Is Harper Trying to Intimidate the Judiciary?

I see the Harper “government” is continuing to be total consistent in its exercise of poor judgment and for its tendency for using tactics to trump statesmanship.

Now they have delved into the tax returns of our judiciary presumable as a negotiation technique to "settle" compensation negotiations for Judges.
The story the Harper Cons spin is all about putting the judiciary in their fiscal place and showing them that the Prime Minister is the Executive Branch he is the real Sheriff in town. The Judges better toe the line if they know what is god for them - or else.

This Putin-esque and Bush-league breach of privacy was done to bolster the arguments the Cons want to make that the Judges never had it so good and they don’t deserve a pay raise. The “reality” is the Cons wanted to prove was that the Judges are making more money on the Bench than they ever did in private practice. The story indicates that is true some cases and not for others, but so what! When was remuneration of a professional like a lawyer, the best test of their capacity to act independently, courageously and judiciously? In fact it may be evidence to the contrary.

The past private income of Judges when they were lawyers has nothing to do with their capacity and ability to do their job in the judiciary. The fact is the Harper Cons don’t understand this and if they do they don’t care about the privacy of citizens – even those in the judiciary who we depend on to protect us from the abuse of power by the state. Harper’s henchmen believe they are the only authority in government and they can breach the privacy of anyone they choose, including the judiciary.

The fact the Harper Cons believe they can access private tax records of individual citizens to aid their puerile political purposes and that they can do so with impunity only adds to the mounting evidence this bunch are not straight shooters.

I think it is only fair and I would like to see the tax records of the Harper highly paid and pampered Cabinet and Parliamentary Secretaries. Let’s see if they all took a pay cut in order to get into politics. The Cons are there to serve their own greater personal interests in public instead of being persons who are dedicated to serving the public interest.

George Carlin Checks Out and Will Be Missed.

George Carlin died yesterday. He was a brilliant political observer and social commentator about so many things. He had a peculiar and particular ability to point out the profoundly stupid aspects and attitudes of those beings they call human. He was America's immoral compass.

Carlin was philosophical, insightful, pointed, profane and so very funny. Consider this classic Carlinism as a "clean" example of his observations:

"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that."
George Carlin

I am going to miss him.

Dion Shifts From Neutral to Green - Harper Still in Reverse.

Here it is – the Dion “Green Shift” initiative that was announced today. This website is going to be one that I will book mark and visit often.


I, along with many other Canadians who are beginning to look seriously at new ways to address the challenge of climate change, need to get engaged and stay on top if this new policy initiative.


This is a great start and I see I have lots of reading and reflecting to do. Let’s see just how far, fast and deep this cultural change can happen. It is time we started pulling for the planet – each and every one of us.

Dion's Carbon Tax-Shift Policy Will Give Canadians a Positive Choice for the Future

I expect the John Baird Character assassinator and Harper's Pit-Bully Peter Van Loan to be in full screaming rant today as Dion releases his tax-shifting policy approach to carbon reduction.

Starting today, there is going to be a definite difference in the political and policy choices being offered to Canadians over this summer. The choice Harper offers is a contuation of his rearview mirror approach of trying to perfect yesterday. Harper will be pushing political buttons with misleading messaging based on outmoded mental models that are reckless and feckless. He and his ilk still believe that growth at any speed in any way is the way to the preferred future regardless of the social and environmental costs.

Canadians will get to compare Harper’s perpetuation of the post-industrial to the Dion who is offering us the chance to change our attitudes. Dion will be saying we need get serious about taking on the challenges of our planet and design our future prosperity with a goal of sustainability. Dion messages will be thought-provoking and engaging. Harper will continue to be misleading and giving us mind-numbing messages telling us it is ok to go back to sleep and that we don’t need to worry.

We have to get serious as a species about learning how to adapt to an integrated stewardship approach to growth and prosperity. We need to take this reality to heart and engage with a head on focus and a sense of urgency.

I have not seen the Dion tax-shift carbon policy yet but all indications are that it is serious and significant. This policy is not one of those senseless ballot- candy ploys like a Harper 2% GST "reduction." I hope engaged and thoughtful Canadians will take the time to learn, understand and reflect on the substance and implications of what is being proposed. That means we will also be able to cut through the crap the Cons will be throwing out there.

Thought-leading and engaged Canadians need to look at their policy options and political choices beyond the canned commentary of the usual suspects in the mainstream media machines. I expect they will only look at this choice of futures as a political horserace and avoid the pith and substance of the policy options because that takes time to digest and vigor to explain.

Looks Like Harper's Negative Ad Campaign Is Backfiring?

Looks like the Harper Cons negative ads are backfiring. This is according to a recent poll quoted in a story in the Hill Times this week. I found this quote from the story most telling:

"According to the Innovative poll, of those who were aware of the ads, 60 per cent said they were left with a negative impression of them, and 20 per cent said they were left with a positive impression, while 18 per cent said neither. "

That is not good news for the Harper message-controlling brain-trust.

The MSM has given the Cons more free "earned media" than they have spent on the ads themselves by the looks of it. Kind of reminds me of the MSM carpet bombing "news coverage" that was done on the personal tragedy that is Brittany Spears a few weeks ago. The MSM then finally looked at themselves, came to their senses, and decided to show some semblance of responsible journalism, and left her alone.

For those Cons who will want to equate my Spears comment to Coulliard, ask yourself if Spears was involved in relationships that undermined national security and Cabinet confidentiality.

The Cons ads are not news. They are not factual. They are not even relevant because the Dion tax shifting policy is not yet finalized. The negative campaign-style ads are just a political tactic that is infotainment masquerading as a public policy issue. Come on MSM, don't get fooled again.