The Liberals and Conservatives put off the inevitable showdown until at least the fall, with the creation of a blue ribbon panel to study reforming unemployment insurance. The tradeoff is that the Liberals get one more "supply day" in which they can bring down the government if they choose to.
Canadians may not be in the mood for a summer campaign. But I can't understand why Ignatieff is delaying. He's almost becoming Hamlet, waiting and waiting to drop the hatchet before it is way too late to change the situation.
Maybe he knows something most people in this country don't. Then again, Dion kept delaying until Harper made the decision for him. Twice.
A blue ribbon panel. Please. If there's going to be one, at least involve the other major parties -- and yes, that does include the Green Party. Otherwise, this is going to be a farce that benefits employers, not employees.
The Conservatives should put their proposals for reforming the system on the table now. Not doing so is reason enough to force an election.
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Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
Pull the plug, Iggy
I can't figure it out to be quite honest. Why is it taking so long for the Liberals to trigger an election, even though it would be the fourth one that we've had in the last five years? Stephen Harper has given his enemies all the reasons they need, and now that the Liberals are out of debt and actually have something of a war chest to play with, they have one more reason to demonstrate that it is the Grits who are the party of fiscal responsibility.
Ballooning the deficit to over fifty billion and just blaming it on the world economy is not good enough.
Michael Ignatieff has laid out four conditions for his party to support the "Blue Book," that is the discretionary appropriations, this coming Friday.
Here's how I see the issues.
1. Reforming EI
I personally think that working just 45 days in a non-seasonal work environment to qualify for unemployment benefits is ridiculous, but even crazier are the multiple rules that exist in different regions across the country. This leads to uncertainty, and justifiable accusations that the system is unfair for many if not most.
Ignatieff says he's willing to be flexible on the number, but there should be a reasonable offer from Harper to indicate that EI reform is going to be taken seriously. Of course, since the exhaustion of benefits leads necessarily to going on welfare, the provinces and territories need to be at the table. In many respects, the system is still designed for the 1940s when the sub national jurisdictions ceded unemployment insurance to the federal level -- and World War II ended 64 years ago.
2. More information about stimulus spending
Last week's publicity stunt with Conservative journalistic shill turned Senator Mike Duffy about how the stimulus money is being spent was inexcusable. Equally revolting is the claim that 85% of the stimuli have been spent. Many cities are saying they haven't seen any money, and that a lot of it is tied up in the usual red tape that the Cons promised they would eliminate.
We do need clarity on this. In particular, there are a lot of shovel-ready projects ready to go but the money must be made available. Otherwise, where is all that money going? Photo ops aren't going to do it. For example, dedicated transit lanes are being proposed for K-W and York Region, and new express streetcar lines for Hamilton, Ontario. There is no date certain for these projects to begin.
Incidentally, the Cons' claim that the money would dry up if there was a forced election is simply untrue. They can buy votes during an election using Governor General's Warrants, a reserve power of the Crown intended for emergency situations but which can be used during a prorogation or dissolution of a Parliament. Of course, it can backfire, but without such warrants the government would simply have to shut down all together -- tolerable in a presidential system like the US but intolerable in a parliamentary system where there must always be some kind of government operations.
3. Details on how to contain the deficit
During the 1990s, the Finance Department under Paul Martin had a plan to get the annual deficit down to 3% of GDP with an additional goal of getting the debt to below 60% of the GDP. The rationale was, once one got the debt below 60%, the economy would grow faster than the debt and we would be seen as prudent managers. Of course, the goal was more than met but only because of massive off-loading of programs to the provinces and territories which caused problems of their own. Still, something was done and the feds were lauded, as well as they should have been. While the targets set in retrospect seem weasel like, they were reasonable worst case scenarios in case the bottom fell out; this prudence was proven when the horror of 9/11 happened and we had a cushion to pay for security improvements as well as income tax cuts.
The Conservatives raised income taxes (before lowering them back to Liberal levels) and irresponsibly cut the consumption tax two percentage points, money that could have been used to fight the recession instead of having to go back to borrowings. In just one year, all the gains of the last several will have been lost and we'll be basically back to pre 9/11.
It's also worth pointing out the Conservatives under their rule have increased spending 25% percent and this was before the recession began to take hold last fall. No wonder they broke their own law and timed the election for when they did. Even Preston Manning sounded the alarm last week things are getting out of control. (Mr. Re-fooooom, who created the cause of eliminating deficits in the first place and made it a mainstream principle!)
Canadians don't want pie in the sky figures. They want a plan to get back into surplus as soon as possible. Nothing should be left off the table -- including tax increases, tax points or the various forms of revenue sharing; while respecting existing agreements that the Cons seems so willing to tear up.
4. The isotope shortage
This was a problem coming on for years, but the improvements being made to the reactors in Hamilton and Winnipeg won't even begin to cover the shortage. Now, Harper wants the feds to get out of the business all together, hoping Belgium and South Africa will pick up the slack.
That is simply unacceptable. While we have nuclear weapons capability and the isotopes for nukes as well as armored vehicles spiked up with depleted uranium can last for decades, the kinds used by medical facilities have a much shorter shelf life -- in some cases less than 10 hours. The alternates that are available, such as from the Hamilton facility, cost ten times as much even when available.
The reactor should have been replaced long ago, in fact should have been done when the Liberals were in power. That's no excuse, however, to just throw in the towel. We Canadians practically invented the nuclear business as we know it today; we should be using our ingenuity to solve the problem and build a new reactor that will be relatively low in cost and relatively goof-proof over its life.
*******
I could see Harper giving way on EI, but there seems to be no movement at all regarding the last three. As weary as Canadians may be of elections, there may be no better time to get rid of Harper than now. My advice to Iggy: Pull the plug now.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Ballooning the deficit to over fifty billion and just blaming it on the world economy is not good enough.
Michael Ignatieff has laid out four conditions for his party to support the "Blue Book," that is the discretionary appropriations, this coming Friday.
Here's how I see the issues.
1. Reforming EI
I personally think that working just 45 days in a non-seasonal work environment to qualify for unemployment benefits is ridiculous, but even crazier are the multiple rules that exist in different regions across the country. This leads to uncertainty, and justifiable accusations that the system is unfair for many if not most.
Ignatieff says he's willing to be flexible on the number, but there should be a reasonable offer from Harper to indicate that EI reform is going to be taken seriously. Of course, since the exhaustion of benefits leads necessarily to going on welfare, the provinces and territories need to be at the table. In many respects, the system is still designed for the 1940s when the sub national jurisdictions ceded unemployment insurance to the federal level -- and World War II ended 64 years ago.
2. More information about stimulus spending
Last week's publicity stunt with Conservative journalistic shill turned Senator Mike Duffy about how the stimulus money is being spent was inexcusable. Equally revolting is the claim that 85% of the stimuli have been spent. Many cities are saying they haven't seen any money, and that a lot of it is tied up in the usual red tape that the Cons promised they would eliminate.
We do need clarity on this. In particular, there are a lot of shovel-ready projects ready to go but the money must be made available. Otherwise, where is all that money going? Photo ops aren't going to do it. For example, dedicated transit lanes are being proposed for K-W and York Region, and new express streetcar lines for Hamilton, Ontario. There is no date certain for these projects to begin.
Incidentally, the Cons' claim that the money would dry up if there was a forced election is simply untrue. They can buy votes during an election using Governor General's Warrants, a reserve power of the Crown intended for emergency situations but which can be used during a prorogation or dissolution of a Parliament. Of course, it can backfire, but without such warrants the government would simply have to shut down all together -- tolerable in a presidential system like the US but intolerable in a parliamentary system where there must always be some kind of government operations.
3. Details on how to contain the deficit
During the 1990s, the Finance Department under Paul Martin had a plan to get the annual deficit down to 3% of GDP with an additional goal of getting the debt to below 60% of the GDP. The rationale was, once one got the debt below 60%, the economy would grow faster than the debt and we would be seen as prudent managers. Of course, the goal was more than met but only because of massive off-loading of programs to the provinces and territories which caused problems of their own. Still, something was done and the feds were lauded, as well as they should have been. While the targets set in retrospect seem weasel like, they were reasonable worst case scenarios in case the bottom fell out; this prudence was proven when the horror of 9/11 happened and we had a cushion to pay for security improvements as well as income tax cuts.
The Conservatives raised income taxes (before lowering them back to Liberal levels) and irresponsibly cut the consumption tax two percentage points, money that could have been used to fight the recession instead of having to go back to borrowings. In just one year, all the gains of the last several will have been lost and we'll be basically back to pre 9/11.
It's also worth pointing out the Conservatives under their rule have increased spending 25% percent and this was before the recession began to take hold last fall. No wonder they broke their own law and timed the election for when they did. Even Preston Manning sounded the alarm last week things are getting out of control. (Mr. Re-fooooom, who created the cause of eliminating deficits in the first place and made it a mainstream principle!)
Canadians don't want pie in the sky figures. They want a plan to get back into surplus as soon as possible. Nothing should be left off the table -- including tax increases, tax points or the various forms of revenue sharing; while respecting existing agreements that the Cons seems so willing to tear up.
4. The isotope shortage
This was a problem coming on for years, but the improvements being made to the reactors in Hamilton and Winnipeg won't even begin to cover the shortage. Now, Harper wants the feds to get out of the business all together, hoping Belgium and South Africa will pick up the slack.
That is simply unacceptable. While we have nuclear weapons capability and the isotopes for nukes as well as armored vehicles spiked up with depleted uranium can last for decades, the kinds used by medical facilities have a much shorter shelf life -- in some cases less than 10 hours. The alternates that are available, such as from the Hamilton facility, cost ten times as much even when available.
The reactor should have been replaced long ago, in fact should have been done when the Liberals were in power. That's no excuse, however, to just throw in the towel. We Canadians practically invented the nuclear business as we know it today; we should be using our ingenuity to solve the problem and build a new reactor that will be relatively low in cost and relatively goof-proof over its life.
*******
I could see Harper giving way on EI, but there seems to be no movement at all regarding the last three. As weary as Canadians may be of elections, there may be no better time to get rid of Harper than now. My advice to Iggy: Pull the plug now.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
NS NDP win
Congratulations to the Nova Scotia NDs on their huge victory. Here's hoping they're a smart, progressive régime like their cousins in British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and the Yukon; rather than the disaster we had in Ontario under Bob Rae.
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Monday, June 8, 2009
Sexy isotopes
Truly, one cannot make this stuff up. Bad-mouthing a fellow Cabinet member is one thing, but calling isotopes, radiation leaks and cancer "sexy"? I really don't need to comment on that one. The story practically writes itself. What was the line from a sitcom during the nineties: "Is that radium in your pocket, or are you happy just to see me?"
And the funny thing -- this time the reporter tried to return the tape recorder but it was refused. Who do we have running this country? And remember, this was the "hand-picked" woman that Harper shoved into Halton over the local constituency association's pick, and who wound up beating Garth Turner.
Lisa Raitt is to the Conservatives what Hedy Fry was to the Liberals; a giant killer turned non-stop Joke of the Day.
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And the funny thing -- this time the reporter tried to return the tape recorder but it was refused. Who do we have running this country? And remember, this was the "hand-picked" woman that Harper shoved into Halton over the local constituency association's pick, and who wound up beating Garth Turner.
Lisa Raitt is to the Conservatives what Hedy Fry was to the Liberals; a giant killer turned non-stop Joke of the Day.
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Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Sarah Palin has a point, for once
There's been a lot of buzz the last couple days about what Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) has had to say about the murder on Sunday of one of the few doctors left in America who performed post-viability abortions, George Tiller.
First, Palin issued this statement on her fundraising website:
Palin then followed up with this:
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that, no matter how much I disagree with much of Mrs. Palin's politics, I have to agree with her on this one. We cannot say that one murder is more despicable than another. Both men believed in what they were doing, and both were gunned down for those beliefs.
The fact the media has spent so much time talking about Tiller but so little about Long is quite disturbing. Both had families. Both had to put up with ridicule, even threats, for what they were doing. And both were ambushed, murdered in cold blood.
Let's consider February 8, 2007. The day Anna Nicole Smith died, it was considered "breaking news." But what else happened that day? One group of scientists were beginning a trial of an AIDS vaccine in South Africa, another group of scientists were reporting that robins and mosquitoes were making appearances in the High Arctic and the Inuit had no words in their language to describe either, and someone was convicted of manslaughter for neglecting his mother who had Alzheimer's. Oh, and 13 "terrorists" were killed in an air raid in Iraq.
Maria Shriver, the Democratic wife of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA), was so disgusted by how the media had overblown the Smith story that she told NBC News (from which she was on leave) that she was not coming back. Who can blame her?
Have we reached the point where war is so discredited, that an army recruiter is seen as less worthy of life than a doctor who performs one of the most controversial medical procedures there is? That celebrity is valued over genuine public service; or that one public service has more value than another?
If we're going to report on murders, unexplained deaths and the like, we should give equal time and treatment to everyone. Or we should go back to what we used to do and treat local murder stories as local murder stories. I still shudder at the Fox News pundit who said the Laci Peterson murder was a bigger story than 9/11. Sadly, it's not just Fox who has this lackadaisical attitude towards human life these days.
It makes me upset, indignant actually, to think I would agree with Sarah Palin on anything. She is the very antithesis of feminism, which I generally support. But when you're right about something, you're right regardless of your political orientation.
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First, Palin issued this statement on her fundraising website:
I feel sorrow for the Tiller family. I respect the sanctity of life and the tragedy that took place today in Kansas clearly violates respect for life. This murder also damages the positive message of life, for the unborn, and for those living. Ask yourself, 'What will those who have not yet decided personally where they stand on this issue take away from today's event in Kansas?'
Regardless of my strong objection to Dr. Tiller's abortion practices, violence is never an answer in advancing the pro-life message.
Palin then followed up with this:
The stories of two very different lives with similar fates crossed through the media's hands [Monday] - both equally important but one lacked the proper attention. The death of 67-year old George Tiller was unacceptable, but equally disgusting was another death that police believe was politically and religiously motivated as well.
William Long died yesterday. The 23-year old Army Recruiter was gunned down by a fanatic; another fellow soldier was wounded in the ambush. The soldiers had just completed their basic training and were talking to potential recruits, just as my son, Track, once did.
Whatever titles we give these murderers, both deserve our attention. Violence like that is no way to solve a political dispute nor a religious one. And the fanatics on all sides do great disservice when they confuse dissension with rage and death.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that, no matter how much I disagree with much of Mrs. Palin's politics, I have to agree with her on this one. We cannot say that one murder is more despicable than another. Both men believed in what they were doing, and both were gunned down for those beliefs.
The fact the media has spent so much time talking about Tiller but so little about Long is quite disturbing. Both had families. Both had to put up with ridicule, even threats, for what they were doing. And both were ambushed, murdered in cold blood.
Let's consider February 8, 2007. The day Anna Nicole Smith died, it was considered "breaking news." But what else happened that day? One group of scientists were beginning a trial of an AIDS vaccine in South Africa, another group of scientists were reporting that robins and mosquitoes were making appearances in the High Arctic and the Inuit had no words in their language to describe either, and someone was convicted of manslaughter for neglecting his mother who had Alzheimer's. Oh, and 13 "terrorists" were killed in an air raid in Iraq.
Maria Shriver, the Democratic wife of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA), was so disgusted by how the media had overblown the Smith story that she told NBC News (from which she was on leave) that she was not coming back. Who can blame her?
Have we reached the point where war is so discredited, that an army recruiter is seen as less worthy of life than a doctor who performs one of the most controversial medical procedures there is? That celebrity is valued over genuine public service; or that one public service has more value than another?
If we're going to report on murders, unexplained deaths and the like, we should give equal time and treatment to everyone. Or we should go back to what we used to do and treat local murder stories as local murder stories. I still shudder at the Fox News pundit who said the Laci Peterson murder was a bigger story than 9/11. Sadly, it's not just Fox who has this lackadaisical attitude towards human life these days.
It makes me upset, indignant actually, to think I would agree with Sarah Palin on anything. She is the very antithesis of feminism, which I generally support. But when you're right about something, you're right regardless of your political orientation.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Pass The Buck Steve
Instead of Lisa Raitt taking the fall, as she offered to, "Steve" instead fires Raitt's press assistant, Jasmine MacDonnell.
Guess PMS doesn't want to respect the convention of ministerial responsibility either. And Chalk River is still bleeding. Terrific. No accountability. Even the Smurfs ™ wouldn't put up with passing the buck.
Oh, I'm sorry. The little blue creatures lived in a collective. Guess that's too socialist for the Cons.
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Guess PMS doesn't want to respect the convention of ministerial responsibility either. And Chalk River is still bleeding. Terrific. No accountability. Even the Smurfs ™ wouldn't put up with passing the buck.
Oh, I'm sorry. The little blue creatures lived in a collective. Guess that's too socialist for the Cons.
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Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Another "top secret" binder, left behind
Dear me ... now our minister of natural resources, Lisa Raitt, leaves behind a top secret binder which contains some of the most sensitive secrets that Canada has -- namely our nuclear secrets. These include the tons of money spent at Chalk River, plans to sell off AECL that have been months in the making, and the fact that the rehab jobs at Bruce Nuclear are way behind schedule, even more than we were first lead to believe. Not to mention a handwritten note that the Cons were spending a billion seven, as necessary for "cleaning up a Liberal mess."
Nice partisan twist for a disaster a long time coming -- for a reactor that was out of date during the 1980s, when Mulroney was in charge!
The kicker? The binder was left behind at a TV studio in Ottawa ... for one week. This is the same government that lost the blueprints for the command centre for our commando squad, JTF2, and where a foreign minister "lost" a dossier at his then girlfriend's apartment.
And the same government that manages to balloon a deficit from the mid teens to over fifty billion -- and now, with the GM bailout, another ten on top of that.
It would be funny if it weren't true. Let's not forget, Canada has nuclear weapons capability and in light of the threat posed by Pakistan and North Korea, surely the thought of having our own arsenal must have crossed the minds of the leadership of the two largest parties in this country.
The problem is, we just don't secure our weapons grade uranium and plutonium well enough -- and this incident only proves the point that government ministers can't be trusted to protect even the secret recipes let alone the launch codes. And, the next time there's a security breach, something we really don't need to know could fall into the hands of Al Qaeda -- and trust me, it will happen sooner than we want to believe it. . Let's see Stephen Harper blame the Liberals and NDP when that happens.
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Nice partisan twist for a disaster a long time coming -- for a reactor that was out of date during the 1980s, when Mulroney was in charge!
The kicker? The binder was left behind at a TV studio in Ottawa ... for one week. This is the same government that lost the blueprints for the command centre for our commando squad, JTF2, and where a foreign minister "lost" a dossier at his then girlfriend's apartment.
And the same government that manages to balloon a deficit from the mid teens to over fifty billion -- and now, with the GM bailout, another ten on top of that.
It would be funny if it weren't true. Let's not forget, Canada has nuclear weapons capability and in light of the threat posed by Pakistan and North Korea, surely the thought of having our own arsenal must have crossed the minds of the leadership of the two largest parties in this country.
The problem is, we just don't secure our weapons grade uranium and plutonium well enough -- and this incident only proves the point that government ministers can't be trusted to protect even the secret recipes let alone the launch codes. And, the next time there's a security breach, something we really don't need to know could fall into the hands of Al Qaeda -- and trust me, it will happen sooner than we want to believe it. . Let's see Stephen Harper blame the Liberals and NDP when that happens.
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Monday, June 1, 2009
Bible Camp: An Outsider's Look
A couple of years back, a student at Brown University decided to take a semester off and do a first-hand investigation of one of the most controversial schools in America -- the late Jerry Falwell's Liberty University. Now, the author, one Kevin Roose, has published his diary of the experience called The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University.
It didn't come quite out as Roose expected. He says that in the end, when he finally fessed up to his fellow students about his ruse, they actually were quite understanding and forgave him. The book clears up some of the more wild misconceptions about Liberty and other ultra right-wing schools.
But there is no question that the discipline codes come out of a Puritan era and are simply out of step. Even students at military academies have more freedom both on and off-campus than "fundies." Consider the following -- I'm not making these up:
It didn't come quite out as Roose expected. He says that in the end, when he finally fessed up to his fellow students about his ruse, they actually were quite understanding and forgave him. The book clears up some of the more wild misconceptions about Liberty and other ultra right-wing schools.
But there is no question that the discipline codes come out of a Puritan era and are simply out of step. Even students at military academies have more freedom both on and off-campus than "fundies." Consider the following -- I'm not making these up:
- Possession and/or use of tobacco: 6 reprimands + $25 fine
- Improper personal contact (anything beyond hand-holding): 4 reprimands + $10 fine
- Attendance at, possession or viewing of, an R-rated movie: 12 reprimands + $50 fine
- Spending the night with a person of the opposite sex: 30 reprimands + $500 fine + 30 hours community service
This is truly Bible Boot Camp, to be sure -- and some students are of the kind where they are saving not just sex for marriage, but their first kiss; some men who have no knowledge of the female anatomy and some women who are way too devout. Others, thank God, are far less sheltered.
But everyone does have to take the mandatory Bible courses -- from the Falwell perspective. And courses in creationism, including whether Noah's Ark was big enough to hold the dinosaurs. (One presumes the correct answer on the test was "true," although if one takes the ark's measurements literally it would have been far smaller than the size of a World War II aircraft carrier.)
It's an interesting book, but it does shed light on the fact evangelicalism is a growing force among young people.
And while quite a few evangelicals did vote for Obama last fall (bolstered by a large chunk of the youth vote), four times as many still voted for McCain despite their misgivings about how "Republican" the Senator from Arizona is. The movement not going away any time soon ...
... and it is growing in Canada as well. Graduates of both accredited and unaccredited "divinity" programs are dominating the airwaves more and more, and selling a brand of politics quite at odds with the social consensus that has held Canada together for the past forty years. The conclusion is that we progressives need to sort out which of the evangelicals share our values and co-opt them to "spread the word" about social justice and shared values, before it's too late.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Prop 8 upheld but fight isn't over
While I continue to remain personally opposed to gay and lesbian marriage (preferring civil unions instead), I have to say that the decision the other day by the highest court in California to both uphold Prop 8, as well as upholding the gay marriages that took place between the time the law was passed and Election Day last year is simply incomprehensible. (Opinion and dissent in Strauss v. Horton can be found here).
Simply put, the courts can't have it both ways. If the amendment is valid, then it should have invalidated the marriages that took place under the law up to that point. If it is invalid, then any gay or lesbian couple should be allowed to get married in California.
In my opinion, the 14th Amendment, section 1, is very clear on this: Equal protection of the laws. That means gay marriage is legal for all, in all 50 states. That Ted Olson and David Boies (the opposing counsels in Bush v. Gore) would join up to fight Prop 8 is encouraging -- even more surprising considering Olsen was married to Barbara Olson, the arch-conservative pundit who was killed when one of the 9/11 planes, American Airlines 77, slammed into the Pentagon, and that Mr. Olson himself is a member of the arch-conservative Federalist Society.
Presently, same sex marriage is legal in Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont; while New York State now recognizes same-sex marriages contracted in foreign countries. Civil partnerships are legal in Oregon, New Jersey, Washington State, and in Washington DC -- and apparently civil unions are still legal in California. The trend lines continue to sway in favour of equal rights and it's just a matter of time before a federal case is taken to the US Supreme Court.
It's going to be a very close vote but I have a gut feeling that what is basically the correct decision will be made -- to drop the pretense and grant equality to all. It may not wind up being popular in many quarters, but it will be the just thing to do. After all, as the counsel opposing Prop 8 at the California Supreme Court pointed out, no one should have to sit on the back of the bus even if they get to their destination at the same time.
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Simply put, the courts can't have it both ways. If the amendment is valid, then it should have invalidated the marriages that took place under the law up to that point. If it is invalid, then any gay or lesbian couple should be allowed to get married in California.
In my opinion, the 14th Amendment, section 1, is very clear on this: Equal protection of the laws. That means gay marriage is legal for all, in all 50 states. That Ted Olson and David Boies (the opposing counsels in Bush v. Gore) would join up to fight Prop 8 is encouraging -- even more surprising considering Olsen was married to Barbara Olson, the arch-conservative pundit who was killed when one of the 9/11 planes, American Airlines 77, slammed into the Pentagon, and that Mr. Olson himself is a member of the arch-conservative Federalist Society.
Presently, same sex marriage is legal in Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont; while New York State now recognizes same-sex marriages contracted in foreign countries. Civil partnerships are legal in Oregon, New Jersey, Washington State, and in Washington DC -- and apparently civil unions are still legal in California. The trend lines continue to sway in favour of equal rights and it's just a matter of time before a federal case is taken to the US Supreme Court.
It's going to be a very close vote but I have a gut feeling that what is basically the correct decision will be made -- to drop the pretense and grant equality to all. It may not wind up being popular in many quarters, but it will be the just thing to do. After all, as the counsel opposing Prop 8 at the California Supreme Court pointed out, no one should have to sit on the back of the bus even if they get to their destination at the same time.
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North Korea stirs again
Yesterday, North Korea announced it was ripping up the 56-year armistice with South Korea that has kept a very uneasy peace on the penninsula all that time. This after a series of missile launches and the underground test of a nuclear bomb at least the size of the ones dropped by the Americans on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II.
Even North Korea's long time ally, Mainland China, is upset that the leadership of the "Hermit Kingdom" may have finally gone too far. But exactly who is in charge of the PDRK these days anyway? We're used to their "news anchors" reading prepared statements, but these ones are getting increasingly belligerent. There is no indication that the North is planning a major attack, but they do have missiles that could be fired on major cities in the South, including Seoul which is just 50 kilometres from the DMZ.
The Korean War is often called the "forgotten" war because we often forget just how much the balance of power was at stake in the years following the end of WW II. I think the Americans would like nothing better than to leave the South, provided some way was found to reunite the country as a free and democratic one.
But this isn't exactly like East and West Germany. The infrastructure issues weren't as bad comparatively as in North Korea, and while reunification is still problematic the restoration of democracy was quite smooth if for no other reason than the East as well as West Berlin (technically an occupied international city during détente) automatically became of the European Union with all its benefits. And, it wasn't like the East deliberately starved its people.
North Korea, however, is the new powder keg of the world. And it simply can't be trusted. Food aid is stolen by the government and given to apparatchiks or sold in markets (clearly with the label "UN" or the country of origin) to the highest bidder, if one can afford it. Their huge army, goosestepping 24/7, is on permanent standby for war on a moment's notice. (Even active National Guard units in the States, such as the one in Alaska, are normally on 48 hour standby).
The double-talk of the North Korean ambassador the other day, incidentally, is another example of just how clueless they are. A country certainly has the right to develop nuclear power, but to use it for military purposes takes it one step further. If North Korea can have the bomb, why not the South? If the UK and France have nuclear weapons, why can't Germany, Italy and Poland?
For that matter, Canada has weapons-grade capability. Publicly our police is non-proliferation, but I'll bet a dozen donuts that it's never crossed the minds of our Prime Ministers to consider it, even privately, to develop our own nukes.
This is a very serious situation. Every agreement that North Korea signs is ultimately broken -- by North Korea. If they launch a war it will be the PDRK's suicide but it will come at a very heavy price, with hundreds of thousands of civilians lost on both sides. But if in the end the decades long slavery inflicted on the North's populace is broken, that won't be a bad thing.
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Even North Korea's long time ally, Mainland China, is upset that the leadership of the "Hermit Kingdom" may have finally gone too far. But exactly who is in charge of the PDRK these days anyway? We're used to their "news anchors" reading prepared statements, but these ones are getting increasingly belligerent. There is no indication that the North is planning a major attack, but they do have missiles that could be fired on major cities in the South, including Seoul which is just 50 kilometres from the DMZ.
The Korean War is often called the "forgotten" war because we often forget just how much the balance of power was at stake in the years following the end of WW II. I think the Americans would like nothing better than to leave the South, provided some way was found to reunite the country as a free and democratic one.
But this isn't exactly like East and West Germany. The infrastructure issues weren't as bad comparatively as in North Korea, and while reunification is still problematic the restoration of democracy was quite smooth if for no other reason than the East as well as West Berlin (technically an occupied international city during détente) automatically became of the European Union with all its benefits. And, it wasn't like the East deliberately starved its people.
North Korea, however, is the new powder keg of the world. And it simply can't be trusted. Food aid is stolen by the government and given to apparatchiks or sold in markets (clearly with the label "UN" or the country of origin) to the highest bidder, if one can afford it. Their huge army, goosestepping 24/7, is on permanent standby for war on a moment's notice. (Even active National Guard units in the States, such as the one in Alaska, are normally on 48 hour standby).
The double-talk of the North Korean ambassador the other day, incidentally, is another example of just how clueless they are. A country certainly has the right to develop nuclear power, but to use it for military purposes takes it one step further. If North Korea can have the bomb, why not the South? If the UK and France have nuclear weapons, why can't Germany, Italy and Poland?
For that matter, Canada has weapons-grade capability. Publicly our police is non-proliferation, but I'll bet a dozen donuts that it's never crossed the minds of our Prime Ministers to consider it, even privately, to develop our own nukes.
This is a very serious situation. Every agreement that North Korea signs is ultimately broken -- by North Korea. If they launch a war it will be the PDRK's suicide but it will come at a very heavy price, with hundreds of thousands of civilians lost on both sides. But if in the end the decades long slavery inflicted on the North's populace is broken, that won't be a bad thing.
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Saturday, May 23, 2009
Let the networks freeze in the dark
You've probably seen the commercials this past week, running on the CTV affiliates as well as on their cable properties (including the Discovery Channel, MTV and even SexTV). The claim that local television could "disappear forever" if they and the other networks in Canada are not allowed to charge cable and satellite companies carriage fees for their "free" programming. In the current recession, the advertising well has certainly dried up. But I think there is another consideration.
We've all been bombarded with the switch to digital television in the States, which will definitely happen on June 12. Canada is scheduled to upgrade from the NTSC to the ATSC standard (the standard used in North America) on August 31, 2011, a little over two years from now. While most major centres are already broadcasting dual signals (and cable companies and the sats have picked up the digital signal), the analogue signals will be turned off in 2011 by law. Simple enough. However, the networks are now crying poor because many of their repeat transmitters -- the low power translators that simulcast main signals -- are in isolated hamlets that can only be reached by plane or boat. If they don't get the money, so the claim goes, much of northern Canada could be "in the dark."
Bunk. The deadline was set a long time ago, and the networks had plenty of time to have the funds to construct the digital transmitters. Besides which, the real issue is not access to television but the ineffective use of the synergies created when newspaper and television properties were allowed to merge and wasted opportunities -- as well as relying on US programming rather than the quirky yet innovative programs Canada was once famous for.
This comes from the same people who oppose Net Neutrality, by the way.
Let the networks freeze in the dark, as far as I care. We're not going to bail them out.
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We've all been bombarded with the switch to digital television in the States, which will definitely happen on June 12. Canada is scheduled to upgrade from the NTSC to the ATSC standard (the standard used in North America) on August 31, 2011, a little over two years from now. While most major centres are already broadcasting dual signals (and cable companies and the sats have picked up the digital signal), the analogue signals will be turned off in 2011 by law. Simple enough. However, the networks are now crying poor because many of their repeat transmitters -- the low power translators that simulcast main signals -- are in isolated hamlets that can only be reached by plane or boat. If they don't get the money, so the claim goes, much of northern Canada could be "in the dark."
Bunk. The deadline was set a long time ago, and the networks had plenty of time to have the funds to construct the digital transmitters. Besides which, the real issue is not access to television but the ineffective use of the synergies created when newspaper and television properties were allowed to merge and wasted opportunities -- as well as relying on US programming rather than the quirky yet innovative programs Canada was once famous for.
This comes from the same people who oppose Net Neutrality, by the way.
Let the networks freeze in the dark, as far as I care. We're not going to bail them out.
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Monday, May 18, 2009
Black gets last ditch chance
In a surprise decision, the US Supreme Court has said it will review Conrad Black's conviction on fraud charges last year. On the other hand, Black's name is quite well known and his celebrity may have helped him get through SCOTUS' usually very narrow gate, which is that a case for possible appeal must raise a "substantive federal legal question." Black is arguing that his prosecutor, Chicago federal district attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, stretched out the meaning of the word "fraud" to a conclusion not substantiated by law, therefore confusing the jury which convicted Black.
The facts remain that Hollinger, once one of the world's premier newspaper publishing companies, just became a piggy bank for its highest officers. Black still hasn't explained sufficiently why he "borrowed" some documents from his Toronto office over one weekend. Or his wife Barbara Amiel's extravagant lifestyle, which she crowed had no bounds.
It's going to make for an interesting oral argument. But his chances are slim, especially in the current political environment where anyone who is a board member of a publicly traded firm is considered suspect. If his convictions are overturned or remanded for retrial, he's going to be one very lucky guy ... um, lord.
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The facts remain that Hollinger, once one of the world's premier newspaper publishing companies, just became a piggy bank for its highest officers. Black still hasn't explained sufficiently why he "borrowed" some documents from his Toronto office over one weekend. Or his wife Barbara Amiel's extravagant lifestyle, which she crowed had no bounds.
It's going to make for an interesting oral argument. But his chances are slim, especially in the current political environment where anyone who is a board member of a publicly traded firm is considered suspect. If his convictions are overturned or remanded for retrial, he's going to be one very lucky guy ... um, lord.
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Saturday, May 16, 2009
War in Sri Lanka "over," but it's only just begun
The more than twenty-five year war in Sri Lanka between the Sinhalese and the Tamils appears to be over, with the government there declaring a "victory" over the Tamil Tigers, or LTTE. I am not familiar with all aspects of the conflict, but there can be no doubt that the humanitarian crisis was just a disaster waiting to happen and we're now seeing the results of that. Well, actually we can't since the Sri Lankan government has banned reporters from the last stronghold the Tigers had.
This situation has gone back and forth over the years, but it seems to me that some in the Western world have seen this as a black and white issue, with political parties taking sides depending on how the wind blows and governments changing policies as different parties take power. However, the Tigers do not represent the Tamil community as a whole and it is only in the last few years that governments both left and right have come to realize that the LTTE is in fact a terrorist group that uses very unsavoury tactics, such as extortion, piracy on the high seas, and recruiting child soldiers. One can no more separate the LTTE from its political wing than he or she can separate the IRA from Sinn Féin in both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.
The Tamil community does claim a large part of the island of Sri Lanka as its own (as well as the state of Tamil Nadu in India), and it is hoped by many that saner heads can finally prevail and some kind of settlement can be reached that satisfies all communities there -- but for now one has to deal with the immediate crisis, the thousands of refugees that have been created; as well as the almost dead silence we have heard from the Conservatives on this other than the fact they classified the LTTE as a terrorist group in 2006 (as did the European Union).
Terrorism should not be tolerated under any circumstances. To brush all Tamils with the same paintbrush, however, is also intolerable and one can appreciate from that perspective why such tactics as blocking major highways have had to be resorted to. It's important to remember there is a large ex-patriate community in Canada and like other immigrant communities the Tamils vote.
Alienating several hundred thousand voters is not my way of capturing power, it's a recipe for losing it. And people have the right to fly a Tamil flag (which just happens to have a tiger on it) as much as one can fly the flag of the Viet Cong or the Confederate States -- just as people have the right to burn a flag of any country, subnational jurisdiction, or ethnic minority.
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This situation has gone back and forth over the years, but it seems to me that some in the Western world have seen this as a black and white issue, with political parties taking sides depending on how the wind blows and governments changing policies as different parties take power. However, the Tigers do not represent the Tamil community as a whole and it is only in the last few years that governments both left and right have come to realize that the LTTE is in fact a terrorist group that uses very unsavoury tactics, such as extortion, piracy on the high seas, and recruiting child soldiers. One can no more separate the LTTE from its political wing than he or she can separate the IRA from Sinn Féin in both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.
The Tamil community does claim a large part of the island of Sri Lanka as its own (as well as the state of Tamil Nadu in India), and it is hoped by many that saner heads can finally prevail and some kind of settlement can be reached that satisfies all communities there -- but for now one has to deal with the immediate crisis, the thousands of refugees that have been created; as well as the almost dead silence we have heard from the Conservatives on this other than the fact they classified the LTTE as a terrorist group in 2006 (as did the European Union).
Terrorism should not be tolerated under any circumstances. To brush all Tamils with the same paintbrush, however, is also intolerable and one can appreciate from that perspective why such tactics as blocking major highways have had to be resorted to. It's important to remember there is a large ex-patriate community in Canada and like other immigrant communities the Tamils vote.
Alienating several hundred thousand voters is not my way of capturing power, it's a recipe for losing it. And people have the right to fly a Tamil flag (which just happens to have a tiger on it) as much as one can fly the flag of the Viet Cong or the Confederate States -- just as people have the right to burn a flag of any country, subnational jurisdiction, or ethnic minority.
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Friday, May 15, 2009
The truth, the WHOLE truth and nothing BUT the truth
As I have been watching the hearings into the Mulroney - Schreiber affair this week, and seeing former PM Brian Mulroney testify, it has occurred to me that this man, a distinguished lawyer, seems to have forgotten what it means to testify under oath -- that one is supposed to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Plenty of reference has been made to his Airbus lawsuit a number of years ago. He was asked if he had ever met Karlheinz Schreiber. He said "only once or twice." He now claims that he was being truthful because he thought he was responding only to how many times he met Herr Schreiber regarding the Air Canada / Airbus contract. But that really wasn't the question at all. And we now know that their dealing go back quite some time.
It is a matter of fact, for instance, that Schreiber flew in jetloads of PC delegates to Winnipeg for that party's policy convention that led to Joe Clark deciding he didn't have enough support -- even though he got 67%, more than plenty to stay on. There is simply no way Schreiber would have done this if he knew it wouldn't work, nor if Mulroney had no intention of running for the party leadership.
There is also the business of Mulroney and Schreiber meeting for the exchange of monies. Mulroney now says it was a huge mistake not to insist on payment in the form of a cheque, rather than cash. Mulroney also says that even though he received the money in 1993, he did not claim the income until 1999, saying the money was a retainer and not meant for his own consumption, but for services to be rendered in the future.
While that may be technically accurate, it is rather interesting he would have waited a full six years before reporting the income, at a tax rate that would have been more favourable to him (remembering that both the federal Liberals and the PQ in Québec had slashed income taxes, in particular in the upper brackets).
I really don't think Schreiber has told the whole truth. But Mulroney has sure chosen a convenient way to justify his actions. This is so like Bill Clinton when he defined sexual relations as what Monica Lewinsky did to him and not what he did to her -- in other words, by saying she "serviced" him he was telling the truth. No one bought it then and no one still buys it now. Along the way, he made some pretty unsavoury friends that only now we're getting around to fighting.
And quite frankly, no one's buying it from Mulroney either now. It's time for him to set the record straight once and for all. What was the money for, did he actually render the services he was paid for as a lobbyist, and why would he even want to deal with a man long under investigation in Germany for tax fraud? And don't forget, Mulroney during his time in office heaped loads of praise on Robert Mugabe. That should say something in itself.
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Plenty of reference has been made to his Airbus lawsuit a number of years ago. He was asked if he had ever met Karlheinz Schreiber. He said "only once or twice." He now claims that he was being truthful because he thought he was responding only to how many times he met Herr Schreiber regarding the Air Canada / Airbus contract. But that really wasn't the question at all. And we now know that their dealing go back quite some time.
It is a matter of fact, for instance, that Schreiber flew in jetloads of PC delegates to Winnipeg for that party's policy convention that led to Joe Clark deciding he didn't have enough support -- even though he got 67%, more than plenty to stay on. There is simply no way Schreiber would have done this if he knew it wouldn't work, nor if Mulroney had no intention of running for the party leadership.
There is also the business of Mulroney and Schreiber meeting for the exchange of monies. Mulroney now says it was a huge mistake not to insist on payment in the form of a cheque, rather than cash. Mulroney also says that even though he received the money in 1993, he did not claim the income until 1999, saying the money was a retainer and not meant for his own consumption, but for services to be rendered in the future.
While that may be technically accurate, it is rather interesting he would have waited a full six years before reporting the income, at a tax rate that would have been more favourable to him (remembering that both the federal Liberals and the PQ in Québec had slashed income taxes, in particular in the upper brackets).
I really don't think Schreiber has told the whole truth. But Mulroney has sure chosen a convenient way to justify his actions. This is so like Bill Clinton when he defined sexual relations as what Monica Lewinsky did to him and not what he did to her -- in other words, by saying she "serviced" him he was telling the truth. No one bought it then and no one still buys it now. Along the way, he made some pretty unsavoury friends that only now we're getting around to fighting.
And quite frankly, no one's buying it from Mulroney either now. It's time for him to set the record straight once and for all. What was the money for, did he actually render the services he was paid for as a lobbyist, and why would he even want to deal with a man long under investigation in Germany for tax fraud? And don't forget, Mulroney during his time in office heaped loads of praise on Robert Mugabe. That should say something in itself.
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Wednesday, May 6, 2009
EU ends seal hunt as Harper goes to Prague
Just as PMS goes to Prague to formally begin free trade talks with the European Union -- something which is long overdue for Canada, in my opinion -- the EU's Parliament voted overwhelmingly to ban the importation of nearly all seal products and derivatives into the 27 nation area. Harper can't claim he was caught by surprise by this, this ban has been long sought and seriously considered by the EU for nearly the whole time Harper has been Prime Minister. He can say he's going to appeal to the World Trade Organization but he's said nothing about what he'll do to help seal hunters in the short term.
As usual, Canada is claiming the hunt is "humane" and not at all like the horror stories that Brigitte Bardot and Sir Paul McCartney have made famous. That is as specious reasoning as continuing to tolerate the mining and export of a "safer" type of asbestos even though we know about the link between the mineral and mesothelioma.
There are two ways to see this. On the one hand is the fact that the seals are voracious eaters, especially of the northern cod, and while commercial overfishing is mostly to blame for the collapse of the Newfoundland fishery, seals do have some share of the blame. But instinct is not necessarily a reason to hunt them. On the other hand, there is the concern that seals do provide useful products -- not so much the seal pelts, but the seal oils including Omega 3 which is known to have health benefits.
There is also the need to consider the fact seal hunting is a part of the traditional way of life for many people, including the Inuit. The proposed EU ban does provide an exception for them, but as currently drawn is so narrow that one may as well declare an end to the hunt all together.
It has been noted that seal exports only account for about $5 million of trade with Europe. This is in contrast to the well over $12 billion and tens of thousands of new jobs that could be created if Canada and the EU sign a free trade deal. I have mixed feelings about this -- while the jobs provided by the hunt are important, the trade is about as senseless as the hunt for whales. The fact is Europe is moving towards a greener and sustainable economic model, and I think Canada should be part of that.
As for the hunt, I suppose we can continue to be hypocrites as we are on asbestos and sell the products to the third world, where the ruling classes still have a demand for the stuff with no safeguards in place. This is indeed an untenable position to take, but it's worth remembering that most EU states allow corporations to deduct bribes to foreign officials as "the cost of doing business," and our position on the issue (they're not deductible) hasn't budged the Europeans one inch in any of the tax treaties we've signed with individual member states in the EU.
Frankly, I don't think seals are going to be a deal breaker. Canada needs a fairly reliable export market, and with an area with strong traditions of democracy and general respect for human rights. I think both Harper and Ignatieff see the benefits of free trade with Western and Central Europe. I'd rather sign a deal with Brussels than Bogota which is basically a drug-run economy and a human rights disaster and to think we'd give the fast track to Colombia but insist on clause-by-clause with Europe is just insanity runk amok.
It's good to be back ... sorry for the absence but I have had too many things on my mind.
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As usual, Canada is claiming the hunt is "humane" and not at all like the horror stories that Brigitte Bardot and Sir Paul McCartney have made famous. That is as specious reasoning as continuing to tolerate the mining and export of a "safer" type of asbestos even though we know about the link between the mineral and mesothelioma.
There are two ways to see this. On the one hand is the fact that the seals are voracious eaters, especially of the northern cod, and while commercial overfishing is mostly to blame for the collapse of the Newfoundland fishery, seals do have some share of the blame. But instinct is not necessarily a reason to hunt them. On the other hand, there is the concern that seals do provide useful products -- not so much the seal pelts, but the seal oils including Omega 3 which is known to have health benefits.
There is also the need to consider the fact seal hunting is a part of the traditional way of life for many people, including the Inuit. The proposed EU ban does provide an exception for them, but as currently drawn is so narrow that one may as well declare an end to the hunt all together.
It has been noted that seal exports only account for about $5 million of trade with Europe. This is in contrast to the well over $12 billion and tens of thousands of new jobs that could be created if Canada and the EU sign a free trade deal. I have mixed feelings about this -- while the jobs provided by the hunt are important, the trade is about as senseless as the hunt for whales. The fact is Europe is moving towards a greener and sustainable economic model, and I think Canada should be part of that.
As for the hunt, I suppose we can continue to be hypocrites as we are on asbestos and sell the products to the third world, where the ruling classes still have a demand for the stuff with no safeguards in place. This is indeed an untenable position to take, but it's worth remembering that most EU states allow corporations to deduct bribes to foreign officials as "the cost of doing business," and our position on the issue (they're not deductible) hasn't budged the Europeans one inch in any of the tax treaties we've signed with individual member states in the EU.
Frankly, I don't think seals are going to be a deal breaker. Canada needs a fairly reliable export market, and with an area with strong traditions of democracy and general respect for human rights. I think both Harper and Ignatieff see the benefits of free trade with Western and Central Europe. I'd rather sign a deal with Brussels than Bogota which is basically a drug-run economy and a human rights disaster and to think we'd give the fast track to Colombia but insist on clause-by-clause with Europe is just insanity runk amok.
It's good to be back ... sorry for the absence but I have had too many things on my mind.
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