tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62006177749573842742012-03-01T06:58:35.596-05:00Democracy gone AstrayAstrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.comBlogger73181100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-72825191706302799142012-03-01T06:58:00.001-05:002012-03-01T06:58:35.612-05:00Occupy Wall Street Demonstrators Arrested During New York City Protests
NEW YORK, Feb 29 (Reuters) - About 10 Occupy Wall Street demonstrators were arrested in New York City on Wednesday during protests that failed to pull in big crowds or draw much attention on what organizers had hoped would be a nationwide day of revival for the movement.
As rain clouds gathered overhead, several dozen police officers on motorcycles escorted a group of about 50 protestors that Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-83145222545628527482012-03-01T06:55:00.001-05:002012-03-01T06:55:56.255-05:00Stop Starving Public Universities and Shrinking the Middle Class
Last week Rick Santorum called the president "a snob" for wanting everyone to get a college education (in fact, Obama never actually called for universal college education but only for a year or more of training after high school).
Santorum needn't worry. America is already making it harder for young people of modest means to attend college. Public higher education is being starved, and the Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-34824286163309110652012-03-01T06:53:00.001-05:002012-03-01T06:53:11.109-05:00California Government Has No Idea Fracking Is Happening
There isn't supposed to be much fracking in California. In the past, the state's Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) has said that it "does not believe that fracking is widely used" in California. More recently, the division allowed that the practice is "used for a brief period to stimulate production of oil and gas wells," but added (PDF) that "the division doesn't believe Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-11645278325921001372012-03-01T06:50:00.001-05:002012-03-01T06:53:23.538-05:00Occupy Rallies Against Powerful Right-Wing Group You've Never Heard Of
Today, occupiers in 80 American cities will hold the movement's largest coordinated demonstration since fall: a huge protest against the American Legislative Exchange Council.
Never heard of it? That's the point.
"It's an extremely secretive organization," says David Osborn, an organizer with Occupy Portland's Portland Action Lab, which is spearheading the national protest (known on Twitter Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-5973142757589921382012-03-01T06:47:00.001-05:002012-03-01T06:47:30.444-05:00China's Firewall Breach Gives Internet Users Access To Previously Blocked Social Networking Sites
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Some Chinese Internet users have this week been able to access blocked websites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, relishing the newfound freedom although the reason for the breach in China's Great Firewall of censorship was a mystery.
China blocks most foreign social networking sites (SNS) out of fear that unfettered access would lead to instability. Chinese SNS firms Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-39874018071254008942012-03-01T06:45:00.000-05:002012-03-01T06:45:14.746-05:00McGuinty Oil Sands Backlash: Ontario Premier Tries To Clarify Position, Admits Surprise At Blowback
TORONTO - Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty tried Wednesday to turn down the heat generated by his comments earlier in the week about preferring a lower dollar to a growing oil and gas sector in Western Canada.
McGuinty admitted he was "a bit surprised" by the extent of the blowback from his comments Monday, when he said Canada's high "petro-dollar" was bad for Ontario manufacturers and exportersAstrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-58146712093128095292012-03-01T06:42:00.003-05:002012-03-01T06:42:40.593-05:00How Much Of An Environmental Bad Guy Are The Alberta Oil Sands?
If some of the headlines were to be believed, a recent report from one of Canada's more prominent climate scientists seemed to suggest that maybe the Alberta oilsands won't be such a big environmental bad guy after all.
Coal is really the black devil when it comes to pumping greenhouse gases into the air.
Trouble was, that's not exactly what the research published in the journal Nature Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-31839771136143305512012-03-01T06:36:00.001-05:002012-03-01T06:38:17.170-05:00Quebec Senators United Against C-10
We remember when a Canadian prime minister spoke of building "a just society." There is no such talk from the federal government today. Instead, we have a government obsessed with punishment, retribution, and prison time. But we will not reduce crime in the long run by putting more people in jail and giving them even longer sentences.
The crime rate in Canada is at its lowest level since 1973. Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-63499507253821901632012-03-01T06:35:00.000-05:002012-03-01T06:35:14.944-05:00James Murdoch Steps Down As Executive Chairman Of News International
James Murdoch has stepped down as executive chairman of News International, the British arm of News Corp., the company announced Wednesday. Murdoch, who was once seen as the heir apparent to his father Rupert at the head of News Corp., has now lost a key position within the company.
News Corp. cast the move as stemming from James' recent relocation to New York from London, and Rupert Murdoch Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-89582861988744069072012-03-01T06:33:00.000-05:002012-03-01T06:37:09.194-05:00If Robocalls Hadn’t Happened
It’s early innings in the Robocalls scandal, but one wonders what might have occurred electorally had they not taken place.
Measuring those rogue calls’ effectiveness is difficult. Still could they have made the difference between a Conservative majority and a Conservative minority? With a Conservative minority, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s public policy moves might have changed.
Would Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-83098249688848355012012-03-01T06:21:00.000-05:002012-03-01T06:21:04.109-05:00Harper must show robocalls more incompetence than malice
The current frothing at the mouth on Parliament Hill over robocalls brought to mind a couple of pearls of wisdom that are true and appropriate in all times and all situations.
The first was Napolean’s contention: “Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by incompetence.”
The second was George Bernard Shaw’s quip: “Newspapers are unable, seemingly, to discriminate Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-10260019555959393352012-03-01T06:18:00.001-05:002012-03-01T06:18:43.634-05:00Will robogate reach critical mass?
Scandal, like a nuclear reaction, has to reach critical mass before a chain reaction sets off an explosion.
Public outrage over the Ad Sponsorship kickback scheme wasn’t a one-off. It operated on the long fuse of the gun registry boondoggle, the tainted blood scandal, the Somalia and APEC coverups, millions in untendered contracts to Bombardier, the election gag-law, hundreds of missing Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-26789428542449588782012-03-01T06:08:00.002-05:002012-03-01T06:08:53.372-05:00Heartland associate taught 'biased' climate course at Ottawa university
An associate of the Heartland Institute, the thinktank devoted to discrediting climate change, taught a course at a top Canadian university that contained more than 140 false, biased and misleading claims about climate science, an expert audit has found.
The course at Ottawa's Carleton University, which is being accused of bias, was taught for four terms from 2009-2011 by Tom Harris, a Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-55204498197719468092012-03-01T06:05:00.002-05:002012-03-01T06:05:27.087-05:00The Conservative government’s legitimacy is at stake in election scandal
Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s long-sought majority government rests upon 11 seats.
The key to his narrow 2011 victory was Ontario, where the Conservative Party finally breached a Liberal stronghold.
It was in crucial Ontario swing ridings where Conservatives won, often by razor-thin margins, that the government’s majority was decided.
And, it was in Ontario that evidence first surfaced ofAstrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-20454596420556072602012-03-01T06:03:00.001-05:002012-03-01T06:03:22.326-05:00Tories release spending estimate without revealing upcoming spending reductions
OTTAWA — The Harper government released spending estimates Tuesday for the upcoming 2012-13 budget year that already project sizeable spending reductions in several departments — without factoring in potentially billions of dollars in looming expenditure cuts.
The federal Conservatives are planning significant spending reductions for the upcoming 2012-13 budget year in areas such as Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-9359743406235717172012-03-01T05:59:00.000-05:002012-03-01T05:59:41.531-05:00Government cuts to cost 61,000 private-sector jobs: Union report
OTTAWA — The union representing economists working in the federal government is predicting the loss of 61,000 jobs in the private sector if the Conservative government reduces federal spending up to $8 billion.
The Canadian Association of the Professional Employees (CAPE) said the ripple effect of the Conservatives spending cuts, which will wipe out 55,000 jobs in the public service, will be a Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-11218960794376349922012-03-01T05:55:00.000-05:002012-03-01T05:55:36.186-05:00Government’s right to do business trumps public servants’ need to know of job cuts in advance: HR boss
OTTAWA — The need for public servants to know if they will lose their jobs in the upcoming budget takes a back seat to the Conservative government’s right to secretly finalize its spending cuts and the “messaging” around them, says Treasury Board’s chief human resources officer.
Daphne Meredith told a meeting of human resources specialists this week that federal managers face the “tension” ofAstrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-53652540362611944952012-03-01T05:47:00.000-05:002012-03-01T05:47:20.901-05:00Job cuts will be modest: Baird
Cuts to the public service will occur “overwhelmingly” by attrition — and not by deep cuts, Foreign Affairs Minister and Ottawa West-Nepean MP John Baird told the Sun on Tuesday.
Trying to send a calming message to skittish civil servants, Baird said federal budget cuts will be “like nothing” that took place in the 1990s.
“There’s no doubt that there’s some unease in the public service, so Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-85287827310953646732012-03-01T05:45:00.000-05:002012-03-01T05:45:25.826-05:00Human Resources Minister quietly axes student job centres
The employment centres for students that have opened every spring for more than four decades in communities across Canada have been cancelled by the federal Human Resources department, which says it can offer the same services online.
The centres began as a Hire-a-Student pilot project in Moose Jaw, Sask. in 1968 and quickly spread to other regions. But the government says they have seen Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-88200226286448020562012-03-01T05:42:00.002-05:002012-03-01T05:42:56.660-05:00Meet the Man Responsible for the Death of Canada's Gun Registry
Looking north across the border, American gun owners may well see the fall of Canada’s long-gun registry with relief. This, after all, lessens the odds that the anti-gun movement will be successful in its attempt to install a gun-owners database in the U.S. However, before American gun owners forget about Canada all over again, there’s an incredible story here not being told outside Ottawa Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-84695638175138555362012-03-01T05:36:00.002-05:002012-03-01T05:36:44.740-05:00Who's who in the election phone calls controversy
Complaints about bogus calls to voters during the 2011 federal election are under investigation by Elections Canada.
On Feb. 27 the House of Commons passed a unanimous resolution calling on its members to provide Elections Canada and the RCMP "with any and all information they have on voter suppression and illegal phoning during the last election."
The stories began on election day (see Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-36543026545590074392012-03-01T05:31:00.002-05:002012-03-01T05:31:33.082-05:00Elections Canada probe spreads to Thunder Bay
The Elections Canada investigation prompted by misleading calls to voters during the final days of last May's election is spreading, CBC News has learned.
The growing probe will involve interviews with some employees of a call centre based in Thunder Bay, Ont., operated by Responsive Marketing Group. The company was hired by the Conservatives to reach out to voters.
It was not immediately Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-82206658918020651562012-02-29T22:52:00.001-05:002012-02-29T22:52:20.248-05:00March 29 federal budget won't detail cuts
The federal budget will be delivered on March 29, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced Wednesday, but it won't contain all the details of the government's planned spending cuts.
All government departments were asked over the last year to find savings amounting to between five and 10 per cent of their budgets, with the ultimate goal of cutting $4 billion in spending annually.
Flaherty told Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-51343086187718593262012-02-29T22:48:00.002-05:002012-02-29T22:48:38.721-05:00Ford bids for Sheppard compromise
Mayor Rob Ford is making a last-minute bid to salvage his Sheppard subway plans, working behind the scenes to forge a compromise, but it doesn't appear he'll be able to win over enough councillors before a crucial vote March 15.
“The sense I get is the mayor is prepared to take a compromise,” said Councillor John Parker, a TTC commissioner who met with the mayor Tuesday to discuss the fate ofAstrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-14949216302393988352012-02-29T22:44:00.003-05:002012-02-29T22:49:23.958-05:00Reconsider pot prohibition, international panel urges Harper
The Global Commission on Drug Policy says it's “very weird” that Canada is taking a tougher line on marijuana when governments across the globe are reconsidering the war on drugs.
In an open letter Wednesday to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the Brazil-based commission calls on Canada to stop pursuing the “destructive, expensive and ineffective” prohibition of pot.
Louise Arbour, a former Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-27189435927467711112012-02-29T22:43:00.000-05:002012-02-29T22:49:12.559-05:00Flaherty won't reveal 'intricate detail' of cuts in March 29 budget
Canadians will have to wait another month before finding out how the Conservatives will change Old Age Security and cut federal spending, as Finance Minister Jim Flaherty confirmed his 2012 budget will be released March 29.
Even then, after months of hints and suggestions about what may be on the chopping block as Ottawa moves to erase its estimated $31-billion deficit, there will still be Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-51623007331181478772012-02-29T22:41:00.001-05:002012-02-29T22:48:59.852-05:00Harper dismisses robo-call scandal as ‘smear campaign’ by sore losers
Stephen Harper is now categorically denying the Conservative Party machine was behind misleading robo-calls that confused voters in Guelph and elsewhere, calling the entire matter a “smear campaign” by the NDP and Liberals.
“The Conservative Party can say absolutely and definitely it has no role in this,” the Prime Minister told the Commons Wednesday.
He challenged the NDP to produce proof Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-66747862218792939232012-02-29T16:04:00.003-05:002012-02-29T16:04:49.138-05:00Japan defence chief 'may cancel' F-35 deal
Japan's defence chief said Wednesday the country may cancel its $4.7 billion order for the US-built F-35 stealth jet if Washington fails to stick to the proposed price and deadlines.
Defence Minister Naoki Tanaka said a formal contract for the initial four units which Japan wants by March 2017, out of a total of 42 jets, was expected to be signed before this summer.
But, he told parliament: "Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-69216674624975170452012-02-29T16:01:00.000-05:002012-02-29T16:01:41.801-05:00Conditional sentence changes to cost millions
A provision in the federal government's omnibus crime bill that restricts conditional sentences will cost the provinces and territories more than $100 million a year, according to a new report from the Parliamentary budget officer.
The change makes conditional sentences available only to non-violent offenders sentenced to less than two years in jail. These sentences are often served under Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-56577831015875720662012-02-29T15:59:00.001-05:002012-02-29T15:59:41.465-05:00Criminal Libor Probe: DOJ Investigating World's Biggest Banks On Global Benchmark Rate
NEW YORK, Feb 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department is conducting a criminal probe into whether the world's biggest banks manipulated a global benchmark rate that is at the heart of a wide range of loans and derivatives, from trillions of dollars of mortgages and bonds to interest rate swaps , a person familiar with the matter said.
While the Justice Department's inquiry into the settingAstrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-74091678164519425902012-02-29T15:56:00.003-05:002012-02-29T15:56:27.336-05:00Virginia Mandatory Ultrasound Bill Passes In State Senate
The Virginia Senate narrowly passed a bill on Tuesday by a vote of 21-19 that would require women to have an ultrasound procedure 24 hours prior to having an abortion.
The Senate passed a similar bill earlier this month that would have required women to undergo an invasive transvaginal ultrasound procedure. After that bill stirred up a firestorm of controversy, Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) helped Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-80735234583885523162012-02-29T15:53:00.002-05:002012-02-29T15:54:28.280-05:00Growing Number Of Americans Can't Afford Food, Study Finds
Here in the United States, growing numbers of people can't afford that most basic of necessities: food.
More Americans said they struggled to buy food in 2011 than in any year since the financial crisis, according to a recent report from the Food Research and Action Center, a nonprofit research group. About 18.6 percent of people -- almost one out of every five -- told Gallup pollsters that Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-55756310472997860992012-02-29T15:52:00.001-05:002012-02-29T15:52:11.890-05:00Water Pipe Study: United States Needs $1 Trillion For Drinking Water Lines Over Next 25 Years
Plugging the leaks in water pipes and building new ones to keep up with a growing population could cost the United States $1 trillion over the next 25 years, according to an industry study released Monday.
That study unearths a subject few Americans think about: buried drinking-water mains. As with aging highway infrastructure, however, the vast network of pipes built out during the boom Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-60361024600851565282012-02-29T15:33:00.002-05:002012-02-29T15:50:25.800-05:00Barack Obama Waives Rule Allowing Indefinite Military Detention Of Americans
WASHINGTON -- The White House released rules Tuesday evening waiving the most controversial piece of the new military detention law, and exempting U.S. citizens, as well as other broad categories of suspected terrorists.
Indefinite military detention of Americans and others was granted in the defense authorization bill President Barack Obama signed just before Christmas, sparking a storm of Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-80774108469129806642012-02-29T15:32:00.000-05:002012-02-29T15:32:06.521-05:00Natasha Loder, Economist Journalist, Detained At Mitt Romney Event
A reporter for the Economist was handcuffed by police officers at Mitt Romney's campaign victory rally during the Michigan primary on Tuesday.
Natasha Loder, a Midwest reporter for the magazine, came into conflict with police at the event in Novi, MI after she tried to hear Romney's victory speech in person, instead of in a press filing center.
Chad Livengood, a reporter at the Lansing Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-28251320773750711472012-02-29T15:30:00.002-05:002012-02-29T15:30:38.142-05:00Tory Pollster Faces Misconduct Probe By Industry Watchdog
OTTAWA - The market research industry's watchdog is launching a full-blown investigation into a Conservative pollster involved in an alleged misinformation campaign against Liberal MP Irwin Cotler.
Brendan Wycks, executive director of The Marketing Research and Intelligence Association, said Tuesday the watchdog has received seven formal complaints of professional misconduct against Campaign Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-85806561217243747962012-02-29T15:28:00.001-05:002012-02-29T15:28:11.636-05:00Nicole Eaton: Green Charities Using Foreign Cash To Fight Oil Sands Development, Argues Tory Senator In Launching Inquiry
OTTAWA — Promising to reveal information that would make "your blood boil," a Conservative senator opened a new front in the federal government’s attack against environmentalists Tuesday.
“There is political manipulation. There is influence peddling. There are millions of dollars crossing borders masquerading as charitable donations,” Senator Nicole Eaton declared as she launched an inquiry in Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-58764137697192644272012-02-29T15:25:00.001-05:002012-02-29T15:25:25.473-05:00Interpol: 25 Suspected Anonymous Hackers Arrested In New Crackdown
PARIS — Interpol said Tuesday that 25 suspected members of the loose-knit Anonymous hacker movement have been arrested in a sweep across Europe and South America.
The international police agency said in a statement that the arrests in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Spain were carried out by national law enforcement officers working under the support of Interpol's Latin American Working Group Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-88947115362397663932012-02-29T15:22:00.002-05:002012-02-29T15:23:28.411-05:00High Arctic Research Station Forced To Close
Canada's northernmost research laboratory is shutting down due to lack of funding.
The Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL) in Eureka, Nunavut, which made key measurements last winter used to detect and analyze the largest ozone hole ever detected over the Arctic, will cease year-round operations on April 30. At that time, its equipment will be removed and the building Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-58779814285692881052012-02-29T15:20:00.002-05:002012-02-29T15:20:56.544-05:00Global Partners Committed to F-35: USAF
Declining orders for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter from Washington’s international partners reflect economic pressures in those countries, not a lack of commitment to the multinational program, the top U.S. Air Force general said Feb. 28.
The Air Force chief of staff, Gen. Norton Schwartz, said military leaders in Canada, Australia, Turkey, Italy and other countries helping to Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-13961895841781371582012-02-29T15:16:00.000-05:002012-02-29T15:16:12.705-05:00Tories overestimated OAS costs by hundreds of millions
OTTAWA — As debate over the sustainability of the country's Old Age Security system continues, new figures show the Conservative government has overestimated the cost of the system by hundreds of millions of dollars in three of the past four years.
While the government says the differences are to be expected and remain well within normal ranges, the opposition is arguing they raise further Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-75102950263279435052012-02-29T15:11:00.002-05:002012-02-29T15:13:38.467-05:00Lessons from Greece on democracy and debt-bondage
It is a truism to say that democracy began with the Greeks -- less so to say that it originated in popular rebellion against debt and debt-bondage. Yet, with the Greek people ensnared once more in the vice-grip of rich debt-holders, it may be useful to recall that fact. For the only hope today of reclaiming democracy in Greece (and elsewhere) resides in the prospect of a mass uprising against Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-85330889331370379072012-02-29T15:09:00.000-05:002012-02-29T15:12:25.892-05:00The End of the Petroleum Era
[Series] Those who argue that there will never be a final "oil crisis" fail to recognize resource limits.
This is Part 2 in a three-part series focusing on fossil-fuel dependence and the intersection of energy and the environment. Part 1
discussed our dependence on fossil fuels to meet our energy needs due
to its unmatched efficiency as an energy source. Part 2 discusses the
finite nature ofAstrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-30629160685062223282012-02-29T15:04:00.002-05:002012-02-29T15:05:39.665-05:00Tory Tactics and Our Rotten Political Climate
Forget 'hidden agendas' – the robocalls are consistent with how the Conservatives have governed.
The fact that the Conservative party engaged
in an organized and systematic voter-suppression campaign last spring
should not come as a shocking revelation. This is the way politics now
works in Canada. It is ugly and sordid, and what we heard last week only
scratches the surface.
The Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-90225390980208764642012-02-29T15:02:00.000-05:002012-02-29T15:02:12.034-05:00Time to panic about the housing market
Back in the heady days of 2005, America looked like an awfully nice place to buy a house. Home prices were marching ever upwards. Home ownership was at record levels. Mortgage rates were at historic lows. Unemployment was falling while the economy was growing at a healthy clip.
Home sales had started showing their first signs of slowing that year, but that didn’t sway the National AssociationAstrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-91528659936833228332012-02-29T14:06:00.001-05:002012-02-29T14:14:52.692-05:00The Commons: The Prime Minister tries to bluster it all away
The Scene. The Prime Minister was full of indignation. All of it righteous in quality.
He chopped and swiped with his hand. He pumped his fist and jabbed his finger. He raised his voice and he scolded and he challenged and he dismissed. How dare the NDP, they who once propagated a phone campaign that directed disenchanted voters to call Lise St. Denis’s office, accuse him of wrongdoing. Who Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-88552880455769989312012-02-29T14:03:00.004-05:002012-02-29T14:04:09.608-05:00“Who’s calling?” “The Conservatives.”
Last spring, just days before the federal election, I filed into the Conservative party war room and took my seat. Everyone who’s had this experience knows the drill: an empty desk, a forlorn looking computer, some sort of phone and five weeks of exhilaration and hell staring you in the face.
Now, we’ve had some highly publicized disagreements with Elections Canada in the past, so the Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-39855333789851573022012-02-29T14:00:00.002-05:002012-02-29T14:01:06.346-05:00Washington’s pipeline war
President Barack Obama’s denial of a permit for TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline has not stopped a shadow battle from unfolding on Capitol Hill over the proposed link from Alberta’s oil sands to the Gulf Coast. Congress is teeming with proposed legislation for and against the pipeline, which has been transformed from a mere infrastructure project into a political litmus test on American Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-77710902399644627552012-02-29T13:55:00.001-05:002012-02-29T13:58:35.301-05:00Tories imported 'American style dirty tricks' and now they're getting caught, says outraged NDP MP
PARLIAMENT HILL—A furious NDP MP Pat Martin exploded Tuesday over the latest revelations in the robocall election affair, denouncing Conservative Party operatives allegedly at the root of it “dirty little bastards” who put the integrity of Canada’s electoral system at risk.
Mr. Martin’s (Winnipeg Centre, Man.) outburst came after Question Period was for the second day dominated with Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-75654859179818230502012-02-29T13:53:00.000-05:002012-02-29T13:53:10.655-05:00Strategy, tactics, communications, big bureaucracy: welcome to lobbying
There are currently 5,165 registered federal lobbyists. Some are extremely good tacticians and strategists. Some excel at face-to-face meetings. Some know the intricacies of the way governments run and use it to their advantage. Some are excellent communicators, which is a big part of the GR industry. And in the cut-throat lobbying world, lobbyists say there’s no real “best lobbyist,” unless Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-50232882483719609662012-02-29T13:42:00.001-05:002012-02-29T13:42:29.108-05:00Leaked Stratfor Email Suggests Secret U.S. Indictment of WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange
he whistleblowing website WikiLeaks has published an internal email from
the private intelligence firm Stratfor that suggests the U.S. Justice
Department has obtained a sealed indictment against WikiLeaks founder
Julian Assange. The email is one of around five million obtained from
Stratfor’s servers by the hacker group, Anonymous. "Somehow you have a
private intelligence company, Stratfor,Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-8636141247937338532012-02-29T13:40:00.000-05:002012-02-29T13:45:42.879-05:00Conservatives’ communications strategy needs work
OAKVILLE, ONT.—Best laid plans often go astray. This is true for mice, for men, and also it seems for Conservative Party strategists.
Case in point is the Conservative government’s proposed internet surveillance law otherwise known as Bill C-30.
As is well-known by now, the plan for this bill definitely went astray.
But why?
After all, on paper, at least, this issue must have seemed like aAstrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-51376559566203840132012-02-29T13:37:00.005-05:002012-02-29T13:38:01.730-05:00Robocalls phone number registered to 'Pierre Poutine'
A telephone number used to place automated calls directing voters to the wrong polling station in Guelph, Ont., in the last federal election was registered to a "Pierre Poutine" of Separatist Street, Joliette, Que., court documents reveal.
The documents also show a link between the national Conservative campaign to the call centre through which the automated calls were made.
The documents wereAstrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-38556364875900945642012-02-29T13:34:00.002-05:002012-02-29T13:34:26.303-05:00Fraudulent calls a sophisticated attempt to disrupt an election
A political operative hiding behind the alias “Pierre Poutine” engineered an off-the-books scheme using robo-calls and a disposable cellphone to discourage opposition voters from casting ballots in an Ontario riding last May, Elections Canada alleges.
Documents retrieved from an Edmonton court for the first time describe in detail exactly how Canada’s elections watchdog believes someone Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-38325413402553826162012-02-29T13:31:00.000-05:002012-02-29T13:32:05.534-05:00Canadians need an aboriginal history lesson
Among the 20 recommendations released last week by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission investigating the residential schools scandal, those directed to teaching the history of the period garnered the most attention.
Implicit in the TRC’s interim report is that the history of residential schools is not being taught. As such, the recommendations join a long list of occasions during which Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-3191935622925624372012-02-29T11:41:00.002-05:002012-02-29T11:41:42.728-05:00Tories throw ministerial responsibility under robo-call bus
Michael Sona is living every political aide’s worst nightmare. The 23-year-old Tory resigned last week in the growing shadow of the Conservative robo-call controversy. His name is now forever affixed to the fallout.
Adam Carroll will meet a similar fate. The recently resigned Liberal staffer published details of Public Safety Minister Vic Toews’s divorce on Twitter under the handle Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-57613191316895755072012-02-29T11:38:00.001-05:002012-02-29T11:41:53.662-05:00Former Tory staffer urges ‘guilty party’ to take blame in robo-call controversy
A key Conservative campaign worker in Guelph in the last election is calling on the “guilty party” to step forward and acknowledge his or her role in the ongoing robo-call controversy.
Emerging from a week-long silence, former Conservative staffer Michael Sona is denying any involvement in the automated phone calls that directed voters in the Ontario riding of Guelph to the wrong polling Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-41925335062263144982012-02-29T11:34:00.003-05:002012-02-29T11:34:42.092-05:00'Made in Canada' is hard to find
The words 'Made in Canada' on products are hard to find these days, not impossible, but hard.
Call me a nationalist, but I try to employ my neighbours when exercising
my purchasing power. My husband and I finally took the plunge recently
and bought a couch at Barrymore to last us until our 50th wedding
anniversary. The best part about it was that it’s manufactured not 10
km from my homeAstrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-32600991910801972302012-02-29T11:31:00.003-05:002012-02-29T11:31:45.530-05:00Allegations of fraud, sleaze a turnoff to voters
OTTAWA—Pierre Poutine from Separatist Street?
Why not toss a disposable cellphone registered to this fictional character into the toxic mess playing into the nation’s capital?
It played perfectly into the tenor of debate over the past couple of days, climaxed by a Tuesday Question Period dust-up over alleged election fraud in which Prime Minister Stephen Harper merely parried allegations of Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-23684025111766333852012-02-29T11:29:00.003-05:002012-02-29T11:30:02.884-05:00Mayor Rob Ford’s subway dream for Sheppard could be dead March 15
City council will gather ahead of schedule, on March 15, to decide what kind of transit the city wants built on Sheppard Ave. E.
The meeting, originally slated for March 21, is expected to spell the end of Mayor Rob Ford’s move to extend the Sheppard subway.
The city gave notice Tuesday that the meeting would happen during March Break to avoid conflicts with other meetings.
It is expected theAstrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-29065809551600359682012-02-29T11:28:00.000-05:002012-02-29T11:28:08.776-05:00ORNGE fiasco could hurt Ontario’s ability to cut deficit: Former deputy health minister
The ORNGE fiasco represents a “colossal failure” of governance and accountability and is hobbling the province in its ability to cut the deficit, a former deputy health minister says.
Michael Decter, who served as deputy in the former Bob Rae government and continues to be a leading Canadian expert on health systems, told an audience of senior health officials Tuesday that the scandal at Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-71260271243302716682012-02-29T11:26:00.000-05:002012-02-29T11:26:19.778-05:00Some ORNGE helicopters unable to enter U.S. airspace
Some ORNGE helicopters are forbidden from entering U.S. airspace and must land at the border and use land ambulances to cross to American cities.
A leaked government memo, initially obtained by the Progressive Conservatives, shows ORNGE is awaiting FAA approval.
The letter, dated Monday, says there is a delay in receiving necessary U.S. Federal Aviation Administration approval for ORNGE Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-1210302570411897822012-02-29T11:23:00.001-05:002012-02-29T11:24:50.551-05:00Compared to robo-scandal Vikileaks is a prank
Ottawa’s Vikileaks and robo-call affairs are being treated as equivalents. They are not.
The robo-call affair involves allegations of electoral fraud. If, as suggested by Liberals and New Democrats, Stephen Harper’s Conservatives deliberately misrepresented themselves to voters before last May’s election, it is a serious police matter.
The Vikileaks affair, in which a Liberal staffer released Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-8186875221246282032012-02-29T11:19:00.001-05:002012-02-29T11:19:33.242-05:00Dirty tricks against Cotler trigger misconduct probe for Tory pollster
The market research industry's watchdog is launching a full-blown investigation into a Conservative pollster involved in an alleged misinformation campaign against Liberal MP Irwin Cotler.
Brendan Wycks, executive director of The Marketing Research and Intelligence Association, said Tuesday the watchdog has received seven formal complaints of professional misconduct against Campaign Research Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-23928331653518369832012-02-29T10:54:00.001-05:002012-02-29T11:19:21.533-05:00Harper Conquers Canada, One Robocall at a Time
The widening "robocall scandal" is deeply disturbing -- as is its media coverage.
The language we use to describe a situation, the words that a journalist uses in their coverage of an issue, literally frame the issue and how we think about it.
This isn't a story about "dirty tricks," it's about election fraud. This isn't "stupid," it's illegal. This isn't "folly," it was a deliberate, Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-90295917251290762982012-02-28T18:28:00.001-05:002012-02-28T18:28:47.774-05:00Bobby Hull, Former Marine In Foreclosure, Wins Mortgage Modification With Occupy Help
Bobby Hull was supposed be thrown out of his house this month. Instead, thanks partly to Occupy Wall Street activists, he may get to stay.
Last week, Hull said, Bank of America offered him a mortgage modification that will allow him to stay in his Minneapolis home. Occupy Wall Street protesters, working with local community organizers, attracted national attention to the former Marine's Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-65912884288444406812012-02-28T18:26:00.000-05:002012-02-28T18:26:15.335-05:00Corporate Immunity Looks Likely: Supreme Court Seems Ready To Side With Shell In Human Rights Suit
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday morning appeared divided along party lines, with a conservative majority ready to hold that corporations cannot be held accountable in federal courts for international human rights violations.
The Court was hearing oral argument in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, which was brought under a founding-era law, commonly called the Alien Tort Statute, Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-5015620552571465532012-02-28T18:22:00.003-05:002012-02-28T18:22:57.717-05:00Harper Will Keep Playing Dirty, So Long as we Let Him
Last election, the ballot question effectively crafted by Stephen Harper was one that presented a dichotomy in electoral choice -- between a strong, stable Conservative majority government, or a "reckless coalition" of left-wing parties.
Underlying that question, however, was a more profound message: The Conservative party won its majority by gambling that Canadians didn't care about what Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-43110613776415390562012-02-28T18:20:00.003-05:002012-02-28T18:21:05.449-05:00Occupy London Eviction: Authorities Dismantle Camp, Arrest 20
LONDON (AP) -- Authorities dismantled Occupy London's camp outside the famous St. Paul's Cathedral in a dramatic early hours raid Tuesday, clearing away one of the longest-surviving encampments inspired by the New York protest against capitalist excess.
The City of London police said 20 people had been arrested as officers removed tents and equipment from outside the 300-year-old church, Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-17639716324368226502012-02-28T18:18:00.005-05:002012-02-28T18:19:00.992-05:00Spain Arrests 4 Suspected Anonymous Hackers
MADRID -- Police say they have arrested four suspected hackers allied
to the loose-knit Anonymous movement in connection with attacks on
Spanish political party websites.
A National Police statement said two servers used by the group in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic have been blocked.
It said the four included the alleged manager of Anonymous'
computer operations in Spain and Latin Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-70985595296034519342012-02-28T18:16:00.000-05:002012-02-28T18:16:30.319-05:00Canada Manufacturing: Loonie's Decade-Long Soar Means Factories Won't Be Coming Back, CIBC Says
The outlook is grim for Canadian manufacturing, as a strong loonie is expected to keep labour costs high, deepening the hollowing out of the industrial heartland and boosting regional income inequality in the years ahead.
In a briefing note to investors on Tuesday, CIBC World Markets predicted that a robust Canadian dollar would drive more factory jobs south of the border, as the U.S. and Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-63040404417269977702012-02-28T18:13:00.003-05:002012-02-28T18:13:59.267-05:00Omnibus Crime Bill Costs: Ending Conditional Sentences Could Cost Provinces Millions, Budget Officer
OTTAWA - Restricting house arrest is going to cost the provinces and territories almost $140 million a year, produce fewer convictions and reduce the time offenders are under government supervision, according to a report from the independent parliamentary budget officer.
The 97-page study is a detailed and devastating deconstruction of just one small aspect of the massive Conservative omnibusAstrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-14044218856234898732012-02-28T18:11:00.001-05:002012-02-28T18:11:28.048-05:00How secure is our old age security?
The Harper government has now confirmed that it is planning changes to our Old Age Security system (OAS), and an increase in the eligible age from 65 to 67 is clearly being considered.
Canadians are indeed getting older. It is also true that as Canadians get older, and as we live longer, the costs of health care, OAS and other support systems will go up. But Harper’s claim that the current OAS Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-52531113528238660992012-02-28T18:09:00.002-05:002012-02-28T18:10:01.492-05:00Democracy is the loser
The nastiness on Parliament Hill reached such a height in mid-February that even a forced, partial climbdown looks like grace and class by contrast. But it'll take a lot more than sheepish apologies in the House of Commons to clean the dirt out of Canadian politics.
There are few members of Parliament more dignified and eloquent than Liberal Leader Bob Rae. Forced to deal with his knowledge Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-5404008393690998512012-02-28T18:07:00.000-05:002012-02-28T18:07:16.295-05:00Budget watchdog contradicts Tories on cost of sentencing crackdown
New restrictions on the use of conditional sentences will lead to higher costs for Ottawa – and especially the provinces – according to a new analysis by the Parliamentary Budget Officer.
The report by Kevin Page directly contradicts Conservative assertions that the measure would not lead to higher costs for Ottawa. The changes are just one part of the government’s omnibus crime bill, C-10, Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-27461931026914519832012-02-28T18:02:00.000-05:002012-02-28T18:02:34.321-05:00Satanic Reverses
After ten months of ruthless culling, has the Republican “base”—an excitable, overlapping assortment of Fox News friends, Limbaugh dittoheads, Tea Party animals, war whoopers, nativists, Christianist fundamentalists, à la carte Catholics (anti-abortion, yes; anti-torture, no), anti-Rooseveltians (Franklin and Theodore), global-warming denialists, post-Confederate white Southrons, creationists,Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-74170689653113581172012-02-28T17:57:00.002-05:002012-02-28T17:58:43.924-05:00Rick Santorum, Meet Hamza Kashgari
President Kennedy’s 1960 speech on religious freedom makes Rick
Santorum “throw up.” “What kind of country do we live in that says only
people of nonfaith can come into the public square and make their case?”
Santorum says.
It’s a central part of his campaign strategy to distort such things as a
Kennedy speech, or an Obama speech, to whip up outrage at the supposed
war on religious Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-75092081766053380152012-02-28T17:52:00.002-05:002012-02-28T17:53:07.203-05:00Bending the Tax Code, and Lifting A.I.G.’s Profit
Last week, the American International Group reported a whopping $19.8 billion profit for its fourth quarter. It was a quite a feat for a company that was on its death bed just a little over three years ago, so sick that it needed a huge taxpayer bailout.
But if you dug into the numbers, it quickly became clear that $17.7 billion of that profit was pure fantasy — a tax benefit, er, gift, from Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-40797763726797812392012-02-28T17:48:00.001-05:002012-02-28T17:48:15.098-05:00What It Means to Be a Rising Public Intellectual in China
In a provocative op-ed in The New York Times on February 16, writer Eric X. Li argued that China's authoritarian, hybrid capitalist system is superior to America's liberal democratic system. As if that weren't enough, Li's column even went so far as to declare that the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown was justified:
However, China's leaders would not hesitate to curtail those freedoms if Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-41308214036426294742012-02-28T17:45:00.001-05:002012-02-28T17:45:12.238-05:00Rick Santorum's Mystery Donor
The biggest donor to the pro-Rick Santorum super-PAC in January was a man you've almost certainly never heard of: William J. Doré Sr., a megarich energy executive from Lake Charles, Louisiana, with a short but complicated history of political giving. His $1 million donation to the Red, White, and Blue Fund was one of the largest gifts of the cycle, and almost certainly the most mysterious.
Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-25006012208703782462012-02-28T17:42:00.001-05:002012-02-28T17:42:44.908-05:00Cellphone Price Calculator Scrapped After Industry Lobbying: Report
The federal government’s decision to scrap a cellphone cost calculator for consumers came after lobbying from large telecom firms, and happened despite Industry Canada defending the calculator as accurate, a news report states.
The revelations come as Ottawa prepares to auction off a new block of wireless spectrum. Consumer advocates have raised concerns the government is planning to set up Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-29576031451720726482012-02-28T17:40:00.003-05:002012-02-28T17:40:52.515-05:00Majority Of Canadians Think Tories' Online Surveillance Bill Shouldn't Become Law
A majority of Canadians think that the Conservatives’ proposed online surveillance Bill C-30 is too intrusive and should be defeated, according to a poll by Angus-Reid.
The poll, conducted February 23-24 and surveying 1,011 respondents on
the polling firm’s online panel, found 53 per cent of Canadians believe
the bill is too intrusive, compared to only 27 per cent who believe the
it is Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-72892467825775624582012-02-28T17:37:00.000-05:002012-02-28T17:38:06.488-05:00Scrapping gun registry has taught Tories nothing
Having prevailed over those who fervently support the retention of the national long-gun registry, the federal Tories now run the risk of morphing into their nemeses.
Not that the government is about to reverse itself on the registry, but its approach to selling Bill C-30 - the new lawful access legislation - is quite reminiscent of how the gun registry has been defended.
Certainly there are Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-71071455156602349342012-02-28T17:26:00.002-05:002012-02-28T17:27:07.541-05:00Down and dirty
Perhaps the most telling thing about the growing “robo-call” scandal in Canadian federal politics is not the lame denials by Stephen Harper’s Conservatives, denials that suggest that if voter suppression took place, it was not an election tactic set by the party as a whole. Nor is it the trial balloons being floated by Conservative insiders that the scandal is the fault of “rogue operatives” in Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-47065092915781448812012-02-28T17:23:00.002-05:002012-02-28T17:24:04.913-05:00This is not Zimbabwe - Allegations of election fraud demand serious response
Some of the Conservative reaction to the growing robocall scandal reminds us of Leslie Nielsen standing in front of an exploding fire-works factory in Naked Gun while telling a gathering crowd, "Move on. Nothing to see here."
On Monday, Tory Senator Mike Duffy blamed it on third parties. Conservative strategist Tim Powers called it opposition hysteria. On the weekend, Defence Minister Peter Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-18475976079219899032012-02-28T17:20:00.001-05:002012-02-28T17:21:27.595-05:00The more we look for phone scams, the more we find
In March 1954, newspapers in Seattle reported that some car windshields were damaged in a city 80 miles away. Vandalism was suspected. But then something strange happened.
People started to find car windshields speckled with tiny pits. Reports multiplied. Within a couple of weeks, the police had taken 242 calls from concerned citizens reporting damage to more than 1,000 cars.
The United StatesAstrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-82290509635251982532012-02-28T17:17:00.001-05:002012-02-28T17:18:03.956-05:00Taxpayers footing the bill for Redford blitz
As a Progressive Conservative bus rolls around Alberta with Alison Redford’s face on it, you’d be forgiven for assuming an election campaign is formally under way. Or that this month’s budget – ads for which run regularly on radio stations – has been passed. Or that government money has been steered entirely clear of political party business, as laws in other provinces require.
But none of Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-59163839398804699962012-02-28T17:13:00.001-05:002012-02-28T17:15:15.317-05:00Wait for all facts to be in before assigning blame in robocall affair
Like layers on an onion, the robocall issue continues to be peeled away. I expect it will for several more days, if not weeks. The reporters who broke this story and others who are following it up will undoubtedly uncover more factual information which will either add another layer to the onion or strip another layer away. This type of issue can be quite complex, one of the reasons it is always Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-28421405783587120392012-02-28T17:11:00.001-05:002012-02-28T17:11:37.450-05:00Tories can't hang up on phone call scandal
It doesn't have a catchy moniker yet, like most good scandals, but it likely will soon. Whether it ends up being called Robo-gate, Roboscam, the Robo-call scandal, or some other name, one thing is certain, it won't be called the great phone fizzle any time soon, much to the chagrin of the federal Conservatives.
Then again, just as interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae was building up a real head of Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-54177668577180763162012-02-28T17:09:00.002-05:002012-02-28T17:09:38.460-05:00Migrant workers need better integration in Canada, study urges
Good Mexican restaurants in rural Ontario, small-town church services in Spanish, and gridlocked Friday nights with busloads of men wiring money home and crowding into the local grocery store.
These are a few of the visible signs of the growth of Canada’s migrant agricultural worker programs, which are becoming an increasingly permanent fixture of the rural landscape.
The workers are often Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-38368043395815442462012-02-28T17:07:00.001-05:002012-02-28T17:07:17.428-05:00First election scandal casualty: Democracy
Truly shocking — and unnecessary.
If senior people within the Conservative Party of Canada conspired to rig the May 2011 election, what are the consequences? For Stephen Harper’s party, the penalties could be very, very significant. They range from fines and jail time to deregistration of Harper’s party and liquidation of its assets.
A recap: As has been well documented in the media, Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-41220551458801523332012-02-28T13:25:00.001-05:002012-02-28T13:25:22.405-05:00Robocalls fit pattern of Conservative dirty tricks
For the Harper government, the most comforting thing that can be said of the "robocall affair" is that no envelopes stuffed with cash are involved.
Rather, the allegations relate to recorded phone calls allegedly ordered by the Conservatives in May's election in dozens of ridings.
The calls supposedly gave bum steers to Liberal-and New Democrat-minded voters to dissuade them from voting. The Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-76446433287777874892012-02-28T13:23:00.001-05:002012-02-28T13:23:19.725-05:00Japan wary of F-35 cost escalation
Japan has expressed concern to the US government about possible price rises involved in its Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter acquisition.
Last week, media reports from Japan cited chief cabinet secretary Osamu Fujimura as saying Tokyo had repeatedly expressed its concern about possible F-35 price increases.
In an email to Flightglobal, the Japanese Ministry of Defence outlined Tokyo'sAstrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-24751304911197050512012-02-28T13:16:00.001-05:002012-02-28T13:16:07.293-05:00Just say no to corporate greed: The case of Iceland
Capitalism is looking pretty mean these days. No amount of profit is
enough, and no level of collateral damage to get that profit is
unreasonable. And when capitalism on steroids runs amok, any extremes of
public pain are justified to save the butts of those who made the mess
in the first place.
Corporations understand that they have a green light to punish people
ruthlessly for even a Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-64389845977427676432012-02-28T13:09:00.001-05:002012-02-28T13:09:58.146-05:00Is the Québec student strike a spark?
Tens of thousands of students are on the streets protesting moves by
the Québec Liberal government to inflate post-secondary tuition fees by
$1,625 in the next five years. A serious grassroots battle is underway
as students hold major street protests, sit-ins, and direct actions.
Currently, over 65,000 students in Québec are on an unlimited general strike under the banner Ensemble, Astrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-2850787654590935132012-02-28T13:06:00.001-05:002012-02-28T13:06:10.339-05:00McGuinty’s ungracious response to Premier of Alberta’s appeal for support on Keystone XL pipeline
Dalton McGuinty, the Premier of Ontario, should not have responded ungraciously to an appeal by Premier Alison Redford of Alberta for solidarity from Ontario and Quebec, in the course of her speech on Friday to the Small Explorers and Producers Association on Friday. In particular, she wants the Premiers of the two Central Canadian provinces to help articulate the importance of the Keystone XLAstrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-48511659319081479902012-02-28T12:53:00.001-05:002012-02-28T12:53:30.594-05:00BMO profit hits $1.1-billion
Profit at Bank of Montreal (BMO-T58.410.400.69%) rose 34 per cent in the first quarter, as lower credit losses and the addition of Midwestern U.S. bank Marshall & Ilsley Corp. helped make up for an otherwise bumpy quarter at its Canadian retail banking and capital markets operations.
BMO, Canada’s fourth-largest bank by assets made $1.11-billion, or $1.63 a share in the quarter. That comparedAstrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-37280713336715380762012-02-28T12:48:00.001-05:002012-02-28T12:49:02.366-05:00Tories try to contain dirty-tricks damage to lone Ontario riding
The Harper Conservatives are trying to contain political damage over alleged dirty electoral tricks to one Southwestern Ontario riding as opposition rivals call for by-elections in any ridings affected by misdeeds.
The message from Tories, in private conversations Monday, was that something wrong happened in the riding of Guelph in the spring, 2011 election campaign – but that was the work ofAstrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-35588479360242052432012-02-28T12:45:00.001-05:002012-02-28T12:45:42.889-05:00Voters ‘primed and ready’ for deep Tory spending cuts, poll finds
Canadians appear to be in a bloodthirsty mood as the Conservative government prepares its cost-cutting 2012 budget.
Fully 74 per cent of those surveyed in a new poll by Nanos Research want to see cuts that are deeper than the 5-per-cent reduction Ottawa has set as its minimum target for federal departments.
The 2012 budget will reveal the overall results of a government-wide exercise focusedAstrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6200617774957384274.post-88995872461642352522012-02-28T08:42:00.001-05:002012-02-28T08:42:20.963-05:00Did Private Spy Shop Get US Intel From Bin Laden Raid?
On May 1, 2011, not only did US special forces kill Osama bin Laden, they collected a treasure trove of intelligence from his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan—material that would be of tremendous value to analysts, both in and out of government. Less than two weeks later, Fred Burton, the vice president for intelligence of Stratfor, a private US intelligence firm, was telling colleagues withinAstrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256869996902947860noreply@blogger.com0