Willy Loman

The main thing we learned yesterday from our Defence Minister Peter MacKay was that Canadian troops are not in Afghanistan to guard the new natural gas pipeline. I am assuming that the main reason for some of the confusion in the media and MacKay’s own lack of candor on the purpose of our mission, is that he like the rest of Canada has not yet received the benchmarks that were promised back in early April. With increasing concern being expressed by Canadians about the escalating violence in Afghanistan the Tories announced that they would establish benchmarks to better define the purpose and progress of the Canadian mission. According to the April 1oth article published by the Globe ( here ), Harper was assigning the task to his best manager. The Harper government's top political manager for the Afghanistan mission, Trade Minister David Emerson tried yesterday to ratchet down expectations for what Canada can achieve before it leaves in 2011, but said the Tories will soon offer Cana...

Syncrude, the conglomerate of oil companies participating in the Tar Sands, will produce over 100 million barrels of oil this year, which they are expected to sell for over $120 a barrel or a modestly projected annual income of $12 billion dollars. At an average production cost of $40 per barrel of oil, the gross profit for the operations before the two provinces and the Feds get their cut will be over $8 billion dollars. Despite the fact that the tar sands will produce over 40 million tonnes of greenhouse gases this year, our Federal Government and the producing provinces want to continue expanding the Tar sands development. There are over 3200 tar sands lease agreements in place right now, covering an area larger than Vancouver Island, and governments and the oil industry are constantly working to increase this number. It is estimated that by 2011, annual greenhouse gas emissions from the tar sands plants alone will be over 80 million tones of CO2 equivalent - a greater quantity of ...

The nuclear industry, for all the nightmarish reasons you can imagine is the most highly regulated industry in Canada. According to an acquaintance and 45 year veteran of the industry the first rule is “you listen to the regulator”. "Everyone knows that you never question the regulations and you never question the regulator. If you are told to stop, you stop. The risks are just too high." At least that was the case until the Tories decided to override the regulator’s decision last December. The management of AECL tried an end around through Lunn and instead of backing the regulator, they fired her and restarted the reactor at Chalk River. The Tories have now politicized the CNSC and undercut the governing authority. The next revenue driven operator, be it federal, provincial or privately run, now realizes that they can question the regulations and the decisions of the regulator. The industry, the employees and the reactors are no longer as safe. Yesterday, the Tories release...

Apparently, Tory MP Jason Kenney is back from vacation too. From CNEWS : The Conservative government through their "designated attack dog" says Stephane Dion must clarify whether the Liberal leader's plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions includes side deals with some provinces. Well in the first place Kenny, I think the Liberals are clarifying a lot more about their environmental plan, than the new conservatives have done since they quickly came up with one in April 2006. And secondly you should you should try and read your own environmental plan (and I realize it is difficult as I tried to do it this weekend). What do you think the Eco  Trust Fund  is. Here's a list of some of the known side deals, listed on the site. Canada's New Government Supports Clean Air and Energy Efficiency Projects in Nova Scotia with $42.5 Million from Trust Fund Canada's New Government Supports Clean Air and Energy Efficiency Projects in Prince Edward Island Canada's New Governm...

Baird returned, over the weekend, taking one of his trademark, analogical, shots at the Liberals Green Shift plan. A Canada-wide carbon tax would be akin to a "pay-and-pollute" system, Baird said yesterday in Vancouver. However anyone who has ever tried to weed their way through Baird’s plan (as I tried to do yesterday) would quickly realize that, although there seems to be a lot of concern expressed and data presented, it is a tad short on a sense of urgency. Turning the Corner which was first released in April 2006, actually reads as if the authors just discovered that there was pollution. Over 60% of the so called plan describes in inscrutable detail how harmful greenhouse gases, and other pollutants are to us. It is packed with slick marketing titles, charts and historical inaccuracies all presented to project the new conservatives as the saviors of the environment. Take the first paragraph for example. An Action Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gases and Air Pollution, which ...

Here's the Stones "You can't always get what you want" in 2003, Mick would be 60 here. And here's the original Jumping Jack Flash clip. They are a lot younger in their early acid phase, war paint and all. Happy Birthday Mick. Meanwhile Ronny is still in rehab and Keith is still alive.

According to CNN here . Nike said Friday it would pull its ads for its Hyperdunk basketball shoes, responding to criticism that they fed homophobic views. Here's the ads at least until Monday. Nike Commercial - Hyperdunk Victim No 1: Devante. Nike Commercial - Hyperdunk Victim No 2: Terry I sort of missed the politically correct era. These ads are funny and it looks like a good campaign.  The story could be a plant to boost views, or there really are people out there with strange views. Hell I was going to buy a pair.

I thought I would electronically visit Taser International this weekend. Their site here is like a visit to the set of RoboCop. The site is filled with lots of well produced videos and presentations that are virtually designed to scare the bejesus out of you, or at least they do me. The company had a great year in 2007 with a sales hitting $100 million, an increase of $33 million over 2006. Profits dramatically increased to over $20 million from a previous year’s loss (some kind of write off occurred that year). Although sales are slightly higher for the first six months of this year, they had to take a $5.2 million litigation charge which has moved them to a negative on the profit line. TASER recorded a $5.2 million charge in the second quarter of 2008 for an adverse jury verdict received... The Company is pursuing all appropriate legal channels including filing an appeal in this matter at the appropriate time once a judgment is entered. However the company seems to opening new mark...

The EDC (Export Development Canada Agency) has just released a report forecasting that the value of exports will decline in 2009. The reason for the expected decline will be the continuing drop in the price of oil. The agency is projecting oil to drop to $100 a barrel by the end this year and further decline to $84 by this time next year. The Canadian economy and the Canadian dollar have both been propped up by the high price of oil and the EDC is also projecting that the dollar will also decline to $0.94 against the US next year. This is probably the most positive economic forecast we could receive . Canada is an exporting country with one major trading partner. The parity with the US dollar has hurt all industries in Canada, everything from film production to the lumber industry. Meanwhile any gains that we might have expected through lower cost of imports and an increase buying power was being negated by the higher fuel costs to manufacture and deliver the goods. Although a lower f...

Fort McMurray RCMP have arrested 11 Greenpeace activists for trespassing at the Syncrude Canada Ltd. Aurora oilsands site and hanging a banner that read  'World's Dirtiest Oil: Stop the Tar Sands'. A Syncrude spokesperson said the Greenpeace action hasn't affected production. When asked about the banner, he replied, no problem we just dropped it into the pond and it sank like a duck, then quickly dissolved. Reference: CBC here . and Green Peace here .

Documents are now coming out on the case of Abousfian Abdelrazik, the Canadian citizen who has been stranded in Sudan since 2003 and is now suing the Canadian government in an effort to get back home. He has been arrested, twice by the Sudanese Gov’t during that time, tortured and subsequently released. It would appear the first time was at the bequest of CSIS and the second time to apparently save embarrassment to the Canadian government. Timeline of events from earlier Globe article here . 1990 Aged 28 enters Canada a political refuge from Sudan 1995 Becomes a Canadian citizen, marries and has a daughter 2000 Voluntarily testifies in the US in the trial of Amed Ressam the News Years Eve bomber caught at border, claims he knew him but not well March 2003 Goes to Sudan to see ailing mother and get away from CSIS harassment that has continued July 2003 CSIS labels him a known associate of al-quaeda suspects August 2003 Arrested in Sudan December 2003 Interrogated by CSIS agents  May 200...

According to Election Canada rules Steve has to call a by-election for the vacant Westmount-Ville Marie riding by this weekend. So late yesterday the Tories leaked that Harper will be calling three by-elections before Parliament returns on September 15th. The vote will be held on September 2nd, the earliest possible date or the following Monday September 8th. Here’s the line up for the three seats up for grabs. Westmount-Ville Marie Although won by the Liberals in 2006 with 45.7% of the vote, the NDP are hoping for another Quebec upset. The contest should be between former astronaut Marc Garneau for the Liberals and Anne Legace Dowson a CBC radio personality for the NDP. St. Lambert This riding was won by the Bloc in 2006 with 45.3% of the vote with the Liberals and Tories respectively coming in 10,000 and 11,000 votes back. It seems both parties believe the seat will remain with the Bloc since they didn’t even bother to plug their candidates for the CP article. Guelph Should end up b...

It appears that Elections Canada has sworn testimony which of course we don’t get to hear, that the Tories did a little more than the old in and out. A former financial officer for the party confirmed last month in a court examination that expenses incurred by Public Works Minister Christian Paradis and former Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier were assigned to other candidates. Basically their two star candidates in Quebec (at least at the time) spent over the legal limits in the last election and the party shifted their expenses to other candidates who hadn’t spent theirs. NDP MP Pat Martin, a member of the ethics committee, said if the party did shift expenses from Bernier and Paradis to other candidates it would add an entirely new dimension to the controversy. The controversy in this case is about cheating Election Canada out of our funds. The Tories filed fraudulent expense claims. The over spending would not of made a difference in the outcome of the election, at least not ...

This ad was released by McCain's campaign today. McCain is flat out blaming Obama for the high US gas prices, because he will not agree to start offshore drilling. So far the ad has had 3,800 views, from 14 blog posts and over 140 comments. The majority of comments are negative, with a mixture of anger at McCain to outright laughing at him. Like any other form of advertising, the first objective is to get people to hear the message and then keep repeating the selling points over and over again. The target market in this case is the independent voter or undecideds if there are any left in the US.  So I guess on that point I am actually helping McCain. Unfortunately for McCain the response so far has been more negative than positive. So maybe I'm not. But give it a week and a big effort by staffers to post positive comments they might be able to turn that around. There are enough crazy right wingers out there to follow the ad around.  Hey I might get some visiting here. The ongoi...

In the first U.S. war crimes tribunal since World War Two, Osama bin Laden's driver, will face the Bush administration form of justice today in Guantanamo. Salim Ahmed Hamdan is charged with conspiracy and providing material support for terrorism, and could face life imprisonment if convicted. His lawyers have complained bitterly about conditions in the Guantanamo and the legal system the Bush administration constructed to try suspects. Their client has been physically and mentally abused and they have been denied access to witnesses, records and other evidence. They contend that he was merely a driver in Bin Laden's motor pool. "The course of conduct the government has engaged in is a source of righteous indignation and should be for any right-thinking American citizen," said Mike Berrigan, deputy chief defense counsel for the tribunals. "It's not justice." Meanwhile the fate of Canadian born Omar Khadr, the last remaining prisoner from a western countr...

Summing up his message, the Pope told the young pilgrims at a Mass in Sydney that a “spiritual desert” was spreading throughout the world... Well... You see I've been through the desert on a horse with no name It felt good to be out of the rain In the desert you can remember your name 
 Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain

A British Foreign Affairs Select Committee has concluded that the British Government can no longer take the US claims that they do not torture prisoners at face value. "Given the clear differences in definition (of torture) , the UK can no longer rely on US assurances that it does not use torture, and we recommend that the government does not rely on such assurances in the future." British territories have used for refueling US “rendition flights” taking prisoners to countries with no bans on torture. The United Nations convention bars the return of individuals to states where they are at risk of being tortured and the UK has a "legal and moral obligation" to ensure no more of these flights land on British territory. The committee has recommended that the government carry out an "exhaustive analysis of current US interrogation techniques" and should verify that Britain is not used by the US for future "rendition" flights. The Brits have gone thro...

Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films have released a new video going after Karl Rove. The video asks viewers to go here and sign an online petition requesting that the House Judiciary Committee hold Karl Rove in contempt and send him to jail. Since yesterday just over 50,000 people have viewed the video that is posted on 44 blogs and just over 44,000 have signed the petition. They might not be able to get Bush or Cheney, but they should be able to get this lying sack of shit. And now it is on 45 blogs.

Mattel hot off their win over Bratz for copyright infringement released their new action hero Barbie, Black Canary this week. Sorry girls Granddad ain’t buying you one of these until you are eighteen. Might get one for my grandson when he turns twelve, though. Sorry about that, it's just my old latent machismo attitudes kicking in. I had a GI Joe when I was a kid.

The interim ban on exploration and development of the reserves surrounding the Nahanni National Park Reserve ends on October 31st, unless the federal government permanently grants the reserve protected status. The Nahanni National Park Reserve, set up in 1972 by Trudeau and designated a world heritage site by the UN in 1978 is permanently protected. The reserve has grown with a temporary protection of an additional of 23 thousand square km in 2003 in a land deal with the First Nations and Harper announced last summer that an additional 5,000 square km would be barred from further development. Although the park is permanently off-limits to development, it’s the resource rich reserves surrounding it that are temporarily covered and at risk. And here's the worrisome part. Our Environment Minister John Baird cites lengthy consultations and assessments as reasons for the delay. "We've established all these processes to stop bad things from happening to the environment. And whe...

C’mon Korny you can do better than this. Kory Teneycke, Harper’s new director of communications accused Senator Romeo Dallaire of grandstanding and flip-flopping on the Khadr case. Teneycke was responding to Dallaire’s comments placing the governments refusal to intervene on behalf of Omar Khadr squarely on Harper’s shoulders. I believe it is purely the Prime Minister – his individual perspective, Dallaire said. He's the leader of the party and it is his imprint, not anybody else's. According to Teneycke this week's videotape release does not change Harper's position. Nor will any future revelations made by Khadr's lawyers. Trying people through the court of public opinion is no way for politicians to act. (Harper) feels, as any responsible leader feels, that politicians are not judges and that due process should be followed and there shouldn't be a separate process for high-profile cases. Unfortunately Korny, there is no due process of law being followed in Git...

On Friday a US federal judge will decide whether the first war crimes trial at Guantanamo Bay will proceed or be postponed again. The lawyers for Osama bin Laden's former chauffeur and bodyguard are arguing for the suspension of the Gitmo trials based on the decision handed down from the US Supreme Court, last June. The US Justice Department is arguing that the trials by military tribunal should go ahead as planned, ignoring the Supreme Court decision. The Supreme Court decision restored Habeas Corpus rights to approximately 260 of the prisoners held in Guantanamo allowing them the right to contest their detention. If the federal judge backs the Supreme Court many believe that Gitmo will be closed and that the US will put more pressure on the repatriation of the prisoners as opposed to moving them to US facilities and going through public trials. It would appear that Bush is already starting to push that scenario. The Supreme Court decision has "complicated the situation in Gu...

CBC reports here that the Counties of Leeds and Grenville is threatening to evict a resident from his apartment for flying a Canadian flag. An ex-serviceman, refuses to take down the Canadian flag on his balcony in a subsidized housing unit in Cardinal, Ont., even though the local housing authority is threatening to evict him. He was given the flag by his local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion last year, and he has flown it ever since. "I got a phone call here from Sean Wilson. He's the brother of Mark Wilson who was killed in action in Kandahar on Oct. 7, 2006, and he sent me a message here asking me not to take down my flag — to leave it up. "I don't have the heart to take it down … I can't do it now," he said. He was told the flag violates a rule requiring all subsidized properties to have a uniform appearance. The director of community and social services, Dorothy Theobald, told CBC News Monday that her department is trying to work with Murray, but, s...

The US no fly list has hit 1 million records. The American Civil Liberties Union is publicizing this ridiculous number via Reuters  here . "America's new million-record watch list is a perfect symbol for what's wrong with this administration's approach to security: it's unfair, out-of-control, a waste of resources (and) treats the rights of the innocent as an afterthought," Worked with a guy in the US who found himself on the No Fly list one day in Seattle trying to board a flight to Toronto. They basically called him aside told him he was on the list and handed him a form. The form was simple, you are on the list, we can't tell you why you are on the list, it is against Federal law to tell anyone that you are on the list and here’s a number to call. He spent an hour and half on the phone and finally got a human voice who told him he would have to apply for a different form over the web. If his information checked out he would be sent another form that he ...

Looks like Steve's new director of communications is having some effect.  There was no "the West is finally in control" rhetoric this year at Steve's annual Calgary Stampede barbecue. As reported by the Canadian Press here . Freshly home from the G8 leaders meeting in Japan, Harper celebrated his third Calgary Stampede as prime minister Sunday among more than 800 party faithful and senior government members at his Calgary Southwest riding annual barbecue. Harper told the crowd that he intends to deal with the "escalating problem of violent youth crime" when Parliament resumes in the fall. Oh and Liberal leader Stephane Dion's new "Green Shift" environmental plan, will devastate the economy. And here's where we have to translate: Why? Because Dion's carbon tax is not an environmental policy. It is just a wealth redistribution program disguised as an environmental policy." Meaning that he is going to take Alberta's oil wealth a...

The Guardian has just published a new report about the tar sands. The article is written by John Vidal, their environment editor. The piece includes an article here  and this video This is the dirtiest oil in the world The video consists of Vidal's trip to the tar sands (I assume part of Alberta's "get to know the tar sands" tours) and interviews with the Canadian oil producers in Calgary. Interesting to see how we are viewed internationally.

This is Fleetwood Mac on their 1997 tour playing "Don't Stop" one of her best known songs. "'Don't Stop' was just a feeling. It just seemed to be a pleasant revelation to have that 'yesterday's gone,'" Christine remembers in The Fleetwood Mac Story: Rumours and Lies, "It might have, I guess, been directed more toward John, but I'm just definitely not a pessimist." Christine McVie lives in England, putting out her most recent Album in 2004. Hope she had a great birthday.

Our Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, one of Harper's Reformers from Saskatchewan, has drafted a new food inspection plan. Although approved by the Treasury Board last November the details of Ritz's changes have been kept under wraps until now. Apparently Steve deferred a public announcement of the proposed changes due to "significant communications risks." And no wonder if the confidential copy obtained by Canwest and reported here is true. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is ending funding to producers to test cattle for BSE (mad cow disease) as part of a surveillance program. The document, details how the inspection of meat and meat products will downgrade agency inspectors to an "oversight role. allowing industry to implement food safety control programs and to manage key risks." Steve is moving us to the US styled plan for meat inspection. Have you ever wondered why Canada seems to have more reported cases of "Mad Cow" than the US. It's...

This is one of the problems with being old, you sometimes miss the obviously cool shit. I had no idea what a Viral Video was until today, or that a video could go viral.  Or that You Tube is the DVD market for Ads. And just like some movies are released straight to DVD, some ads go straight to YouTube. However unlike the movie scenario, the ads that go YouTube are funnier, racier and better. Who knew? Anyway here's the Pulled Heinz Mayo Ad about two men and a family " which went viral a couple of weeks ago and is now probably old hat" to  speak the speak. Heinz got 188,000 views on 113 blogs by pulling the ad. And here's the new History Channel online ad for their Ax Men series. Hasn't gone viral, with just over 500 views but is now being promoted by Unruly Media, one of the leading seeding specialists. Funny ad. The things you learn on a Saturday morning. About the posts title, that's was my attempt at a gotcha. Not really inaccurate once you view the videos...

Unfortunately, the world found out two things about our Prime Minister this week. He doesn't give a shit about the environment and he is full of himself. These two articles about Harper's performance at the G8 basically sum it up: Rick Salutin from the Globe here . He's the Gunga Din of post-9/11, carrying water (and oil) to his masters, along with the white man's burden. He was at his most smug and patronizing as he lectured those "less developed" than us about climate change - a term he and others have managed to substitute for global warming. Those nations must snicker faster than they can bristle as they watch our PM strut among the G8 as he condescends to them. He's George Bush's poodle now that Tony Blair's moved on, and there's nothing to be gained by it. And Les Whittington from the Star here . And Harper, like his U.S. counterpart, has sought to keep his country's negotiated climate change commitments to a minimum. A senior Canadia...

Fortunately for Ed a lack of money is no obstacle. Unfortunately, a lack of ideas is. In April Premier Ed Stelmach set up a 15-member council to advise Alberta on the best methods for capturing and storing carbon emissions. Their report was due back in the fall. However in May the US declared that the polar bear is a threatened species, restricting federal agencies from authorizing anything that jeopardizes the bears' survival or the sea ice where they live. Thus shining the light on the tar sands as one of the largest producers of greenhouse gasses, a primary cause for the shrinking ice flows. By June the awareness of the tar sands had grown and the the annual conference of US mayors resolved to ban the use of tar sands production from their municipal vehicles. And this week , not waiting for his councils report, Ed announced that Alberta will invest $2 billion that will go straight towards energy companies that construct large-scale carbon capture storage products, "The $...

And with this simple 72 word statement: All the G8 leaders got what they came for. The five European countries get to go home and claim that the G8 committed to cut emissions in half by 2050. The Prime Minister of Japan got to stipulate that his industries would not have the same targets as other countries industries. The US got to say that they are not locked in if China and India don't participate and that the target is a really worldwide goal, not necessarily for them. And Canada got a "Yo Harper, good job. heh, heh and hey where's the Bear Man, I want him to pull my finger again," Reference BBC here .

Madonna House, an evangelical Catholic community in Ontario has announced that they are returning the Order of Canada that was presented to their founder. Catherine Doherty, received her award in 1975, unfortunately she died in 1985. "We're not out to bash anyone” said director Susanne Stubbs. “The unanimous opinion, [here] is that he did not do something good for our country. The medal has been dishonored." Unfortunately the only one being dishonored here is Catherine Doherty. Not only is it an act of vanity to assume that you have the right to do such a thing, but you have now dragged your founders name down to the same level as the discredited priest in Vancouver. "At this time we feel so bad about this happening to Canada that we want to return the medal as a symbolic gesture. We can't think of any gesture that would speak so loudly. What else can we do?" Well one of the things you could of done was open your mind to the fact that a majority of Canadian...

Bush calls his pal Steve over to meet the President of Nigeria. At least he didn't call him Turd Blossom, or Harpey like most us do around here.

On Wednesday, climate change will be on the agenda at the G8 summit in Japan. The main climate issue for the hosting Japanese and the European members is the upgrading of the commitment made at last years meeting in Germany. In Germany the G8 agreed to “consider seriously” the halving of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This year the 6 members from outside North America want a full commitment to that target. As we are well aware in Canada, Harper and Baird, have been using Bush’s talking points declaring that no climate  agreement will be reached at the G8 without the larger polluters, China and India at the table. Bush reiterated those talking points at his welcome presser. Bush, backed by Canada, has argued that the G8 is not the right forum because it does not include commitments by the developing countries. Bush informed reporters that he would be a "constructive" participant on Wednesday, but added “I am also realistic enough to tell you that if China and India don'...