Cuts for cash: it can only spur mangers to propose even deeper cuts. Only a nasty neoliberal would use the profit motive to conduct what is supposed to be a rational, considered appraisal of departmental services and staffing needs in the Public Service. And how much is the per diem
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Globe: The future of wireless competition
The Globe and Mail’s Rita Trichur gives an overview of an issue that will have a huge effect on the cost of wireless Internet in Canada, and the shape of the industry going forward: the upcoming spectrum auction. The way the government manages this auction will determine whether Big Telecom
Continue readingMore Evidence That The Liberals Are No Longer The Natural Governing Party Of Anything
FlagsOfConvenience’RUs BigDeadRedMachineVille Warren Kinsella, interestingly enough nails it. First, Mr. Kinsella tells us that, back in the halcyon days (e.g. a plaid-shirted 1996), Gordon Campbell was the master of a big, beautiful centrist tent where everyone could live in peace and harmony: …In 2001, he (Campbell) was massively successful, winning
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Our Prime Minister’s Great Economic Plan Seems To Be Working …. For the Corporate Sector
In light of the ongoing dismantling of our industrial base by our corporate ‘masters,’ coupled with the latest reduction in the corporate tax rate engineered by the pseudo-economist Stephen Harper, this video is worth viewing: Recommend this Post
Continue readingAnti-Racist Canada: The ARC Collective: Mariani Murder Update
Just a very short article in the "Calgary Sun" discussing the investigation: Time not our enemy say cops By Nadia Moharib ,Calgary Sun First posted: Friday, December 30, 2011 08:58 PM MST It began with a photograph of the murder victim on the detective’s desk. As the days and weeks
Continue readingBigCityLib Strikes Back: BCLSB Resolutions For 2012
1) Force the resignation of a Tory cabinet minister. But I’ve given up on the idea of embroiling one in a sex scandal. These guys are too high maintenance. You want to seduce a cabinet minister, they expect you to drive them around. And buy the drinks. 2) Stop the
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Living in Wonderland 2012
What really makes my skin crawl about living in the world of the Far Right is how seamlessly, yet powerfully, fantasy is interwoven with reality. Let’s name it. How about hyperconservativopathy? Extreme conservatism taken to pathological levels. We can even shorten it to an acronym, HCP disorder. H
Continue readingThe Conservative Ministry of Truth
I’m all for the new Office of Religious Freedom the Conservative government is due to unveil, pun fully intended. It won’t be accessible to Canadian niqabis, presently denied social services, employment and the right to vote in Quebec, and citizenship in Ottawa. But it will provide, for this reason and
Continue readingknitnut.net: Larry O’Brien endorses Ron Paul
Larry O’Brien has declared Ron Paul as his hope for President of the United States. He likes his economic policies, which include immediately balancing the budget while eliminating the Federal Reserve and abolishing income taxes! You’d think Larry might have learned from his own failed attempts at budgeting that some
Continue readingRecreating Eden: Taxes Quebeckers Pay Go up, Taxes Companies Pay Go Down
Canada now has one of the lowest corporate tax rates in the world: 15 per cent as of midnight on Sunday. But are businesses going to use that tax windfall to reinvest in Canada? Not likely, say a chorus of economists. The bottom line (and don’t all those financial types
Continue readingthe reeves report: The cautious politics of choosing a leader
NDP leadership candidates at the first debate held in December, 2011. As the race to replace Jack Layton heats up, it was only a matter of time before the candidates began taking significant steps to differentiate themselves from their fellow candidates. Eight candidates remain in the race to lead the
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Effective Speechmaking
Scan down the list of recommended blogs and you’ll see a link to Max Atkinson. He’s a British academic whose made a sideline career out of being a communications consultant. While many of you have likely never heard of him, Atkinson has had a significant impact on modern speech making
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Anyone But
As promised, let’s take a closer look at the dynamics of “anyone but” movements in leadership campaigns – with a particular focus on whether one looks likely to develop in the NDP’s current race. The most obvious prerequisite for an “anyone but” movement is the perception that a particular candidate
Continue readinggay persons of color: Chile’s LAN Airlines launches targeted microsite
What better way to start 2012 off than with some happy news, this time from LAN Airlines, the flag carrier of Chile, whose new LGBT travel microsite, landiversity.com, is a one-stop shop dedicated to gay and lesbian travelers to and within South America. In 2009, LAN became the first Latin
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Caterpillar Locks Out Employees at London Plant
After unilaterally imposing the terms of its last contract offer on its workers, terms of which entail the halving of wages and a substantial reduction in benefits, Electro-Motive Canada, a subsidiary of U.S. industrial giant Caterpillar Inc., has locked out its Lomdon-based workers. The Harper government, which permitted the company’s
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: Harper Job Cuts Provide Perfect Opportunity for Revenge
On the front page of yesterday’s Toronto Star, Les Whittington and Bruce Campion-Smith reveal the thousands of civil services jobs being cut by the Harper government. This after an election promise made by John Baird not to make those cuts. What he really meant to say was vote for us
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: How the badly maimed BBC can stand up to parasitic Sky
Columnist says the BBC accounts for much of Britain’s success in the creative industries, a prime example of national investment yielding rich returns.
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Need Help? – Wear a tie. The Bystander Effect
We all think that we’ll help others in distress. Experimental evidence says otherwise… Filed under: Science, Social Science Tagged: Bystander Effect, Experimental Psychology, Science
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Assorted content to start your week. – Dr. Dawg asks some rather important questions about whether we think our current checks and balances are enough to rein in the Harper Cons: The lesson of the first story is, for me, how quickly the “normal” can be disrupted, our country taking
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Wrong Analogy
No doubt the folks at the Heritage Foundation will pillory Paul Krugman for his column in this morning’s New York Times. Their disrespect for him matches his own disrespect for them. On the subject of the national debt, Krugman writes: Perhaps most obviously, the economic “experts” on whom much of
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