"You're either with us on this bill, or you're with the child pornographers."
That was essentially Vic Toews' sentiment in recent days following all the backlash over bill C-30, which he introduced in the House of Commons. How very Anakin Skywalker of you, Mr. Toews. It's this kind of absolutist, fear-mongering to quell dissent, along with a list of other fact/opposition silencing actions, that have enraged Canadians since the federal Conservatives won their majority government last year. Stephen Harper et. al. have shown that they don't like the truth or any naysayers to ruin their parade. Well, once again the people of this country are standing up and saying NO to tyrannical ways, Mr. Prime Minister, and it's a good thing, too.
There has been a huge cyber and public outcry since bill C-30 was first introduced in the legislature, and there is good reason for that. The bill, if passed, would give police the right to ask internet providers for your IP address and other information about the identities you use online without a warrant. It also forces internet service providers to re-work their systems to make wiretapping and surveillance possible. Police would need a warrant before they could spy on you, but who's to say others couldn't hack into this network and see which political or porn websites you like to frequent? And who's to say that police or politicians won't use this new option, secretly of course, for their own gains? The reality of having Big Brother lurking in the shadows not far off is enough to make me, and millions of other Canadians, leery of this Tory legislation. Below is a link by the Toronto Star`s Michael Geist that foreshadows such dire outcomes if bill C-30 passes.
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1136406--bill-c-30-opens-canada-to-big-brother-inc-business-geist
I'm not saying I'm in favor of child porn in any way. In fact, I'm all for finding ways to catch child pornographers in order to protect our kids, but this isn't the way to go. Despite the fact that surveillance systems could be used by a cons...err draconian government bent on quelling opposition forces, or that corporations or clever individuals could hack into the system to gain valuable personal details, there is also the practical matter of costs for the proposed project. A CBC article is indicating that it would cost $80 million over 4 years to get things off the ground. In a time when governments can't find money to fund education, health care, homeless shelters or peoples' hard earned pensions, why are they willing to waste a ton of money to keep tabs on people online? The link to the CBC article is below.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourcommunity/2012/02/community-reaction-to-online-surveillance-bill-80m-setup-costs.html
Some authours are also concerned about what bill C-30 could do to the use of pseudonyms and anonymous commentary by individuals on the World Wide Web. The Globe and Mail`s Ivor Tossell mentions that in his article linked to below:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/digital-culture/ivor-tossell/toewss-child-pornographers-gaffe-aside-bill-c-30-has-real-dangers/article2344551/
I have to agree with Tossell on a number of points. I agree that it would be easy for the police to get a warrant to investigate those behind comments posted on the net that they, or the government, didn`t appreciate. And under the new law, ISPs would have to provide investigators with information that could reveal the faces behind certain pseudonyms. Now I`m not trying to argue that people should be allowed to just post anything on the internet without consequence, because that can be cowardly in some cases, especially when it involves bullying. But when those pseudonyms protect people involved in union building, political protests and actions and other moral and ethical actions that those in power might deem to be worrying.
So, what this boils down to is that bill C-30 can`t be passed by the House and Senate because it will cost too much, will allow police, governments, companies and hackers to spy on people and because it will take away the ability for people to find safety in psedonyms when rocking the establishment`s boat. Time to support those thousands who have already taken up the good fight against this nasty bill. Fight the power!
Tuesday, March 06, 2012
Sunday, March 04, 2012
The Good, the Bad and the Meh on the February 27, 2012 edition of Monday Night Raw
As per usual these days, my Raw post is a few days late, but better late than never I suppose. Here we go:
The Good...
The opening standoff between CM Punk and Chris Jericho got the shot off to a sprinting start and, to me, stole the show. I love how their building the "No BS, no gimmicks, no pyro, just go out and put on a spectacular wrestling match" stance on things. The wonderful thing is that those 2 can pull off that kind of show-stealing performance. Some of the one-liners they exchanged in the kurfuffle were also quite amusing, especially Punk's "Did you invent Canada?" line. Hilarious.
The John Cena/Rock faceoff was also very good, but in a different way. Rock was all about chants, catch phrases twitter trends and reading speech notes off his arm. What made it better than just another promo was the fact that Cena called The Rock out for having his script on his arm and for hiding behind catch phrases. It is true that The Rock has more charisma than Cena and usually pulls off a better speech than his adversary, but ol' John Boy verbally kicked his ass on this night.
The CM Punk/Daniel Bryan match was a classic wrestling match. There were changes in momentum, patented moves, counter-moves, outside involvment and the crowd was emotionally invested in the contest. Add to that the fact that John Laurinitis and Teddy Long continued their feud and Jericho added fire to his WWE Title match vs. Punk by attacking him from behind and you have a hell of a powder keg on your hands. Granted this segment was a tad overbooked, but it furthered storylines and the crowd ate it up.
The Bad...
The Miz lost to John Cena in a 4-minute match. He had about 12 seconds of offence and has been reduced to the role of jobber for CM Punk and Cena. This matchup was the headlining match of Wrestlemania last year and thus it is criminal to give these guys just 4 minutes in the ring. Apparently Miz has fallen out of favour with Vince McMahon and people in the locker room , but he can still wrestle and the WWE could do themselves a favour by allowing him to have a proper match with John Cena, which he can still lose to put Cena over. This waste of talent killed the crowd and momentum of the show.
The tag-team match featuring Big Show and Sheamus vs. Cody Rhodes and Mark Henry featured a good promo by Cody Rhodes about Big Show's failings at Wrestlemanias past. As for wrestling, there was about 40 seconds of that, making it a terrible match. Big Show speared Mark Henry and then Sheamus hit him with a brogue kick for the win. That's it. Well, Mark Henry's career is now 6 feet under ground, which is consistent with the rumors that he is on his way out of WWE.
The Meh...
Kelly Kelly defeated Nikki Bella in an ok match that included 2 or 3 wrestling moves and lasted more than a minute at least. There wasn't brilliant execution on the moves and there wasn't much of a story told in the ring though. Not a bad match, but not much there to make it memorable. At least it wasn't a tag match and at least it went more than 90 seconds.
The crowd was hot for the triple-threat tag team title match and the match was ok, but nothing special stood out in it. As well, what's with the tag teams that are put together out of nowhere? Tag teams need months of practice and winning matches together before they should be put in a tag title match. R-Truth and Kofi Kingston haven't been teaming together long enough to be in a match like this. The tag team titles already have very little prestige or meaning left and just throwing tag teams together out of nowhere to compete for the championships makes them even less valuable. This is not a new problem, but time for me to start publicly rail against it.
Eve has generated a whole lot of heat for herself in a very short time for using sex to get what she wants, but her speech on Raw lacked punch. Props to her for the heat, but her mic skills need work.
Overall... 73/100
The promos between the top superstars were excellent and the CM Punk/Daniel Bryan match was very good; however, the rest of the wrestling on the show was short and lacking in storytelling or anything to get spectators emotionally involved in it.
The Good...
The opening standoff between CM Punk and Chris Jericho got the shot off to a sprinting start and, to me, stole the show. I love how their building the "No BS, no gimmicks, no pyro, just go out and put on a spectacular wrestling match" stance on things. The wonderful thing is that those 2 can pull off that kind of show-stealing performance. Some of the one-liners they exchanged in the kurfuffle were also quite amusing, especially Punk's "Did you invent Canada?" line. Hilarious.
The John Cena/Rock faceoff was also very good, but in a different way. Rock was all about chants, catch phrases twitter trends and reading speech notes off his arm. What made it better than just another promo was the fact that Cena called The Rock out for having his script on his arm and for hiding behind catch phrases. It is true that The Rock has more charisma than Cena and usually pulls off a better speech than his adversary, but ol' John Boy verbally kicked his ass on this night.
The CM Punk/Daniel Bryan match was a classic wrestling match. There were changes in momentum, patented moves, counter-moves, outside involvment and the crowd was emotionally invested in the contest. Add to that the fact that John Laurinitis and Teddy Long continued their feud and Jericho added fire to his WWE Title match vs. Punk by attacking him from behind and you have a hell of a powder keg on your hands. Granted this segment was a tad overbooked, but it furthered storylines and the crowd ate it up.
The Bad...
The Miz lost to John Cena in a 4-minute match. He had about 12 seconds of offence and has been reduced to the role of jobber for CM Punk and Cena. This matchup was the headlining match of Wrestlemania last year and thus it is criminal to give these guys just 4 minutes in the ring. Apparently Miz has fallen out of favour with Vince McMahon and people in the locker room , but he can still wrestle and the WWE could do themselves a favour by allowing him to have a proper match with John Cena, which he can still lose to put Cena over. This waste of talent killed the crowd and momentum of the show.
The tag-team match featuring Big Show and Sheamus vs. Cody Rhodes and Mark Henry featured a good promo by Cody Rhodes about Big Show's failings at Wrestlemanias past. As for wrestling, there was about 40 seconds of that, making it a terrible match. Big Show speared Mark Henry and then Sheamus hit him with a brogue kick for the win. That's it. Well, Mark Henry's career is now 6 feet under ground, which is consistent with the rumors that he is on his way out of WWE.
The Meh...
Kelly Kelly defeated Nikki Bella in an ok match that included 2 or 3 wrestling moves and lasted more than a minute at least. There wasn't brilliant execution on the moves and there wasn't much of a story told in the ring though. Not a bad match, but not much there to make it memorable. At least it wasn't a tag match and at least it went more than 90 seconds.
The crowd was hot for the triple-threat tag team title match and the match was ok, but nothing special stood out in it. As well, what's with the tag teams that are put together out of nowhere? Tag teams need months of practice and winning matches together before they should be put in a tag title match. R-Truth and Kofi Kingston haven't been teaming together long enough to be in a match like this. The tag team titles already have very little prestige or meaning left and just throwing tag teams together out of nowhere to compete for the championships makes them even less valuable. This is not a new problem, but time for me to start publicly rail against it.
Eve has generated a whole lot of heat for herself in a very short time for using sex to get what she wants, but her speech on Raw lacked punch. Props to her for the heat, but her mic skills need work.
Overall... 73/100
The promos between the top superstars were excellent and the CM Punk/Daniel Bryan match was very good; however, the rest of the wrestling on the show was short and lacking in storytelling or anything to get spectators emotionally involved in it.
Friday, March 02, 2012
On Robogate
This is an automated recording for... PRiME MiNiSTER STePHEN HaRper: today's debates won't take place in the House of Commons. They will be convened in a court of law and a court of public opinion.
A lot has already been made about "Robogate" in the media, so I'm not going to retread over all the opinions and information that has been shared already. I will say, though, that this election fraud is truly a supression of our democratic rights and freedoms. People were confused about which polling station to go to and were intimidated to vote for specific...cough conservative cough... candidates. That means that hundreds, if not thousands, of people didn't vote or failed to vote for who they truly wanted to.
There absolutely needs to be just punishment for such dirty election tricks. After all, we don't know the full scale of the fraud yet and can't fully fathom how it affected the outcome of last year's federal election, in which the Tories finally won a majority after years of minority rule. But, if you read election and criminal laws, you may be surprised at the maximum penalties for such tampering. $5,000 fines for individuals blah blah blah. $500,000 for the party yadda yadda yadda. Rubbish! There needs to be another election, at least in the ridings where it was proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that these automated calls affected the election. People should have a fair and legitimate chance to vote for who they want to and also have a right to know the true location of their polling station. Since many were denied both of these things, they are very much owed another shot. And after this hullabaloo and the Bill C-30 insanity, results may be a little bit different this time around.
Stay tuned for my thoughts on Bill C-30.
A lot has already been made about "Robogate" in the media, so I'm not going to retread over all the opinions and information that has been shared already. I will say, though, that this election fraud is truly a supression of our democratic rights and freedoms. People were confused about which polling station to go to and were intimidated to vote for specific...cough conservative cough... candidates. That means that hundreds, if not thousands, of people didn't vote or failed to vote for who they truly wanted to.
There absolutely needs to be just punishment for such dirty election tricks. After all, we don't know the full scale of the fraud yet and can't fully fathom how it affected the outcome of last year's federal election, in which the Tories finally won a majority after years of minority rule. But, if you read election and criminal laws, you may be surprised at the maximum penalties for such tampering. $5,000 fines for individuals blah blah blah. $500,000 for the party yadda yadda yadda. Rubbish! There needs to be another election, at least in the ridings where it was proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that these automated calls affected the election. People should have a fair and legitimate chance to vote for who they want to and also have a right to know the true location of their polling station. Since many were denied both of these things, they are very much owed another shot. And after this hullabaloo and the Bill C-30 insanity, results may be a little bit different this time around.
Stay tuned for my thoughts on Bill C-30.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
The Good, the Bad and the Meh about the WWE Elimination Chamber PPV
I finally got around to watching the Elimination Chamber PPV and here are my thoughts:
The Good...
The first elimination chamber match was excellent, despite Chris Jericho getting knocked out too easily. People have taken much worse than a kick to the head and gotten up from it. On the other hand, Jericho "never being eliminated" in the contest gives him a legitimate beef to ramp up the rivalry with CM Punk. Punk winning was the right choice and there were some good spots in the match.
The divas put on a very entertaining match. Tamina Snuka is proving that she has the chops to be a star in the ring and has learnt her father's moves well. Beth Phoenix also did her job well, hitting some high impact moves, including the Glam Slam for the win. The women were given enough time to make the match worthwhile as well.
The second chamber match was a show-stealer for me. Santinto was on fire and the crowd went bananas supporting him. That was the hottest crowd I've heard in YEARS. I also like how they fed off that and let everything think Mr. Marella might actually pull off the Rocky-esque upset. Daniel Bryan, Big Show and Wade Barrett also pulled off some nice spots, like Show climbing into the champ's pod before it had opened.
The ambulance match between John Cena and Kane had some good spots, namely putting Cena through the Spanish announce table and Cena giving Kane an Attitude Adjustment from the top of the ambulance. It wasn't as good as the chamber matches, but it was exciting enough and the crowd ate it up. It should have been the match right before the 2 co-headlining chamber matches in my opinion.
The crowd was on fire for most of the show. It was one of the better ones I have heard in quite some time. It's amazing how much more exciting it makes the show seem.
The Bad...
The order of matches made absolutely no sense to me. Why have the best match of the night, the chamber match for the WWE title be the first match? Surely it should headline the show, especially since the PPV is called Elimination Chamber. The ambulance match was mildly interesting, but why is that feud taking precedent over the championship pictures? Oh ya...because Cena is in it. Lame. And what was with putting an impromptu US Title match between between Jack Swagger and Justin Gabriel right before the main event? Talk about NOT keeping the crowd revved up.
Natalya farting. Enough said.
I didn't like the silly gimmick with Hornswaggle to set up the Gabriel/Swagger US title match when they hadn't spent any time building up a rivalry or getting the crowd to care about them. Waste of time, really. It just seemed to be thrown in at the last minute because the writers hadn't developed enough real feuds to fill up the ppv card. Not much interesting about the match, either, even though it was booked right before the ambulance match main event. This spot should have been reserved for at least a chamber match.
The Meh...
I didn't mind some heels, like Mark Henry, Alberto Del Rio and Christian, coming out to support John Laurinitis and say he should be GM of both Raw and Smackdown, but do they really need to stop the momentum of good matches to do it at a PPV? If they want to set up a Laurinitis/Teddy Long feud, do it on Raw and/or Smackdown where this soap opera stuff belongs. Good idea, wrong place for it.
The commentary stuck to mostly calling matches and Cole actually showed passion and emotion in his voice. they got off track at times, but weren't bad. Anyone else agree that Lawler has become irrelevant as a colour man? He didn't say much and when he did it wasn't very pertinent.
Overall... 77/100
The show was pretty good overall. I really liked the chamber matches and the divas match and didn't mind the ambulance match. Elimination Chamber would have been outstanding if they had cut out the stupid backstage vignettes and had booked the show in a logical order as well. I can't be the only one that thinks the elimination chamber matches should headline the ELIMINATION CHAMBER ppv.
The Good...
The first elimination chamber match was excellent, despite Chris Jericho getting knocked out too easily. People have taken much worse than a kick to the head and gotten up from it. On the other hand, Jericho "never being eliminated" in the contest gives him a legitimate beef to ramp up the rivalry with CM Punk. Punk winning was the right choice and there were some good spots in the match.
The divas put on a very entertaining match. Tamina Snuka is proving that she has the chops to be a star in the ring and has learnt her father's moves well. Beth Phoenix also did her job well, hitting some high impact moves, including the Glam Slam for the win. The women were given enough time to make the match worthwhile as well.
The second chamber match was a show-stealer for me. Santinto was on fire and the crowd went bananas supporting him. That was the hottest crowd I've heard in YEARS. I also like how they fed off that and let everything think Mr. Marella might actually pull off the Rocky-esque upset. Daniel Bryan, Big Show and Wade Barrett also pulled off some nice spots, like Show climbing into the champ's pod before it had opened.
The ambulance match between John Cena and Kane had some good spots, namely putting Cena through the Spanish announce table and Cena giving Kane an Attitude Adjustment from the top of the ambulance. It wasn't as good as the chamber matches, but it was exciting enough and the crowd ate it up. It should have been the match right before the 2 co-headlining chamber matches in my opinion.
The crowd was on fire for most of the show. It was one of the better ones I have heard in quite some time. It's amazing how much more exciting it makes the show seem.
The Bad...
The order of matches made absolutely no sense to me. Why have the best match of the night, the chamber match for the WWE title be the first match? Surely it should headline the show, especially since the PPV is called Elimination Chamber. The ambulance match was mildly interesting, but why is that feud taking precedent over the championship pictures? Oh ya...because Cena is in it. Lame. And what was with putting an impromptu US Title match between between Jack Swagger and Justin Gabriel right before the main event? Talk about NOT keeping the crowd revved up.
Natalya farting. Enough said.
I didn't like the silly gimmick with Hornswaggle to set up the Gabriel/Swagger US title match when they hadn't spent any time building up a rivalry or getting the crowd to care about them. Waste of time, really. It just seemed to be thrown in at the last minute because the writers hadn't developed enough real feuds to fill up the ppv card. Not much interesting about the match, either, even though it was booked right before the ambulance match main event. This spot should have been reserved for at least a chamber match.
The Meh...
I didn't mind some heels, like Mark Henry, Alberto Del Rio and Christian, coming out to support John Laurinitis and say he should be GM of both Raw and Smackdown, but do they really need to stop the momentum of good matches to do it at a PPV? If they want to set up a Laurinitis/Teddy Long feud, do it on Raw and/or Smackdown where this soap opera stuff belongs. Good idea, wrong place for it.
The commentary stuck to mostly calling matches and Cole actually showed passion and emotion in his voice. they got off track at times, but weren't bad. Anyone else agree that Lawler has become irrelevant as a colour man? He didn't say much and when he did it wasn't very pertinent.
Overall... 77/100
The show was pretty good overall. I really liked the chamber matches and the divas match and didn't mind the ambulance match. Elimination Chamber would have been outstanding if they had cut out the stupid backstage vignettes and had booked the show in a logical order as well. I can't be the only one that thinks the elimination chamber matches should headline the ELIMINATION CHAMBER ppv.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Music Break
EDIT: The concert was unbelievable last night! The Murphys played material from all of their albums and were on fire. The crowd was freakin' mental, too!My only complaint was that the sound was jacked up way too high. Cudos to local bands Class Assassins and Creepshow for tearing it up and getting the crowd warmed up. Their showmanship and musical abilities were on full display for sure.
The Dropkick Murphys are in Toronto tonight, so I figured I would post some of their videos to get pumped up for the show. The band's lyrics are potent and meaningful and their music is just tons of fun to listen to. Here are some of their best works:
I'm Shipping up to Boston
Going out in Style
The Dirty Glass
THe Spicy MgHaggis Jig
Sunshine HIghway
10 Years of Service
The Dropkick Murphys are in Toronto tonight, so I figured I would post some of their videos to get pumped up for the show. The band's lyrics are potent and meaningful and their music is just tons of fun to listen to. Here are some of their best works:
I'm Shipping up to Boston
Going out in Style
The Dirty Glass
THe Spicy MgHaggis Jig
Sunshine HIghway
10 Years of Service
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
You Don't Say... February 21, 2012
I'm not saying that I'm a practicing Catholic any more, but even a lay agnostic-atheist-who-the-hell-knows-what's-really-out-there like me can appreciate the joys of Mardi Gras. In New Orleans today, one can find divine song, dangerous drinks, delectable food and beads. Who doesn't love beads?
I'm not saying that recent studies showing that the results of bullying last into adulthood were a waste of time, but anyone who has survived high school, including yours truly, can tell you that those thoughts and feelings don't just disappear. The real trick is to give youths enough guidance and avenues to take out their aggression in healthy ways so that they don't beat up on the goths, rockers, freaks, geeks, skaters, stoners, nerds, lesbians, gays and the big-boned.
I'm not saying that Rob Ford and his cronies firing TTC chief general manager Gary Webster is an act of childish retaliation, but he was one of the people who stood to be counted as a fan of light rail and an opponent of the mayor's underground subway strategy. Aww...the mayor didn't get his way, so he not only left last week's council meeting to ride the subway all night, but he also helped get Webster fired without just cause. Webster's only recent crime was to give his honest opinion and tell Mr. Ford that building light rail was more logistically sound than subways, which it is. What's next? President Obama being impeached because he tells Republicans in the House that unemployment and healthcare are more important than corporate tax cuts? Pearl Jam firing Eddie Vedder because he believes that some causes are more important than living the rock star life? Mickey Mouse being fired because he told Disney CEOs to stop making movies full of racism, prejudice and stereotype?
I'm not saying that Jose Bautista is tired of being asked about performance enhancing drugs, but if you look close during interviews you can see he has his baseball bat cocked and ready to hit an unsuspecting reporter's microphone into the upper deck if he mentions the word steroids.
I'm not saying that Premier McGuinty is missing the boat by ruling out any tax hikes to help pay off the deficit, but he is standing in the harbour as it sails out to sea. If corporate taxes were raised even to 2001 levels, the province would have half the problem solved right there. It's better than gutting this province and dealing with the Greece-style social unrest that will occur if the premier follows most of Don Drummond's recommendations.
I'm not saying that Rupert Murdoch's new Sun on Sunday will be full of scandal and corruption, but I'm pretty sure my European correspondents saw his employees tapping Silvio Berlusconi's phone the other day...only to untap it 12 minutes later and run away screaming after hearing words that should never come out of an old man's mouth: "Honey, where did I leave my speedos?"
I'm not saying that recent studies showing that the results of bullying last into adulthood were a waste of time, but anyone who has survived high school, including yours truly, can tell you that those thoughts and feelings don't just disappear. The real trick is to give youths enough guidance and avenues to take out their aggression in healthy ways so that they don't beat up on the goths, rockers, freaks, geeks, skaters, stoners, nerds, lesbians, gays and the big-boned.
I'm not saying that Rob Ford and his cronies firing TTC chief general manager Gary Webster is an act of childish retaliation, but he was one of the people who stood to be counted as a fan of light rail and an opponent of the mayor's underground subway strategy. Aww...the mayor didn't get his way, so he not only left last week's council meeting to ride the subway all night, but he also helped get Webster fired without just cause. Webster's only recent crime was to give his honest opinion and tell Mr. Ford that building light rail was more logistically sound than subways, which it is. What's next? President Obama being impeached because he tells Republicans in the House that unemployment and healthcare are more important than corporate tax cuts? Pearl Jam firing Eddie Vedder because he believes that some causes are more important than living the rock star life? Mickey Mouse being fired because he told Disney CEOs to stop making movies full of racism, prejudice and stereotype?
I'm not saying that Jose Bautista is tired of being asked about performance enhancing drugs, but if you look close during interviews you can see he has his baseball bat cocked and ready to hit an unsuspecting reporter's microphone into the upper deck if he mentions the word steroids.
I'm not saying that Premier McGuinty is missing the boat by ruling out any tax hikes to help pay off the deficit, but he is standing in the harbour as it sails out to sea. If corporate taxes were raised even to 2001 levels, the province would have half the problem solved right there. It's better than gutting this province and dealing with the Greece-style social unrest that will occur if the premier follows most of Don Drummond's recommendations.
I'm not saying that Rupert Murdoch's new Sun on Sunday will be full of scandal and corruption, but I'm pretty sure my European correspondents saw his employees tapping Silvio Berlusconi's phone the other day...only to untap it 12 minutes later and run away screaming after hearing words that should never come out of an old man's mouth: "Honey, where did I leave my speedos?"
Saturday, February 18, 2012
On the Fatal Flaw of The Drummond Report
Below is a link to a great article written for straightgoods.ca on the fatal flaw of the Drummond Report. Essentially, he didn't have a choice but to recommend deep cuts because one of his rules was that he couldn't recommend raising any taxes. Read the eye-opening piece below.
http://www.straightgoods.ca/2012/ViewArticle.cfm?Ref=147
The article suggests that ordinary, middle-class Canadians are not in favour of most tax increases, but 90% would support a tax increase on those whose income is over $500,000 a year. Seems fair to me.
The article also says that raising the corporate tax rate back to 14%, instead of DECREASING IT even more to 10%. What an irresponsible thing to do that would be in these times of financial turmoil! That would lead an even larger deficit for the province of Ontario and would piss off most of its residents to no end.
Mr. McGuinty, I have been a supporter of yours on most policies up until now, but don't turn into another zombie serving the corporate interest over that of regular people. Fight it! I know deep down you are more progressive than Stephen Harper! Allow taxes on big corporations and the wealthy to go up so that we don't have to strip this province to the bone!
EDIT: TwoToronto Star writers wrote some interesting stuff on Don Drummond's report today. Read their take on Drummond and Ontario below.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1133243--walkom-the-real-victims-of-the-drummond-report-s-cuts?bn=1
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1133234--hebert-drummond-report-albert-budget-expose-canada-s-two-tier-economy?bn=1
http://www.straightgoods.ca/2012/ViewArticle.cfm?Ref=147
The article suggests that ordinary, middle-class Canadians are not in favour of most tax increases, but 90% would support a tax increase on those whose income is over $500,000 a year. Seems fair to me.
The article also says that raising the corporate tax rate back to 14%, instead of DECREASING IT even more to 10%. What an irresponsible thing to do that would be in these times of financial turmoil! That would lead an even larger deficit for the province of Ontario and would piss off most of its residents to no end.
Mr. McGuinty, I have been a supporter of yours on most policies up until now, but don't turn into another zombie serving the corporate interest over that of regular people. Fight it! I know deep down you are more progressive than Stephen Harper! Allow taxes on big corporations and the wealthy to go up so that we don't have to strip this province to the bone!
EDIT: TwoToronto Star writers wrote some interesting stuff on Don Drummond's report today. Read their take on Drummond and Ontario below.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1133243--walkom-the-real-victims-of-the-drummond-report-s-cuts?bn=1
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1133234--hebert-drummond-report-albert-budget-expose-canada-s-two-tier-economy?bn=1
Friday, February 17, 2012
Time for a Music Break
Let's take a little break from the heavy for a while by enjoying some music by one of Canada's finest rock n' roll bands: The Headstones. Seen em' live three times and they have torn up the stage each time. Here are a few videos to remind everyone how great this band is:
When Something Stands for Nothing
Binthiswayforyears
Blonde and Blue
Cemetary
When Something Stands for Nothing
Binthiswayforyears
Blonde and Blue
Cemetary
Thursday, February 16, 2012
You Don't Say... February 16, 2012
I'm not saying that I knew Whitney Houston well or that I will mourn for days now that she is gone, but the world lost a talented performer and one hell of a voice. Rest in peace Whitney.
I'm not saying I'm having second thoughts about thinking it's a good thing that Toronto EMS services are now considered "essential" by the city, but how exactly is it a good thing in the long run? They lost a lot of bargaining power by losing the right to strike when they were declared essential and are pissed off as a result. Let's hope the city doesn't take advantage of this fact. Rob Ford would NEVER do that...right?
I'm not saying that I'm happy that Rick Santorum won 3 Republican Primaries over the weekend, but it does make Barack Obama's path back to the White House that much smoother. Those victories keep Slick Rick in the race, which will ultimately prove costly to whoever gets the nomination. Between Santorum, Mitt Romney and good ol' Newt Gingrich, the combatants are tearing each other apart and emptying each other's closets of all their skeletons, making American voters wary of trusting any of them. Their loss is Obama's gain and I'm mighty pleased about it. Keep up the good fight, boys!
I'm not saying that the Federal Tories' changes to the Balanced Refugee Reform Act are stupid, but they are harmful and could prove deadly. So, the conservatives don't want to allow refugee claimants from "safe countries" to be able to appeal rejected claims in order to "speed up the removal of bogus claims", eh? Citizens of "safe countries" have reasonable grounds for fleeing their native lands (see religious or political persecution, crime etc.), but often have their applications summarily dismissed after a scant glance because their countries are "not dangerous enough". These people need a right to an appeal, too, and deserve a second chance of getting their pleas heard.
I'm not saying the Drummond Report paints a gloomy picture for the future of Ontario, but a drizzly, foggy, cold, damp night in London, England looks like a week at a sunny tropical resort compared to this. Is it worth it to harm our childrens' futures by increasing class sizes and user fees for programs just to have a balanced budget by a specific date? Is cutting post-secondary education and healthcare funding and messing with money-making assets just to save a few bucks? NO. ABSOLUTELY NOT. Time to take a more well thought out, less guillotine-like approach to raising revenues and controlling spending around here. Closing tax loopholes and raising corporate taxes anyone?
I'm not saying the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops doesn't have the constitutional right to complain about President Obama's contraception compromise, but it does appear that they, along with Fox News and others, are being extremely melodramatic about the whole situation. religiously affiliated hospitals and universities don't even have to pay for any type of birth control for employees or students, their insurance companies will. I thought Obama already catered to their feelings and complaints. What gives?
I'm not saying I'm having second thoughts about thinking it's a good thing that Toronto EMS services are now considered "essential" by the city, but how exactly is it a good thing in the long run? They lost a lot of bargaining power by losing the right to strike when they were declared essential and are pissed off as a result. Let's hope the city doesn't take advantage of this fact. Rob Ford would NEVER do that...right?
I'm not saying that I'm happy that Rick Santorum won 3 Republican Primaries over the weekend, but it does make Barack Obama's path back to the White House that much smoother. Those victories keep Slick Rick in the race, which will ultimately prove costly to whoever gets the nomination. Between Santorum, Mitt Romney and good ol' Newt Gingrich, the combatants are tearing each other apart and emptying each other's closets of all their skeletons, making American voters wary of trusting any of them. Their loss is Obama's gain and I'm mighty pleased about it. Keep up the good fight, boys!
I'm not saying that the Federal Tories' changes to the Balanced Refugee Reform Act are stupid, but they are harmful and could prove deadly. So, the conservatives don't want to allow refugee claimants from "safe countries" to be able to appeal rejected claims in order to "speed up the removal of bogus claims", eh? Citizens of "safe countries" have reasonable grounds for fleeing their native lands (see religious or political persecution, crime etc.), but often have their applications summarily dismissed after a scant glance because their countries are "not dangerous enough". These people need a right to an appeal, too, and deserve a second chance of getting their pleas heard.
I'm not saying the Drummond Report paints a gloomy picture for the future of Ontario, but a drizzly, foggy, cold, damp night in London, England looks like a week at a sunny tropical resort compared to this. Is it worth it to harm our childrens' futures by increasing class sizes and user fees for programs just to have a balanced budget by a specific date? Is cutting post-secondary education and healthcare funding and messing with money-making assets just to save a few bucks? NO. ABSOLUTELY NOT. Time to take a more well thought out, less guillotine-like approach to raising revenues and controlling spending around here. Closing tax loopholes and raising corporate taxes anyone?
I'm not saying the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops doesn't have the constitutional right to complain about President Obama's contraception compromise, but it does appear that they, along with Fox News and others, are being extremely melodramatic about the whole situation. religiously affiliated hospitals and universities don't even have to pay for any type of birth control for employees or students, their insurance companies will. I thought Obama already catered to their feelings and complaints. What gives?
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