Evil genius?

The globe and mail is reporting that on the issue of climate change, Rosa Ambrose has this to say -- "I am really glad that the Conservatives were elected so that we can make sure that the pipe-dream plan goes up in smoke."

Is that for real? Does she have that little sense of the implications of hre words or is our Environment Minister a witty smog-queen evil genius who takes pleasure in destroying the planet?

Harpers Remedial Media Relations

So there was a brew-ha-ha in Ottawa last weekend, wherein Harper requested the names of all the reporters who wanted to ask questions so he could approve or deny them like a little proto-fascist Bush-style 'town hall.' Apparently Canadians don't care. Current polling suggests he would acheive a majority if an election were called today. And what's more, look at this:

From a totally non-scientific globe and mail internet poll:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has accused the national media of being biased against him, do you agree?

Yes (54%) 21422 votes
No (46%) 18566 votes

Are You KIDDING ME? (As the Swirsk would say) The press pool suggested that they could organize themselves and offer a list of which reporters would ask questions in what order, rather than the usual scrum, but this wasn't enough for Harper. he wanted to have the final say on who could and could not ask him questions. To treat the media with such contempt is the most dishonest of neo-con tactics.

My question is, do you think the people answering this poll didn't know what happened? Do they think it is appropriate the Prime Minister have the power to pick and choose what questions he answers from the Media? Honestly can anyone give me a sense of what these people are thinking?

I'm totally RAGE-IFIED!

____________________________
I was slightly off-base on this one, it's not as bad as I thought at first. Edits are in italics.

The Baby Boomers shall be our Boom!

Oh Lordy Lay, Oh Lordy Lie, look what I saw in the portentoscope this morning!



It seems clear to me that children from the 1950s have invented some sort of a time travel machine, perhaps involving a flux capacitor, but maybe not, anyway... they intend to come and destroy us with weapons disguised as toys. Otherwise the weather looks fine today.

Thanks to www.boingboing.net

He shall not destroy the earth in the middle of a song.

Lo and Behold and also Rejoice! We shall not be destroyed for many a moon! Actually 7608 moons, by my, admittedly rough, calculations.

The Composer John Cage wrote and piece of music called "Organ2/ASLSP," commonly known as "As Slow As Possible." And LO! is it ever Slow! It is being played in a small town in Germany called Halberstadt as we speak and, assuming the goodwill of future generations, it will end sometime in 2640. Some parts of the organ haven't even been built yet, since those pipes won't be used for several decades.

Halberstadt is the home of Canned Hot Dogs, so anyone who calls them 'Vienna Sausages' is sadly misinformed.

The New York Times also reports as follows:

"For anyone keeping records, the performance is probably already the world's longest, even though it has barely begun. The organ's bellows began their whoosh on Sept. 5, 2001, on what would have been Cage's 89th birthday. But nothing was heard because the musical arrangement begins with a rest — of 20 months. It was only on Feb. 5, 2003, that the first chord, two G sharps and a B in between, was struck. Notes are sounding or ceasing once or twice a year — sometimes at even longer intervals — always on the fifth day of the month, to honor Cage, who died in 1992.

There are eight movements, and Cage specified that at least one be repeated. Each movement lasts roughly 71 years, just four years shy of the life expectancy of the average German male."

And later on, the good folks and NYT inform us that:
"All agree that nothing should interfere with the music. Solar power cells and a backup generator are on hand in case the electricity is interrupted. So far, the notes have flowed unimpeded."

One good and interesting thing about this piece, in addition to its ability to prevent the apocalypse, is the way in which it makes us question our society. In a world where we bustle about from this to that, demand hi-speed everything, and try to pack our days with eight zillion activities, isn't it nice to think about a single piece of music that will be playing for 600 years?

Now, my sweet and innocent little readers may wonder how this music shall save us from our doom. It is well-known to all, that if you dislike someone's music and wish to change it, you must wait until the end of the track to remove the needle from the grammaphone's disc! To cut a song sharply in the middle is unthinkably rude. Furthermore, know this, I have met God on a number of occassions and while He is many things, He is not a total jerk-ass. Therefore, we are free and clear for the remainder of this piece, for Lo -- He shall not destroy the earth in the middle of a song.

Harper's First Budget

Man oh man, considering he has a Minority government, Harper's budget is pretty scary. To be honest, it's not that bad. But it would be hard to be really nasty when faced with a huge federal surplus and three opposition parties eager to pull you down. In fact the only thing that kept him alive was a promise to look at the fiscal imbalance between the federal and provincial governments and eventually hand over both money and responsibilities to the provinces -- which was enough to earn the Bloc Quebecois' support.

He cut the GST by one percent. Which is actually a good thing -- sales tax unfairly penalize the poor because they spend most of the money they take in and thus pay a higher percentage of their income to sales taxes. However, he also raised the tax in the lowest income bracket by 0.5%. The corporate tax rate however was lowered
from 21% to 19%. And he did various peculiar things with stock and investment taxation that I'm pretty sure can't help anyone but the rich.

He cut the funding to the national daycare program, choosing instead to give it to parents directly. Thus helping out anybody who can afford a nanny and screwing everyone else in the butt.

There was ZERO new funding for health care.

He clawed back about 75% of the money that the Liberals had promised to Native Peoples after an 18 month negotiation that ended late last year.

He cut all the Liberals spending on Climate Change and instead gave a tax-break for people buying metropasses. This will cost $370 million and is estimated to increase public transit use from 10.5% of daily commutes to 11%. It is estimated to cost $2000 per tonne of greenhouse gas emmission reduction.

From the Toronto Star:

The federal government says the $370 million tax credit will come from money reallocated from funds previously dedicated to climate change programs.

Some have criticized the plan ... because it may create more demand for transit, but it doesn't add to the supply of buses, streetcars and subways. That means already crowded vehicles will simply get more crowded, critics say.

And the tax credit does not apply to transit riders who buy weekly passes, day passes, tickets, tokens, or who pay cash.

To pay for this he cut all the money to our climate change research institute. So if you're curious to know what's going to happen to Canada as the plannet gets hotter and hotter and hurricanes and another anomalous weather formations increase. Too bad. Will it have an effect on our forests? Who knows. Our lakes and rivers? Our wildlife? Our farming? The Tories don't give a shit.

Now think what he would do if he had a majority.