Quid quo pro

Even the Star Phoenix finds the timing of the Canada Post announcement more than a little suspicious:

The Conservatives, after all, are leaving Ottawa with their ears still burning from the daily interrogation over the involvement of the Prime Minister's Office in the Senate scandal, and the humiliating and inept defence put up by their champion, Paul Calandra, parliamentary secretary to the Prime Minister.
In spite of the Conservatives' repeated efforts to change the channel, nothing seemed to stick. Having the armslength Canada Post using its busiest season to announce a massive cut in service at least takes the heat off the government during the holidays when Canadians gather, and MPs don't have to field questions in Parliament.

Maybe they worked out a deal -- if Canada Post succeeds in distracting Canadians and parliament from the Senate scandal, then Treasury Board will let everybody keep their pensions.  Win-win.

I love flash mobs

▶ The USAF Band Holiday Flash Mob at the National Air and Space Museum 2013 - YouTube: ""

'via Blog this'

Solidarity forever

My reaction to the news that Conrad Black says he might endorse Rob Ford for mayor is:

It takes one to know one.

Honestly, Toronto, haven't you reached your gag reflex with both of them?

The creature that would not die!

The Senate expenses scandal is the Energizer bunny -- it keeps going and going.  Its Parliament Hill rock 'n roll -- it will never die.  Its a Canadian T-Bird -- we'll have fun, fun, fun until, well, until whenever.  And for the Harper Cons, its the Creature from the Black Lagoon -- it just won't go away!
Today, we find out that the Senate's pledge to give RCMP e-mails widens paper trail in expenses probe and that Senator Carolyn Stewart Olsen apparently lied to the RCMP last June
Its all basically meaningless in the larger scheme of things, of course, but its very meaninglessness seems to be the reason why this story just won't quit.
When we've got a scandalous news story that isn't about anything that affects our daily lives -- like the economy, health care, or real estate -- then its just so much fun for the reporters to cover and for the people to read about, that nothing will stop it.

Happy Thanksgiving, America

You know what I'm not looking forward to?

It's about ten weeks until the Olympics begin.
And in that time, there will be ten thousand stories about how poorly prepared Russia is to host these games.
To be followed on Day 2 by the assembled world press expressing pleased and gratified surprise at how beautifully everything is going.
In other words, the usual Olympic narrative.

Riders win!

Roughriders top Ticats to win 101st Grey Cup at home

The Sgt Schultz defense

We're supposed to believe that not only did Harper know nothing about Wright's $90,000 cheque to Duffy, he also knew nothing about the previous plan to get the Conservative Party to pay Duffy's expenses and he knew nothing about the phone call to the auditors to try to stop the Duffy audit.


So what WAS Harper paying such attention to in February and March, 2013, that he didn't bother to ask anyone about the Duffy situation?  Well, the NHL lockout ended in January, the Brier was in March, and in April Justin Trudeau was elected Liberal leader.

I feel like Charlie Brown's football

Every time I start to think that maybe the Harper Cons aren't so bad, I find out that actually, they're worse.
When disaster strikes somewhere in the world, like now with the recent Philippines storm, our government routinely now announces it will match Canadian donations.  Pretty generous, I've thought.
Remarkably generous.
But now I find out that even though I am giving my donation to a charitable group, the Harper Cons are maybe not:

The Conservative government has severed long-standing ties with many of Canada’s largest and oldest aid organizations over the past few years, and instead focused its efforts on mining companies and other private sector actors.

Mining companies?
Yes it turns out to be true -- see here and here.
As usual, I'm the last to know.
Sigh.

Just shut up

Production costs?  Oh, give me a break.
Big City Lib suggests a secret statement and Montreal Simon says The Ford Nation is Dead !!!!  Mound of Sound suspects that Ottawa has sent the message now.
Yes, I think its pretty obvious what happened.
While initially welcoming the distraction from the Senate expenses scandal, the Harper Cons watched in horror as the Rob Ford story blew up into an international clusterf*ck that will tarnish Harper's own righteous image and endanger his crucial Toronto seats.
So sometime Sunday afternoon or Monday, somebody made an uncomfortable phone call to Sun News and told them to find some excuse to get the Ford family circus off the air.

Now there's something you don't see everyday

I hate to link to the Toronto Sun, but here's the cartoon which Warren Kinsella tweets is the best editorial cartoon of the year:

Rider Pride

Roughriders rout Stampeders; heading home to play in Grey Cup

Krusty and his brother will now be appearing on Sun News

Sun News thinks they're going to cash in big by giving the Ford brothers a weekly TV show?
They just destroyed their credibility as a news network.  Here's the twitter reaction:

There is just something fundamentally wrong with rewarding this behaviour with a TV gig. Kory Teneycke lacks a moral compass. #topoli
— Steve V (@FarAndWide) November 15, 2013

Right after "Ow, My Balls!" RT @cityslikr: On CNN Anderson Cooper speechless at news that the Fords are being given a TV talk show. #TOpoli
— billmon (@billmon1) November 15, 2013

RT @glen_mcgregor: A crack-smoking inebriate and national embarrassment? Yeah, let's give him a TV show! http://t.co/dfq2YnaFNL #topoli
— Michael Shapcott (@michaelshapcott) November 14, 2013

Yet another reason not to watch Sun News: Ford demands respect for his privacy - so signs up for TV show #topoli http://t.co/4L8zbBLthH
— Michael Shapcott (@michaelshapcott) November 14, 2013

Wonder how Ezra Levant feels about losing his title as biggest loon on the network. Tough day for him I bet. #topoli
— Steve V (@FarAndWide) November 14, 2013

Beautiful

I saw this on twitter -- a migrating pod of Beluga whales in Nunavut Inlet:

Lest we forget? The Harper Cons have forgotten

Before any other kids sign up for the Canadian forces, I hope they (and their parents) realize that their service is no longer honoured by the Harper Cons.  If they are injured on duty, the Harper Cons will throw them away.
Mike Duffy can get more than $100,000 from the Harper Cons.  Canadian soldiers, not so much.
The Harper Cons will, of course, continue to show up for battle honours ceremonies and ribbon-cuttings at memorials. But when it comes to really supporting the troops -- giving them enough money to live on after their service to Canada has cost them their health and their capacity to work - the Harper Cons are nowhere to be found.
Barbara Kay's National Post column demonstrates that the Harper Cons have already forgotten Canada's soldiers:

Today there are more than 76,000 veterans suffering from lifelong disabilities springing directly from their military service, a casualty rate of more than 10%. ... less than 1% of Canada’s veterans are receiving any economic benefits from VAC. VAC recognizes only 1,428 veterans as eligible for economic support until age 65, a mere 0.2% of Canadian Forces veterans. It is estimated that fewer than half are receiving the seriously-injured allowance to which they are entitled.
Other federal actions also rankle. Reports suggest veterans are being discharged before they reach the 10-year limit at which they are eligible to receive a pension. And a fund to help pay burial costs for veterans only applies to the most hard-up of cases, excluding almost anyone short of abject poverty.

Rick Mercer's rant deserves repeating:


November 11 has become a shameful day.