Fragile Bird Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 As some of you know, I'm one of the boarders who goes to church. But right now I'm channelling the Greeks and the Romans and the way they tried to figure out the future. That jerk of a prime minister down under, Tony Abbott, has been turfed out of the PM's spot by his own party. Please God, let Abbott be the chicken who's entrails are predicting the results of the election, Harper turfed as well! It would be so lovely, in view of the fact that Abbott took Harper as a role model.ETA: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-34245005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aemon Stark Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 While I think the Australian system can tend toward instability (at least lately!), it's more in keeping with parliamentary democracy than electing a leader by party members. Interestingly, the [i][url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&DocId=8058690&File=27]Reform Act, 2014[/url][/i] now allows for parties to turf their leaders by a secret ballot caucus vote, but the same does not currently apply to the selection of leaders. The weird part is that parties can "opt out" of this system. A step forward, perhaps, but it's not quite enough, not yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Have you seen the story on the CBC about a reporter who got a message from a friend on Facebook, asking why he had 'liked' the Conservative Party? That question took him by surprise, because as a reporter he has become very careful about what he 'likes'. For the most part that means he doesn't like anything.But when he checked, yes indeed, his page showed he had 'liked' the Cons. Turns out the Conservatives may be buying likes. The reporter asked the Liberals and the NDP if they bought likes, and both said no. But the Conservatives sent him back a message that that was 'an internal party matter'.Check your Facebook page, maybe you too have liked the Cons!http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-election-2015-like-jacking-facebook-1.3229622 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maarsen Posted September 16, 2015 Author Share Posted September 16, 2015 Have you seen the story on the CBC about a reporter who got a message from a friend on Facebook, asking why he had 'liked' the Conservative Party? That question took him by surprise, because as a reporter he has become very careful about what he 'likes'. For the most part that means he doesn't like anything. But when he checked, yes indeed, his page showed he had 'liked' the Cons. Turns out the Conservatives may be buying likes. The reporter asked the Liberals and the NDP if they bought likes, and both said no. But the Conservatives sent him back a message that that was 'an internal party matter'. Check your Facebook page, maybe you too have liked the Cons!http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-election-2015-like-jacking-facebook-1.3229622 Isn't this the sort of thing that Pierre Poutine would do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceChampion Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Ha. I just read that, and paranoically checked. What I want to know if is anyone is giving out "Anyone But Harper" / "Vote Strategically" lawn signs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maarsen Posted March 22, 2016 Author Share Posted March 22, 2016 I just saw on Yahoo news that Rob Ford has died. I should check CBC news just to make sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/rob-ford-1.3489457 RIP, Rob Ford. 46 was too young to die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kairparavel Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 Wow. Only yesterday I saw a headline indicating he was in palliative care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minstral Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 11 hours ago, kairparavel said: Wow. Only yesterday I saw a headline indicating he was in palliative care. So did I actually... Has anyone here heard of this French Political Party leader, Marine le Pen, visiting Canada in the last week? She comes to Quebec to make contacts, criticize immigration and promote certain policies (such as her national viewpoints on how Canada by stating that she would recognize Quebec as its own state if she assumes power)... and no politicians want to touch her with a ten foot pole. I am Canadian, but I live near the Pacific. Is there anyone situated around closer to Ottawa and/or in Quebec that knows more of this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 13 minutes ago, Minstral said: So did I actually... Has anyone here heard of this French Political Party leader, Marine le Pen, visiting Canada in the last week? She comes to Quebec to make contacts, criticize immigration and promote certain policies (such as her national viewpoints on how Canada by stating that she would recognize Quebec as its own state if she assumes power)... and no politicians want to touch her with a ten foot pole. I am Canadian, but I live near the Pacific. Is there anyone situated around closer to Ottawa and/or in Quebec that knows more of this? Here's a brief story about her visit: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/marine-le-pen-belgium-montreal-1.3501949 No politicians will meet with her, as you say. Oh, here's a longer story from the Globe: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/frances-marine-le-pen-blasts-quebec-canadian-politics/article29322218/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minstral Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 To be honest, I have seen those articles when I did a quick google search. I mean is there anyone that wishes to weigh in their own opinions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGP Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 I don't know. I have no idea what she or her party thought they might accomplish by coming here. What kind of support, abroad or even at home, did she think her tired and busted rhetoric would garner? Does France in general care about the sad plight of Quebecers in Canada? Does Canada care about some right wing French wannabe? Sounds like a lot of questions right there, but I give no fucks. I do find it amusing though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 Canadian politicians have shown no interest in meeting with her and Canadians have shown no interest in hearing from her. End of story. And coverage. For those of you worried about budget deficits and are worried about the nightmares Conservatives are having, here's a story quoting an economist who has posted a chart showing in visual form what the Liberals are saying about deficits: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/03/23/canada-budget-deficit-comparison_n_9532294.html?ncid=fcbklnkcahpmg00000001 On Facebook a picture of the graph is displayed, but it's not shown in the story itself. You have to lick on the twitter quote from Jordan Brennan, which I guess I could have linked. But once I looked at the twitter link and exited back into the HP post, the graph popped up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maarsen Posted March 30, 2016 Author Share Posted March 30, 2016 I have been trying to avoid Rob Ford's funeral. Everybody gushing about what a great man he was is enough to make me gag. I was a party to a very long conversation with him and a relative once.This was all before the crack smoking video. Looking back on that conversation, just about everything he told my relative was a absolute fabrication. She thought he would help and he lied to her shamelessly. For all his prattle about getting stuff done, I call bullshit. For every pothole he claimed to have gotten fixed, resources were pulled from some other, more important job. City employees were not sitting around with their thumbs up their collective asses before Ford gave them a job. He was also a serial drunk driver. People who support him would think a lot less of him if he was sharing a cell with Marco Muzzo. His kids, when they get old enough to understand will realize that he was not a role model for anyone. Put him in the ground and forget him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 So....the 'dippers deep-sixed Mulcair. I can't believe he's staying on for a year or maybe even two years. Do you think he should step down and let someone else become interim leader, the way the Tories have done it? I would think the Conservatives will be making comments about not just a lame duck leader but a dead duck leader in Parliament. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maarsen Posted April 12, 2016 Author Share Posted April 12, 2016 On 4/11/2016 at 1:08 PM, Fragile Bird said: So....the 'dippers deep-sixed Mulcair. I can't believe he's staying on for a year or maybe even two years. Do you think he should step down and let someone else become interim leader, the way the Tories have done it? I would think the Conservatives will be making comments about not just a lame duck leader but a dead duck leader in Parliament. I have heard him speak a couple of times now and actually I kind of like him. The NDP's problem is who in the party would replace him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 9 minutes ago, maarsen said: I have heard him speak a couple of times now and actually I kind of like him. The NDP's problem is who in the party would replace him? Yes, he's a good speaker, especially in the House. But I would argue with my younger friends over their support for him. I couldn't understand how they could support someone so old, just like I don't understand the support Bernie Sanders gets from people in their 20s and 30s. They still think he's an ok guy, but they are happy to see him gone. The NDP courted him to build an organization in Quebec, and he did that well. But they misunderstood their success in Quebec, thinking they had somehow converted a whole province that had never voted NDP before into solid supporters. And even though they elected Mulcair to win seats, they couldn't stomach the compromises he made for broader support and when he didn't win they dumped him. I was actually surprised he didn't step down election night, the way Harper did. I'm also surprised to hear he'd like to keep the job. 48% is the lowest percentage of support any leader of any federal party (and it might even be any provincial party as well) has ever received at a convention. This is stuff I've heard since last Friday out of the mouths of NDPers on television, not my own opinion. As for who will run for the leadership, they seem to be expecting wide interest from NDP supporters, including freshmen politicians who have never held office. Sounds like they might be making the same mistake the Liberals did after they lost to Harper, looking for stars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maarsen Posted April 15, 2016 Author Share Posted April 15, 2016 I have not yet read the Leap Manifesto, but I do consider myself reasonably well schooled in the sciences. Getting off fossil fuels, especially the high carbon stuff from the tar sands is going to have to happen sooner rather than later. Bite the bullet and let's go. Cancel pipelines,switch to wind and solar, encourage people to generate their own clean power, and put some research money into storage of electricity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 1 hour ago, maarsen said: I have not yet read the Leap Manifesto, but I do consider myself reasonably well schooled in the sciences. Getting off fossil fuels, especially the high carbon stuff from the tar sands is going to have to happen sooner rather than later. Bite the bullet and let's go. Cancel pipelines,switch to wind and solar, encourage people to generate their own clean power, and put some research money into storage of electricity. You ungrateful Toronto dilettante! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maarsen Posted April 16, 2016 Author Share Posted April 16, 2016 7 hours ago, Fragile Bird said: You ungrateful Toronto dilettante! Ungrateful Aurora dilettante actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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