Another group has weighed in on the long-form census debate. This time, it's the Catholic Bishops. Maybe not exactly the most popular group right now as some in the grouping are accused of continuing obstructing justice in the never-ending sex abuse cases. But setting that aside, the bishops say the data is needed to help them plot out where new parishes need to be built and which ones ought to be closed or merged ... as well as helping faith-based social service agencies plan out strategies to deliver services.
One of the justifications used to not have a long form census is that it allows people to put in joke answers -- over 21,000 Canadians in 2001 said they were "Jedi". Alternately, since there is a near complete separation of church and state it's not appropriate to ask about one's religion, and in many countries -- the US and some EU member states, for instance -- it's actually illegal to ask.
I disagree on the "inappropriateness" point. Yes, there is room for mischief. But having information about religion patterns across the regions is important. In 2001, for instance, 42.6% of Canadians self-identified as Roman Catholic. 23.3% said they were Protestant, 4.4.% Eastern Orthodox and 1.9% Muslim. "Others" made up 11.8% while 16% said they have no religion whatsoever. (Source: CIA).
How can this be applied practically?
The fact is, whether we like it or not, certain patterns of violence do tend to spike in certain ethnic or religious communities. "Honour killings" -- if we can call them that, for there is no honour in murder -- do happen across all communities but they do concentrate in those from the Middle East or South Asia. Sexual assaults also happen all over, but patterns emerge that they can be often more frequent in some minority communities as well as less affluent areas in "white majority" areas. If we can identify problem areas then we can fight crime before it begins -- in a sense, prevent a broken window from even being broken.
Another example.
Not that long ago, the local daily newspaper here, the Hamilton Spectator, did an extensive series that tied health outcomes to incomes as well as ethnic and religious background -- and that one neighbourhood could be wildly different from the next. This was by no means racial profiling. It was meant to demonstrate that there is a link and that equal rights can only be achieved by equal opportunities as well as truly equal access to health care. The newspaper relied on census tract information and cross-referenced that to health information obtained through Freedom of Information (with personal information stripped, of course). The paper has made it clear such a series could not be done without the mandatory long form information.
The government claimed they received "thousands" of e-mails objecting to the intrusiveness of the census, but this past week the Privacy Commissioner, Jennifer Stoddart -- an agent of Parliament and therefore independent -- says she only received three formal objections related to the census in the last five years, and merely 50 in the last 20 years. Who are these "thousands"? People watching the religious channels who just click a form letter on a website and send a mass and duplicating e-mail (the same tactic the Parents Television Council uses in the States to bombard the FCC with "indecency" complaints)?
As for the claims made by the government new Canadians are fearful of being deported if they don't fill in the census, this is something that comes up every cycle.
And the solution remains the same -- go to the ethnic communities, the churches, the multilingual media and put in ads assuring people that their information remains private. That this census is not an enumeration as in other countries (which here is updated by tax returns and "motor voter" laws). That this does not relate to taxes, pensions, or any other entitlements. That the information helps them in the long run, is a duty of citizenship and actually helps protect our freedoms. That while, yes, it is mandatory, it's only a few minutes to a couple hours of time and that for the next five years they don't have to worry about it.
Social service agencies get it. The police get it. Members of the First Estate -- the clergy, from many denominations -- get it. So why won't those at the top of the Second Estate -- the elected officials?
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Saturday, July 31, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
When all else fails, send in ... Mike Duffy
From respected journalist to on-air Con shill to Senator, the downfall of Mike Duffy has been slow and steady. Now it's just about complete with Duffy being sent in as the point-man to represent the government on-air regarding the current turmoil in the Mounties' top management.
The Red Serge may have a lot of problems right now, but is The Duff the best Harper can send in?
Moreover, if a civilian was needed to clean up the mess in the first place, why didn't Harper appoint someone who actually had prior civilian police oversight? Bill Elliott was at Indian Affairs, the Coast Guard, Transport and then National Security Advisor. Not exactly my first choice for a job this massive. And there probably wouldn't be this uproar in the ranks of the RCMP right now.
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The Red Serge may have a lot of problems right now, but is The Duff the best Harper can send in?
Moreover, if a civilian was needed to clean up the mess in the first place, why didn't Harper appoint someone who actually had prior civilian police oversight? Bill Elliott was at Indian Affairs, the Coast Guard, Transport and then National Security Advisor. Not exactly my first choice for a job this massive. And there probably wouldn't be this uproar in the ranks of the RCMP right now.
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Tuesday, July 27, 2010
RIP Maury Chaykin
A truly versatile actor, appearing in numerous TV and film roles, far too many to count. While many will remember him in such films as Whale Music, Dances With Wolves, The Sweet Hereafter, and Where the Truth Lies -- my personal favourite was where he played the first witness that Joe Pesci demolishes in My Cousin Vinny. The line "No self-respecting Southerner would ever use instant grits ..." had me cackling.
Maury Chaykin was only 61 -- actually he turned 61 today when he died. Gone way too soon.
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Maury Chaykin was only 61 -- actually he turned 61 today when he died. Gone way too soon.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Pakistan supports Taliban -- like we knew that
Whoever leaked the Afghanistan documents that proves that Pakistan has stabbed us in the back and supports the Taliban -- as most of us has suspected all along -- is as much a hero as Daniel Ellsberg who produced the Pentagon Papers nearly forty years ago. The real danger is not to the troops, as Harper and Obama are claiming today, but to NATO's credibility in the allies we choose.
Bring the troops home, now. With friends like these ...
It was never about the Taliban, folks. It's about the disputed territory of Kashmir. And the nuclear weapons that Pakistan and India both possess.
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Bring the troops home, now. With friends like these ...
It was never about the Taliban, folks. It's about the disputed territory of Kashmir. And the nuclear weapons that Pakistan and India both possess.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Iran: Was right war then but not now
I still think it's Iran, not Iraq, the West should have gone after first -- there would have been much wider support from Canada and the EU to join the US in such an effort. But now such a campaign would be an even worse quagmire than Operation Baghdad Civil War, and rather then getting rid of Mad Mad would only consolidate his power. I'll defer to Steve Clemons at TWN for his thoughts about Obama and Iraq.
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Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Black out on bail
So it looks like His Lordship, Conrad Black, has gotten bail. The federal judge at the original trial -- Amy St. Eve -- who had the case remanded back to her by the Supremes in Washington -- has released Black on $2 million bail but ordered that he stay within the US while she considers how he should be resentenced.
This may not be the end of his problems. The IRS is claiming he owes $72 million income taxes although he says that doesn't have to pay as he was not a resident of the States at the time. Interesting argument if he earned even one dollar of American income. And of course, he renounced his Canadian citizenship and now wants back into Canada -- and it was suggested last night on The National that there are some movers and shakers who want to expedite the process.
While thousands of others wait months, even years, to get into here? No way. Get to the back of the line, sir, just like my father did.
If Harper even thinks about giving Black a free pass, let alone giving him one, that could be the end of his career in any line of work, let along politics.
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This may not be the end of his problems. The IRS is claiming he owes $72 million income taxes although he says that doesn't have to pay as he was not a resident of the States at the time. Interesting argument if he earned even one dollar of American income. And of course, he renounced his Canadian citizenship and now wants back into Canada -- and it was suggested last night on The National that there are some movers and shakers who want to expedite the process.
While thousands of others wait months, even years, to get into here? No way. Get to the back of the line, sir, just like my father did.
If Harper even thinks about giving Black a free pass, let alone giving him one, that could be the end of his career in any line of work, let along politics.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Eco fees go bye-bye for now
It seemed like a good idea at the time ... Ontario imposing a mandatory levy on many of the items we use to help fund safe waste disposal. Ranging from a few cents for a bottle of liquid dishwash soap to over $6.50 for a fire extinguisher. While a number of retailers had been doing it voluntarily -- Walmart had been for over a year for hazardous products like motor oil and solvents -- the product range became much larger and the fees mandatory from July 1st.
But like the health tax, the Greenbelt and the HST, it's not the concept but how it was implemented by the Ontario Liberals. Coming on the same day as the introduction of the combined tax, the eco fees were seen by many, rightly or wrongly, as a "tax grab" -- except that the money wasn't going to the government but a pro-business entity calling itself "Stewardship Ontario." Outsourcing the collection of this money -- which was expected to raise over $200 million per year -- was just as boneheaded as when the BBC several years ago hired a private firm to do the dirty work of ensuring TV license compliance. Worse even biodegradable and other "safe" products were being charged the fee, wrongly. Othe retailers just were totally caught by surprise -- some drug store chains hadn't updated their cash registers for this contingency.
Yesterday, after Canadian Tire ™ said it was no longer going to charge the levy, Dalton McGuinty did a complete about face and said the eco fees are suspended, until they figure out better how to impose it -- or even if a third party outlet should even have the authority to be able to do this. I don't recall this being voted on in the legislature -- I thought revenue raising of any kind is done by the government and that this can't or should not be outsourced
What would be a better way?
Oh let's see ... clear labelling on the price cards on shelves (either saying the amount that is included in the price, or what fee will be added at checkout)? Giving people the option of either having the fee directed to industry or to local environment projects? Actually having a public debate rather than burying it on page 300 of a little-read briefing book?
Can we use the word "Schmuck" here? We should of course be making responsible choices at stores large and small. But isn't it also the responsibility of business to give us more choices and to clean up their own messes rather than pass a steath tax onto us?
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
But like the health tax, the Greenbelt and the HST, it's not the concept but how it was implemented by the Ontario Liberals. Coming on the same day as the introduction of the combined tax, the eco fees were seen by many, rightly or wrongly, as a "tax grab" -- except that the money wasn't going to the government but a pro-business entity calling itself "Stewardship Ontario." Outsourcing the collection of this money -- which was expected to raise over $200 million per year -- was just as boneheaded as when the BBC several years ago hired a private firm to do the dirty work of ensuring TV license compliance. Worse even biodegradable and other "safe" products were being charged the fee, wrongly. Othe retailers just were totally caught by surprise -- some drug store chains hadn't updated their cash registers for this contingency.
Yesterday, after Canadian Tire ™ said it was no longer going to charge the levy, Dalton McGuinty did a complete about face and said the eco fees are suspended, until they figure out better how to impose it -- or even if a third party outlet should even have the authority to be able to do this. I don't recall this being voted on in the legislature -- I thought revenue raising of any kind is done by the government and that this can't or should not be outsourced
What would be a better way?
Oh let's see ... clear labelling on the price cards on shelves (either saying the amount that is included in the price, or what fee will be added at checkout)? Giving people the option of either having the fee directed to industry or to local environment projects? Actually having a public debate rather than burying it on page 300 of a little-read briefing book?
Can we use the word "Schmuck" here? We should of course be making responsible choices at stores large and small. But isn't it also the responsibility of business to give us more choices and to clean up their own messes rather than pass a steath tax onto us?
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Why the long form census is needed
I want to add my little bit's worth to the census debate.
While there's a one in five chance that one would get the long form census -- it's just dropped off at every fifth household -- it so happens that I or my parents got the long form nearly every time over the last thirty years. This was the case with me in 2006. Did I find it intrusive? Actually, no more intrusive than filling out an income tax return, quite frankly. We allow the government to invade our privacy briefly to get a tax refund or to determine what we owe at the end of the year. It's one of the prices of citizenship.
So is the case with the census form. And in a time of very short revenues, I find it unbelieveable that the feds would actually want to get rid of a lucrative source of money that doesn't rely on something that everyone pays out of pocket (taxes or user fees). Countless businesses, social services organizations, the media, even churches, use the data mine to plot out all sorts of strategies. The government doesn't hand this out for free, they put a pretty price on it. You think that companies like fast food chains or home improvement big boxes pick their locations by chance?
Another big customer is the provinces. For the big ticket items -- health, education and welfare -- they need reliable data. Making some of the key information "voluntary" erodes the value of the data, and therefore renders it unreliable. It's also one of the reasons why I brisk at the "census revolts" that some engage in where some refuse to fill in the forms out of principle. Either they don't like government at all, or they believe that because they are "sovereign" (e.g. the approach taken by some native groups) they owe it no regard.
If one form is left unfilled, that could be the difference between another few thousand per student transfer to school boards. Or what pushes a province over the threshold to get another Member of Parliament.
And as for the line "I don't want the state in my bedroom" or "how many bedrooms I have, no one needs to know" -- well, actually, no one is asking what one does in bed, just how many are in it. Urban sprawl tends to be supported (I think, anyway) by those who think it's wrong to intrude on one's personal life yet see no contradiction in intruding on what's left of our rural areas which are going to be needed to feed a growing population.
If farmers have to fill in a version of the long form (and I believe they still do) then why not the rest of us? It's about an hour of our time. One hour that sets priorities for the public and private sectors for the next five years. It's no problem with me.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
While there's a one in five chance that one would get the long form census -- it's just dropped off at every fifth household -- it so happens that I or my parents got the long form nearly every time over the last thirty years. This was the case with me in 2006. Did I find it intrusive? Actually, no more intrusive than filling out an income tax return, quite frankly. We allow the government to invade our privacy briefly to get a tax refund or to determine what we owe at the end of the year. It's one of the prices of citizenship.
So is the case with the census form. And in a time of very short revenues, I find it unbelieveable that the feds would actually want to get rid of a lucrative source of money that doesn't rely on something that everyone pays out of pocket (taxes or user fees). Countless businesses, social services organizations, the media, even churches, use the data mine to plot out all sorts of strategies. The government doesn't hand this out for free, they put a pretty price on it. You think that companies like fast food chains or home improvement big boxes pick their locations by chance?
Another big customer is the provinces. For the big ticket items -- health, education and welfare -- they need reliable data. Making some of the key information "voluntary" erodes the value of the data, and therefore renders it unreliable. It's also one of the reasons why I brisk at the "census revolts" that some engage in where some refuse to fill in the forms out of principle. Either they don't like government at all, or they believe that because they are "sovereign" (e.g. the approach taken by some native groups) they owe it no regard.
If one form is left unfilled, that could be the difference between another few thousand per student transfer to school boards. Or what pushes a province over the threshold to get another Member of Parliament.
And as for the line "I don't want the state in my bedroom" or "how many bedrooms I have, no one needs to know" -- well, actually, no one is asking what one does in bed, just how many are in it. Urban sprawl tends to be supported (I think, anyway) by those who think it's wrong to intrude on one's personal life yet see no contradiction in intruding on what's left of our rural areas which are going to be needed to feed a growing population.
If farmers have to fill in a version of the long form (and I believe they still do) then why not the rest of us? It's about an hour of our time. One hour that sets priorities for the public and private sectors for the next five years. It's no problem with me.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Eliminating the penny? Two bits for some thoughts ...
It's been discussed, somewhat jokingly in private members bills, over the years. But now it's none other than our own Canadian national mint that is saying it's time to do what Australia and New Zealand have done for their respective currencies, and what two Euro zone states -- Finland and Netherlands -- have done, eliminate the one cent coin and go to what's called "Swedish rounding" (round to the nearest five cents for prices ending in 3,4,6 and 7; and to the nearest zero for 1,2,8 and 9).
Why? The coin long ago stopped being copper. We tried zinc for a while like America does for their Lincolns, but even that got expensive. And the steel blanks we use nowadays cost a cent and a half each, so the money's not even worth what it's made of anymore.
Hoarding pennies is a long standing tradition and many churches still have "penny sales" every now and then. And there's a lot of sentiment attached to any denomination being removed. It's not like the switchover from the one and two dollar bills to coins which were quite well received here -- unlike in the States, where the one dollar coin is still viewed very much with suspicion and many still believe the $2 bill is fake (it's not) or even "unlucky".
I would have thought this was bonkers at one time, but it might actually be a good idea if it was implemented properly. This isn't a massive operation like "decimalization" in the UK and Ireland back in 1972 (remember pounds / shillings / pence with 20 shillings in the pound and 12 denari in the shilling -- no wonder why they went to decimals!) or the Euro "big bang" in 2002 when 12 currencies had to be triangulated. I'd like to meet someone who still has a "half crown" (2s /6d which converted to 12½ p). Or a half pence for that matter!
But we'd have to do it carefully. Given we're moving to polymer bank notes beginning next year (in an attempt to stop counterfeiting, and we should) it might not be the right time. However, since the Aussies and Kiwis figured it out and PMS is so determined to maintain our Commonwealth links at any price (even if many of the other member states are irredeemably corrupt) it's something we may want to ask their advice on. And of course, we need a full debate in Parliament. Maybe this is one thing in which a free vote would be warranted.
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Why? The coin long ago stopped being copper. We tried zinc for a while like America does for their Lincolns, but even that got expensive. And the steel blanks we use nowadays cost a cent and a half each, so the money's not even worth what it's made of anymore.
Hoarding pennies is a long standing tradition and many churches still have "penny sales" every now and then. And there's a lot of sentiment attached to any denomination being removed. It's not like the switchover from the one and two dollar bills to coins which were quite well received here -- unlike in the States, where the one dollar coin is still viewed very much with suspicion and many still believe the $2 bill is fake (it's not) or even "unlucky".
I would have thought this was bonkers at one time, but it might actually be a good idea if it was implemented properly. This isn't a massive operation like "decimalization" in the UK and Ireland back in 1972 (remember pounds / shillings / pence with 20 shillings in the pound and 12 denari in the shilling -- no wonder why they went to decimals!) or the Euro "big bang" in 2002 when 12 currencies had to be triangulated. I'd like to meet someone who still has a "half crown" (2s /6d which converted to 12½ p). Or a half pence for that matter!
But we'd have to do it carefully. Given we're moving to polymer bank notes beginning next year (in an attempt to stop counterfeiting, and we should) it might not be the right time. However, since the Aussies and Kiwis figured it out and PMS is so determined to maintain our Commonwealth links at any price (even if many of the other member states are irredeemably corrupt) it's something we may want to ask their advice on. And of course, we need a full debate in Parliament. Maybe this is one thing in which a free vote would be warranted.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?" ... and, untendered plane contracts
Two thoughts today.
1) HT to Crystal Ocean: I've heard of appealing to "The Base" (which, ironically, is also one of the rougher translations of Al Qaeda). But if these numbers from Angus Reid about what people think about evolution in Canada, the US and the UK are correct then our education system -- or at least the one they have "out west" -- is going to hell in a hand basket as it has in the states, and it has major ramifications for the central government's research funding councils and what could happen if election trends continue the way they are; unless we insist that reason will guide our faith and not the other way around. And more importantly, that reasonable people lead our country.
In other words, the "base" being appealed to is that which wants to so manipulate our education system that it leads long-term to desired voting results rather than the free reasoned choice it ought to be.
Last time I checked the Bible, it said "'Come now, and let us reason together' saith the LORD" (Isaiah 1:18). It does not say "“Faith is not a product of reason … Believers are not to be led by logic. We are not to be led by logic. We are not even to be led by good sense.” That, by the way, is Kenneth Copeland.
For the record, I think evolution is the most plausible explanation for God's creation. Intelligent design, as it's whitewashed called nowadays, is anything but intelligent.
What is really surprising is that support for the theory of evolution is highest in those parts of Great Britain that are generally among also the most religious -- anything outside of London and in Scotland and Wales. But even London (58%) rated higher than Alberta (51%) and Manitoba and Saskatchewan (50%). Can't tell from the poll if Northern Ireland was surveyed but I would suspect that this is something that Catholics and Protestants would agree with also. But that's also still better than the States, where just 47% nationwide think evolution is the correct explanation.
Great Britain ... they actually get it more than we or the Americans do. Hmm.
2) The Liberals are trying to get the Defence Committee reconvened to get the government to explain how the pending purchase of the next generation of fighter jets -- 65 Lockheed Martin F-35s -- got untendered.
Our fleet of F-5s (or as we classify them, CF-116s) and F-18s are in woeful need of replacement and we need to start the process ASAP. But one of the principles of a huge purchase of this nature ($9 billion up front, plus another $7 billion for maintenance over the anticipated lifetime of the planes) is that there should a tendering process. We just don't "design build" unless it's a toll road (which is a provincial jurisdiction in any case).
As now MP and former Capt. Marc Garneau (Canadian Navy -- Ret'd) has pointed out, we just spent $2.6 billion to refurbish the F-18s to keep them airworthy until 2017. Was that just a make work project to get the Conservatives votes; or to "un tin hat" it, was it value for money?
Given the world we live in nowadays where terrorists can strike any time and anywhere, we just can't slap things together, building a deep sea port here and doing bit work contracts there. If we have an integrated forces (with army, air force and navy under a unified command) we need all the pieces working together. We also need to make sure that if we have to make foreign purchases that we don't get skunked over -- no matter who's in the corner office in the Centre Block.
For my part, I personally continue to support a concept proposed by Jean Charest way back in 1997 when he ran under the PC banner: a "rapid reaction force" of 10-15,000 of our best men and women from all three branches, knowledgeable in each other's capabilities, with the best equipment and able to move out on 48 hours notice without any foul-ups. And of course, backed up by the very best equipment -- following a proper sourcing process rather than feeding the friends that bite you (and that's not a misprint).
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
1) HT to Crystal Ocean: I've heard of appealing to "The Base" (which, ironically, is also one of the rougher translations of Al Qaeda). But if these numbers from Angus Reid about what people think about evolution in Canada, the US and the UK are correct then our education system -- or at least the one they have "out west" -- is going to hell in a hand basket as it has in the states, and it has major ramifications for the central government's research funding councils and what could happen if election trends continue the way they are; unless we insist that reason will guide our faith and not the other way around. And more importantly, that reasonable people lead our country.
In other words, the "base" being appealed to is that which wants to so manipulate our education system that it leads long-term to desired voting results rather than the free reasoned choice it ought to be.
Last time I checked the Bible, it said "'Come now, and let us reason together' saith the LORD" (Isaiah 1:18). It does not say "“Faith is not a product of reason … Believers are not to be led by logic. We are not to be led by logic. We are not even to be led by good sense.” That, by the way, is Kenneth Copeland.
For the record, I think evolution is the most plausible explanation for God's creation. Intelligent design, as it's whitewashed called nowadays, is anything but intelligent.
What is really surprising is that support for the theory of evolution is highest in those parts of Great Britain that are generally among also the most religious -- anything outside of London and in Scotland and Wales. But even London (58%) rated higher than Alberta (51%) and Manitoba and Saskatchewan (50%). Can't tell from the poll if Northern Ireland was surveyed but I would suspect that this is something that Catholics and Protestants would agree with also. But that's also still better than the States, where just 47% nationwide think evolution is the correct explanation.
Great Britain ... they actually get it more than we or the Americans do. Hmm.
2) The Liberals are trying to get the Defence Committee reconvened to get the government to explain how the pending purchase of the next generation of fighter jets -- 65 Lockheed Martin F-35s -- got untendered.
Our fleet of F-5s (or as we classify them, CF-116s) and F-18s are in woeful need of replacement and we need to start the process ASAP. But one of the principles of a huge purchase of this nature ($9 billion up front, plus another $7 billion for maintenance over the anticipated lifetime of the planes) is that there should a tendering process. We just don't "design build" unless it's a toll road (which is a provincial jurisdiction in any case).
As now MP and former Capt. Marc Garneau (Canadian Navy -- Ret'd) has pointed out, we just spent $2.6 billion to refurbish the F-18s to keep them airworthy until 2017. Was that just a make work project to get the Conservatives votes; or to "un tin hat" it, was it value for money?
Given the world we live in nowadays where terrorists can strike any time and anywhere, we just can't slap things together, building a deep sea port here and doing bit work contracts there. If we have an integrated forces (with army, air force and navy under a unified command) we need all the pieces working together. We also need to make sure that if we have to make foreign purchases that we don't get skunked over -- no matter who's in the corner office in the Centre Block.
For my part, I personally continue to support a concept proposed by Jean Charest way back in 1997 when he ran under the PC banner: a "rapid reaction force" of 10-15,000 of our best men and women from all three branches, knowledgeable in each other's capabilities, with the best equipment and able to move out on 48 hours notice without any foul-ups. And of course, backed up by the very best equipment -- following a proper sourcing process rather than feeding the friends that bite you (and that's not a misprint).
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Big Biz: Open season to plunder. Big. Effin. Surprise.
Oh neat ... besides drill baby drill, Big Biz in America wants unlimited logging rights in that country's national forests. Like there isn't already. Because the same multi-park passes can be used for both parks and forests many may think that means both classes are run by the same people, and they're not.
Many people forget that while National Parks are under the jurisdiction of the Interior Department, federal treelands are under the purview of the Agriculture Department. So it's really managed logging rather than the general free for all on most timberlands.
I don't have an issue with managed logging, but the key word is management. It may be time to pull another Clayoquot Sound and have some more civil disobedience to get the message out that public forests are for the people's benefit, with timber dues going to the people.
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Many people forget that while National Parks are under the jurisdiction of the Interior Department, federal treelands are under the purview of the Agriculture Department. So it's really managed logging rather than the general free for all on most timberlands.
I don't have an issue with managed logging, but the key word is management. It may be time to pull another Clayoquot Sound and have some more civil disobedience to get the message out that public forests are for the people's benefit, with timber dues going to the people.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
Do you want nuclear waste on the Great Lakes?
We might not have much choice, it could happen as early as this fall as the first of two shipments of decommissioned steam generators weighing 110 tonnes a piece, 16 each shipment for a total of 32, are due to go overland from Bruce Power in Kincardane to Owen Sound, then around and through Lakes Huron, Erie and Ontario, up the St. Lawrence and out to ocean to a facility in Sweden.
Okay, so it's going to a friendly country so maybe there's a bit of relief there. But who knows how radioactive the metal is? Has anyone done an assessment as to what could happen if there is a terrorist attack enroute? Will there be no go zones for traffic while it goes through canals or will it be BAU (business as usual) with the obligatory figures crossed?
Another and possibly bigger concern is once reprocessed the materials cannot be traced on the after market. There are huge worries about depleted uranium used as armour plating in battlefields particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan -- worries from active personnel and "embeds". What if a paramilitary group gets its hands on the stuff?
I thought they were looking at abandoned mines in Nevada and Saskatchewan. Whatever happened to that idea? Oh, yeah, they have problems of their own ... Guess when we did the impossible by splitting the atom, we created new problems that can't be solved.
And now Ontario want to spend another $5 billion (read $20 billion) to build more reactors. Yikes. Who thinks these things through? And the worst part is they get ex-politicians to run the generating stations rather than actual nuclear scientists.
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Okay, so it's going to a friendly country so maybe there's a bit of relief there. But who knows how radioactive the metal is? Has anyone done an assessment as to what could happen if there is a terrorist attack enroute? Will there be no go zones for traffic while it goes through canals or will it be BAU (business as usual) with the obligatory figures crossed?
Another and possibly bigger concern is once reprocessed the materials cannot be traced on the after market. There are huge worries about depleted uranium used as armour plating in battlefields particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan -- worries from active personnel and "embeds". What if a paramilitary group gets its hands on the stuff?
I thought they were looking at abandoned mines in Nevada and Saskatchewan. Whatever happened to that idea? Oh, yeah, they have problems of their own ... Guess when we did the impossible by splitting the atom, we created new problems that can't be solved.
And now Ontario want to spend another $5 billion (read $20 billion) to build more reactors. Yikes. Who thinks these things through? And the worst part is they get ex-politicians to run the generating stations rather than actual nuclear scientists.
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Saturday, July 10, 2010
It's not a moral issue, it's an equality issue
A judge in the United States may have finally put that country on track to joining a number of nations that have recognized what is common sense -- that morals cannot dictate public policy regarding gay marriage.
Back in 1996, Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act which defines a marriage as one man and one woman to the exclusion of all other relationships. A platitude may be fine to get votes especially from the most mobilized, but the effect of the federal law is that a gay partner cannot be buried next to his or her lover in a military cemetary, cannot get spousal federal social benefits, cannot apply for the spousal tax credit -- even in the five states and DC all of which do recognize same-sex marriages. The judge rightly has said the law violates the equality provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment.
But the judge, in another case, also said that the federal law also impedes on a state's right to allow gay marriages. This is the more complicated one as many states have passed sweeping bans not just on gay marriages but also the right of gay and lesbian couples to adopt, and refuses to recognize the legitimacy of marriages entered to in other states (which of course violates Article IV).
One has to wonder if this will have an effect on the federal court in San Francisco which any day will rule on the propriety of Proposition 8. I don't think there's a choice here -- the court has to rule to strike it down even if a majority of voters in California approved it. There is no other option just as there was no option but to end segregation fifty years ago even though most whites at the time supported it (and many, I suspect, would like it to come back).
Whatever I personally think about gay marriage, which I have discussed before here, I don't think it's a moral issue anymore. It is one of equal rights, period. And for what it's worth, if courts enforce same-sex custody orders even in states where they're not "supposed" to, there's no reason why they can't take the next logical step if legislatures refuse to do so.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Back in 1996, Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act which defines a marriage as one man and one woman to the exclusion of all other relationships. A platitude may be fine to get votes especially from the most mobilized, but the effect of the federal law is that a gay partner cannot be buried next to his or her lover in a military cemetary, cannot get spousal federal social benefits, cannot apply for the spousal tax credit -- even in the five states and DC all of which do recognize same-sex marriages. The judge rightly has said the law violates the equality provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment.
But the judge, in another case, also said that the federal law also impedes on a state's right to allow gay marriages. This is the more complicated one as many states have passed sweeping bans not just on gay marriages but also the right of gay and lesbian couples to adopt, and refuses to recognize the legitimacy of marriages entered to in other states (which of course violates Article IV).
One has to wonder if this will have an effect on the federal court in San Francisco which any day will rule on the propriety of Proposition 8. I don't think there's a choice here -- the court has to rule to strike it down even if a majority of voters in California approved it. There is no other option just as there was no option but to end segregation fifty years ago even though most whites at the time supported it (and many, I suspect, would like it to come back).
Whatever I personally think about gay marriage, which I have discussed before here, I don't think it's a moral issue anymore. It is one of equal rights, period. And for what it's worth, if courts enforce same-sex custody orders even in states where they're not "supposed" to, there's no reason why they can't take the next logical step if legislatures refuse to do so.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
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