Abandoned Stuff by Saskboy

It’s a fantastic night to be a Canadian. Two to three political parties are setting aside their differences to save us $300,000,000 on a new election that would change little. Democracy in action is frightening to people who are used to seeing it broken… look for a lot of scared people this week, especially those who call themselves “Conservatives”.

Harper will probably try to delay the confidence vote until January (budget on Jan. 27), but will fail… sort of like his clumsy attempt to rule with a majority mentality.

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Hat tip to Raphael

UPDATE:
CBC is reporting that Dion would be PM in the new government. This is a good idea because if it’s an unpopular government, he’s on his way out anyway.

CC digs up this gem.

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CBC puts the same news into a new URL.

ADDED:

No sooner was the speech ended than the Prime Minister and his Finance Minister left the House, along with half of the Conservative caucus. The faces on those that remained told the story in vivid detail. Listening to the response from the three opposition parties, you could tell from their countenance some kind of line had been crossed.

In the Opposition Lobby, I saw things I had never witnessed in my two years here. Bloc members were “high-fiving” NDP caucus members, and some women from the Bloc were embracing their counterparts in the Liberal caucus. It was incredible to watch.

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Hat tip to ITQ

I was happy to hear that they found parts of the Saskatchewan/Alberta Fireball.

Surfing YouTube, I found this amazing video from 1972:

The CBAs have a call out to bloggers, asking for creative videographers to put together award introduction videos to go on YouTube when we announce the 27 winners in December.

www.canadianblogawards.ca

Also I didn’t do this last year, but I’m going to ask for votes (if you still haven’t voted yet this week) in Best Blog, and Best progressive categories.
You get one vote per week, per category. Please go vote now, and check out some other categories for your favourites to lend them your clicking support. There are a lot of excellent blogs listed, and you’re going to find something new to read there.

If you’re lucky, the CBAs will be the only voting you do in Canada in the coming month.

A Journalism student points out that the problem with water in Saskatchewan (in most cases I know of) isn’t that it’s unsafe, it’s just that the Provincial government has really high or rigid standards that some places cannot afford to live up to.

A boil-water advisory is a public notice put in place when there is problem, or a possibility of a problem, with a specific water source. The province advises any communities under these warnings to boil all drinking water or find an alternate water source.

“The advisories mean absolutely nothing,” said Harold Graesly, mayor and long time resident of Uranium City.

Uranium City, located approximately 720 kilometres north of Prince Albert, has had a precautionary drinking water advisory in place since May of 2001. According to the provincial report, the local water supply “lacks the minimum water treatment process.”

Graesly says the advisory is something imposed on the community by the provincial government in order to protect themselves [Saskboy notes this is also known as CYA.]. But, he says all 94 residents in Uranium City drink the water straight from the tap with no problems, just as they always have.

Sam Ferris, director of the provincial drinking water quality section, says Uranium City is one of the worst cases in the province.

“The concerns with Uranium City are because of its far distance and its small and declining population,” said Ferris.

You can note that Ferris did not reply that water was the issue. He said essentially that it was geography and politics behind the boil water advisory. A similar boil water advisory exists on the village I grew up in. The water is among the best in the province that I’ve ever tasted, yet because the village doesn’t operate a water treatment facility (because it doesn’t have to, and doesn’t need one) the Province harasses the residents.

If the Province put the resources they use on legal harassment, CYA, and into increased water testing, and better quality purification systems that don’t use toxins like chlorine, then our water system would be even better than it already is.

As other bloggers have noted, the Conservatives are looking to finish off several opposition parties including the Greens and Liberals, by cutting off funding promised to them prior to the last election. Below is the Green Party email explaining the situation as they (and I see it).

Voices and ideas should determine elections, not money. Our system of parties isn’t that fantastic to begin with, because it tends to prevent individuals with great ideas from turning them into national policy or law. Perhaps that tempering factor provides needed stability and we have to take the bad parts of parties along with the good?

Of course, most funding for parties should come directly from donations from individuals. Ideally the government would not have to fund political parties at all. Unfortunately, as the Conservatives have shown, they aren’t shy about spending GOVERNMENT money on PARTISAN purposes like 10%er propaganda, breaking campaign promises on equalization to pay off Quebec, or in bailout bribes to vote-giving industries. To not give money also to the opposition parties, is to invite corruption that comes from being in power unchallenged. In this day and age, money = power. Conservatives in power = money for Conservatives (and consequentially less money for everyone else).

See the Liberals 1990s-2006 for an example of entitlement and localized corruption. The Conservatives are already to the point of cocky entitlement (largest cabinet ever in a time of economic crisis???), and it didn’t even take them a decade to get there. Should we let them get to the point of further corruption?

Dear Green Party supporter,

Today Jim Flaherty is expected to announce that the Tories will cut the public subsidy to all federal political parties. It is disguised as a response to the economic crisis. It is actually a scheme to destroy Harper’s political opponents. It is an assault on fair financing rules brought about through sweeping reforms. These reforms were designed to eliminate the power of Big Money in our elections. Harper wants that power back.

This could well be the biggest challenge ever to face the Green Party of Canada.
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I may be able to get you one in time for Christmas. No promise on having it before Christmas, but it’s still possible. Why would you want an XO computer? To give a young child a unique, durable, learning computer that doesn’t look or work much like your own. You also end up giving another child the same kind of laptop, helping them learn in ways not previously possible for them.

If you do it OLPC’s way, you pay £50 ($110) for shipping to Canada in late Dec. to January 2009. That is HIGHWAY ROBBERY.

I’ll import machines for Canadians if they are willing to pay the SWEEP recycle fee ($5) for laptops, and $30 handling for my trouble, and of course the Give 1 Get 1 cost plus USA Amazon.com/xo shipping. I can get them picked up in Montana in batches of 4 or more. They would then be available for pick up in Regina, Moose Jaw, or south of Moose Jaw if you don’t want the small laptop box re-mailed.

So when I have 4 orders, I’ll work out payment with each person, and get things rolling. People can probably pay directly for the laptop, ship to my USA address, and my family will pick up the laptop and import them to Canada. There is no duty on laptops you only pay GST/PST/SWEEP at the border.

You can leave a message below if interested (and I’ll email you back), or better yet email me. My email is on my blog near the top of the main page.

(I bought an XO, and gave an XO to a child last Christmas. It’s a nifty, eye catching, ultra portable, low power use, computer. It’s not sized well for adults, but is great for a geek.)

BlogTO explains that Twitter is going to die in Canada. At least it will for some bloggers, now that Twitter is being charged an arm and a leg for delivering messages to its webpages from mobile devices. Outbound SMS (Simple Messaging Service) is not going to be available to Canadians using Twitter. Sucky; But when again have Bell, Rogers, and Telus not fit that bill?

Regina readers may be interested in a (almost) free party coming up on December 6th, 2008:

You’re invited to celebrate the birth of Saskatchewan’s first car share co-operative, Regina Car Share. It will happen Dec. 6th at 2520-11th Ave from noon to 3 p.m. The public is invited to meet the co-op’s directors, have a coffee and learn about the group’s activities. A dance party will follow in the evening beginning at 8pm, DJed by local radio personalities Jeannie Straub and Beth Curry, hosts of CJTR’s Your Other Lover and Bed Head. Cash bar opens at 8pm; food will be provided free of charge.

Car sharing allows individuals or businesses convenient access to vehicles without privately owning them. Members reserve the car online, use it, and return it for other members to do the same. Cheaper than privately owning a car, members will save money, lower their carbon dioxide emissions and help to reduce the number of cars on the road. The group recently incorporated as a non-profit co-op and will begin operating vehicles in 2009.

For more information about Regina Car Share, contact Michael Bell, Project Coordinator, at 306.550.7223, or email info@-AT-AT-AT-reginacarshare.ca.