of their god, they have burned, hanged, tortured, maimed, robbed, violated, and enslaved millions of their fellow creatures, and done so with the happy conviction that they were doing the will of God, and they would go to Heaven for it."

honorary titles

interesting factoid:
"In the United States, the form "Excellency" was specifically denied to the President"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excellency

well, interesting from a historical p.o.v: this obviously stems from an anti-british monarchy/peerage system sentiment, which is interesting to me because the best definition for Canadian is "not american."

A friend of mine suggested Dubya would prefer "Your Omnipotency." If we were to use "Your Inepotency" instead, would the spelling error distract him from the thinly-veiled attack?

Why exactly is Hollywood on Washington's radar?

I never imagined that the American government would concern itself over leftist Hollywood, that persistent thorn in the side of absolutist intentions, other than, perhaps, to serve as a convenient catchment area for social laxism and vice. Is Washington then afraid that such an attack might allow the communist "disease" to break out and infect the rest of the country? Or are they afraid that without Nicole and Britney and the anorexic twins, the media will have to start talking about the real world again and people will start paying attention to Washington and the rest of the world again?

EXPERTS FAULT U.S. PREPARATION FOR ANTHRAX ATTACK
Will Dunham
November 14, 2007

WASHINGTON, Nov 14 (Reuters) - The United States has done too little to prepare for another potential domestic anthrax attack six years after spore-laden mail killed five people, a former CIA director and other experts said on Wednesday.
[...]
The report illustrated the threat by laying out three scenarios involving an anthrax attack: spreading spores on New York's subway system, killing thousands; dispersing a smaller amount of the spores in a Minneapolis movie theater, Las Vegas casino and California theme park, killing hundreds; and an attack at the Academy Awards ceremony, killing famous actors.
"Congress needs to get much more involved right now. The administration needs to put this on the front burner," Livingstone said.
[...]

no words can describe this

somebody's spending not enough time with the rest of society (which in this case might be a good thing for the rest of us):
http://www.churchofmoo.com/half-mad/teevee/teevee.html

checks-and-balances: statement of the obvious

If you cannot find a leader that inspires faith that you will succeed, you have to settle for a manager that can inspire confidence that you will at least not fail.

No wonder we have multicameral governments and heavy bureaucracies!

objective science vs guided religion

Faith picks up where confidence leaves off; the fight between atheists and theists is where to draw the line.

abuse of power

I was almost digging this release, until I got to the last sentence.
Harper's abusive arrogance has no limits; who the hell does he think he is? Why should we accept such clear partisan shots from Canada's PM when its not even campaign season? What an ass.

-----Original Message-----
PRIME MINISTER HARPER PRESENTS NEW MINISTRY
August 14, 2007
Ottawa, Ontario

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today presented a new Ministry which will continue to lead Canada's New Government through the next phase of its mandate.

"We did what we said we were going to do and now it's time to keep moving forward," said the Prime Minister. "To seize the opportunities that lie before us; and rise to the challenges that confront us."

In particular, Prime Minister Harper pointed to continued strong leadership on the economy, and defence and foreign affairs.

The Prime Minister said the new Ministry would continue to provide the same strong and decisive leadership that Canadians have come to expect from Canada's New Government.

"As our record over the past eighteen months demonstrates, we have a proven capacity to get things done for all of Canada's families."

Prime Minister Harper said the new Ministry would continue to:

Assert and defend Canada's sovereignty;

Keep the economy strong and taxes low;

Vigorously tackle crime;

Preserve and protect the environment; and

Strengthen the Federation at home and abroad.

"This new Ministry presents Canadians with a clear choice; a choice between strong leadership that is moving Canada forward or a weak opposition that would set families and taxpayers back," concluded Prime Minister Harper.

The Prime Minister's Office - Communications

different gears for different fears

say what, "prima facie" evidence?
this obviously wasn't written by the usual propaganda-writers.
Still, they never miss a chance to take a vindictive stab. Even if factually not incorrect, such statements are inappropriately partial for the PM's office.

I also wonder just how "independent" this third party is going to be. The USA political system has that going for it, at least: the Senate must scrutinize and can veto each presidential appointee! Maybe Harper is worried that a properly reformed Canadian Senate will diminish his dictatorship reign quest for absolute rule?

-----Original Message-----

STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER

November 13, 2007
Ottawa, Ontario

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today issued the following statement on asking the third party to advise the Government on terms of reference for a public inquiry:

"On Friday I announced that I would be appointing an independent and impartial third party to review what course of actions may be appropriate given Mr. Schreiber's new sworn allegations. These allegations remain unproven and untested in a court of law and arose in a private lawsuit. There are however now issues that go beyond the private interests of the parties in the lawsuit.

Many have called for a public inquiry, including most recently Mr. Mulroney.

Given the conflicting information and allegations (including what appears to be some conflicting information under oath) and the extended time period over which the events referred to in various documents and allegations surrounding this matter have occurred, I have decided to ask the third party to advise the government on appropriate terms of reference for a public inquiry.

If in reviewing material, the independent party finds any prima facie evidence of criminal action he or she will identify this and advise how this should be handled and what impact, if any, it should have on the nature and timing of the inquiry.

A public inquiry is a major step and one that should only be taken when it addresses Canadians' interest, not those of the various parties, whether Mr. Schreiber, Mr. Mulroney or political parties. That is why it is important that we engage the necessary independent expertise and take the time to ensure that the terms of reference meet that test."

The Prime Minister's Office - Communications
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ECO 92 RJ - Severn Suzuki

unprecedented

Wow, this is the first time that I ever notice the PM announcing his availability for questions since I subscribed to this service (shortly after the election). at the press theatre, and taking questions even? what's going on?

-----Original Message-----

Public event for Prime Minister Stephen Harper for today, November 9th is:

4:00 p.m. - Prime Minister Stephen Harper will be available to take questions from the media.

Press Theatre
National Press Building
150 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario

*Open to media*

The Prime Minister's Office - Communications

Rememberance Day Thanks

Joint missive from the Ministries of Truth and Peace:

> -----Original Message-----
>
> REMEMBRANCE DAY MESSAGE
>
> As Minister of National Defence, I have had the privilege of meeting with many of you. I find myself humbled by the bravery and the professionalism of the fine men and women who work for Canadian Forces.
>
> In Afghanistan, you are continuing the noble role that Canada has always played in the world. You are giving hope to millions of people in need of assistance. You are acting as a cause for good in an unstable world. This is also true of Canadian Forces members who are deployed under Operation ALTAIR and Operation SEXTANT; our sailors, soldiers, airmen and airwomen who are stationed around the world; and the personnel who are protecting North America.
>
> Like generations before you, many of you have left your homes in Canada to confront an extremist ideology on foreign soil. Many of you have risked your lives to defend Canada and Canadian values. Without doubt, your sacrifices are building a better world.
>
> Now, more than ever, I appreciate Canada> '> s very proud tradition of military accomplishments. As communities across Canada think and pray of the sacrifices that brave men and women have made on their behalf this weekend, they will also pause to think and pray for you.
>
> Canada will forever remember those Canadians who fought in past conflicts and those Canadians who served the cause of peace.
>
> To all soldiers, past and present, thank you.
>
> Lest we forget.
>
> Peter G. MacKay
> Minister of National Defence

I emailed this earlier today:

Mr. Sterling,

Before I start, I'd like to congratulate you on your recent re-election. The overall election results were rather surprising, though in hindsight, not entirely unexpected. I also want to thank you for the pressure you are keeping on the Carp Dump situation.

I recently brought a small crate of unwanted electronics to a local "Take It Back" program participant for proper disposal. I was prepared to pay the "small handling fee" they had verbally quoted at $35.

I was stunned, however, when they gave me a receipt for $30, plus GST and PST. Shocked. Why have the federal and provincial governments not tax-exempted waste diversion/recuperation services? I could have easily sent them to landfill with the rest of my garbage for free (well, through municipal taxes), but, mindful of future generations, I chose to dispose of them properly at my personal time and expense. Had I known about the upcoming amnesty day for electronic components, I would have waited a few more weeks and at least saved my money.

The Ontario government already has several excellent incentive programs, aimed at what consumers bring into their homes (PST-exempt EnergyStar qualified appliances and a cost sharing program for packaging materials, for example). When will the government extend their attention to address what goes OUT of consumer's homes, by shouldering more waste diversion program costs, or, at the very least, exempting compost bins, rain barrels, electronic recuperation programs, and the like from the PST as well? Certainly this would make diverting toxic trash from the Carp dump more palatable, even more accessible, and help secure a clean environment for our children to grow into the strong and vibrant workforce of tomorrow.

Bottom line is, we should not be taxed for our greenwill.

abuse of communications

have you seen the PM's website lately?
His name in big letters, underlined with "strong leadership, a better Canada."
Seems to me this website belonged to the OFFICE of the Prime Minister. I'm quite ok with it trumpeting priorities and achievements of the government, but I have a big problem with his personal use of it as a campaigning device.

putting errors behind us... with new ones

I'm all for protecting the way of life of aboriginals who choose that path, and affording those who choose to strike off on their own a comfortable place in our society. However, I am concerned these campaign-style promises will result in a culture of fence-sitters that want their cake and eat it too. Either separate and preserve, or integrate and merge. Can't have it both ways.

PRIME MINISTER HARPER OUTLINES THE GOVERNMENT'S ACHIEVEMENTS FOR ABORIGINAL CANADIANS
Halifax, November 2, 2007

In an address to the annual general assembly of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP) today, Prime Minister Stephen Harper outlined the Government's actions for Canadians of native ancestry. The Prime Minister noted that Canada?s rapidly growing Aboriginal population increasingly lives off-reserve in urban communities.

"The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, in many ways, represents the future of our country," said Prime Minister Harper. "Your membership constitutes the fastest growing segment of Canadian society. The "Forgotten People," as you call your members, cannot be forgotten or ignored any longer. On the contrary, I believe you will play a pivotal role in the prosperous future that beckons for all Canadians."

Prime Minister Harper also discussed the numerous initiatives undertaken by the Government to create equality of opportunity and improve the lives of on-reserve and off-reserve Aboriginals. These include:

Implementation of the Indian Residential Schools Agreement.

Legislation to repeal section 67 of the Canadian Human Rights Act to ensure Aboriginal people on-reserve have the same human rights protections as other Canadians.

Extensive national consultations to establish matrimonial real property laws on-reserve to protect the rights of Aboriginal women.

A plan to expedite the Specific Claims resolution process, including the creation of a new independent tribunal.

A plan to improve drinking water quality standards and training on-reserve.

A $105-million investment in the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership.

A strengthened focus on the Urban Aboriginal Strategy.

Providing $300 million for Aboriginal off-reserve housing.

"Our Government, in conjunction with able organizations like yours, is working very hard with aboriginal communities on- and off-reserve to address the problems that need to be fixed. In our first 21 months, I think you?ll agree we've made a very good start," said the Prime Minister.

What we are

Dance monkey Dance!