I’m angry beyond words at this: Transgender Woman’s Jail Treatment Prompts Complaints Baxter said Griffith was concerned about her safety and asked to be put into protective custody. Guards moved her to the protective custody section and placed her in a cell with two accused male sex offenders, Baxter said.
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The Cracked Crystal Ball II: Attacking Democracy: Adler’s Bill C-520
Just as Bills C-23 and C-24 interact with each other in some very concerning ways, Mark Adler’s bill C-520 can be seen as part of the Harper Party’s active undermining of Canada’s democracy. 6. (1) Every agent of Parliament who intends to occupy a politically partisan position while holding his or her
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Bill C-23: Stealing Democracy Part VIII: Brad Butt Lies To Parliament
One of the centrepieces of Bill C-23 are a series of measures intended to put a stop to voter fraud. Central to all of this is the testimony of one MP – Brad Butt who rose in the House of Commons to state the following: Mr. Speaker, the fact of
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Thoughts on the Ukraine Situation
There has been an enormous amount of speculation around the Ukraine situation on social media today. First, let me be abundantly clear: I do not support the Russian actions towards Ukraine in recent days. Russia would be far wiser to allow the Ukraine to have an open election or referendum
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Municipal Voters: Partisan Intervention is Coming Your Way
Did you mistakenly think that the Manning Centre’s attempt to bend the 2013 Calgary municipal election to more “conservative” was an aberration? You would be quite wrong. The author of the Metro News article is considerably more charitable than I am about the matter – but then again, he was
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: C-23: The Theft Of Democracy Part VII
I’ve more or less gone as far with analyzing the text of C-23 myself at this point in time. I’m sufficiently convinced that this legislation is nothing more than an overt move on the part of the Harper Conservatives to undermine Canada’s democracy, and should be tossed in the garbage
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Rex Murphy: We All Know You Are A Tory Hack …
… now just shut up about it and let the grownups talk, please. Talk about pathetic. In a previous column, Murphy was emphatic about how he speaks to his own beliefs and none other. While one might almost believe that, when Murphy’s “own beliefs” sound suspiciously like talking points out
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: The Future Of The CPC
Andrew Coyne made an excellent point in his column about the Manning Networking Conference that the Manning Centre is hosting in Ottawa: So this is what a Conservative convention looks like. After that bizarre lockdown in Calgary last fall – reporters harassed and penned in at every turn, the prime minister’s
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Pat Buchanan: Civil Rights Laws Have Served Their Purpose
Wow. I’ve known that Buchanan had long since fallen off the rhetorical cliff of the far right, but today’s column is a real prize winner. A radical idea: Suppose we repealed the civil rights laws and fired all the bureaucrats enforcing these laws. Does anyone think hotels, motels and restaurants
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: The Far Right’s Scorched Earth Policy
The last few weeks has been a series of horrifying revelations for supporters of LGBT rights. What it has unveiled is the “scorched earth” approach that the far right in the US is willing to pursue. First it was Kansas’s House of Representatives passing a hideous “Jim Crow” law, only
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Rob Ford’s re-Election Strategy
After reading this, I wonder just who from Harper’s inner circle is advising their campaign? In another pointed jab at the gay community, Doug Ford accused the mother of a gay son of “bullying” for accusing Rob Ford of homophobia.Rob Ford has begun his mayoral campaign by saying that hedeliberately
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Wente Is Getting It Wrong … Again
I suppose it should come as little or no surprise that Margaret Wente is getting things wrong again. This time, she is expounding on the treatment of transgender children. Suddenly transgender kids are everywhere – in the news, on Dr. Phil and in your neighbourhood. School boards have developed detailed
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Disappointing … But Unsurprising
In light of the Harper Government(tm)’s ongoing assault on science in this country – especially anything resembling the environment – it comes as little surprise that the government is currently not meeting its own legislated obligations with respect to endangered species. In a case covering four species that Justice Anne
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: On Rob Ford and "Private Time"
Robyn Doolittle was the guest on Alberta At Noon on CBC today, and the discussion naturally revolved around Rob Ford. Recently, Rob Ford has turned up in Vancouver – intoxicated apparently – and in nightclubs in Toronto. When he has been accused of being intoxicated, he has tried to dodge behind
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: The Senate Expenses Mess Continues
So, a bunch more Conservative Senators have been caught with their hands in the cookie jar. In one case, Senator Scott Tannas of Alberta billed $12,000 to taxpayers to fly himself and his wife in executive class to Ottawa for a two-day trip. Another senator, from Toronto, was one of
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: C-23 Summarized In A Nutshell
Kind of says it all, IMO:
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: The Galloping Beaver: New Model Country, New Model Army
Go, Read: New Model Country, New Model Army
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: C-24 In Conjunction With C-23 As Instruments Of Voter Suppression
There has been a lot of attention on Bill C-23 the last week or so, and in particular the parts of it which appear to be tools that can be used for voter suppression. In discussing the Voter ID requirements of Bill C-23, I became very concerned that this government
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Bill C-23: Part VI: The Theft Of Democracy – Muzzling The Chief Electoral Officer
Wading through C-23 is feeling more and more like trying to pick one's way through a minefield. Every step, you half expect to find something that is going to go "click" … followed by a very loud bang. Today, I bring you what the Conservatives are doing to the ability
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Bill C-23: The Theft Of Canada’s Democracy – Voter ID : Part V
The Voter ID parts of Bill C-23 are profoundly troubling, and in my view are a giant red flag that this bill should be stopped as soon as possible. It has the distinct smell about it of turning into a variation on the “Voter ID” laws that have been passed
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