Abandoned Stuff by Saskboy

Robert has the details.

I am a little concerned that given the former nominee blogger’s excuse for the comments, that ever quoting something distasteful, even in mockery is always going to be twisted by people who have something against you. Then again, I’ve not in memory ever considered mocking anti-semites who accuse Jews of controlling the world economy in some giant conspiracy. Although I have possibly mocked other slurs for being ridiculous, and really would be disappointed if my party dumped me due to an assault of Small Dead Animals (who are far from innocent in saying outrageous things, but for them they are often serious).

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There’ve been a disturbing number of bloggers commenting that May shouldn’t be in the debates because of [insert incorrect reason here]. Not surprisingly, a lot of them frequent Small Dead Animals, and aside from drinking Conservative kool-aid, they try to share the poison with as many bloggers as possible. When you encounter them, I hope you’ll point them to a place where they can pick up an education.

The CBC story here incorrectly lists the reason for why the Greens were excluded from past debates. I emailed and told them so. There are no set rules by the broadcast cartel, they just make rules up as they go! And that’s one of the many reasons why we won’t get electoral reform until the Green Party forms government.

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Buckdog has a fabulous video clip of Jon Stewart tearing Republican professional blowhards a new blow hole. They say one thing in the first clip, then do the other in the next. Video is really hard to lie in, unless you’re a Republican blowhard, and then it’s second nature. The Stewart show doesn’t even have to write the comedy it provides, they just need to have a memory and video archive to find the “laughs”. It’d be funnier if those twerps weren’t the ones in charge of America’s nuclear arsenal and military right now.

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Obama for PM.

What is a party to do when the ill informed, and decided, are the majority? Attack ads might work, if the people aren’t decided for any reason that isn’t attacked sufficiently.

Both the Liberals and Conservatives have had scandals plague their candidates for the federal riding of Palliser near Moose Jaw. The latest person out of the federal pool is Dave Batters, who is suffering from depression and addiction. I’ve heard more details of his troubles in rumours (and they would certainly cast more doubt on the moral fiber of Conservatives {not that depression is from poor moral fiber, but Conservatives say addiction is}), but will not mention them since I’ve not verified their accuracy. Suffice to say he has enough on his plate to deal with in order to get better, than to have me nattering about his poor life management on the net.

Given the Conservative’s 10%er propaganda they mailed out a few weeks ago, it’s unlikely Batters would be allowed to remain in the party or “on the streets”, let alone out of jail if he has an addiction problem. Here’s what the Conservatives think of drug addicts:

Canadians work hard and play by the rules. But where in the rules does it allow junkies and addicts to threaten or steal from innocent families? [...] Thugs, drug pushers, and others involved in the drug trade are writing their own rules.

“Before being elected, Dave spent five years working in the health care field as a pharmaceutical representative for Pfizer Canada Inc.”
Wow, and he was a “drug pusher” (of a sort) before being an MP.
OK, I better stop looking at his website now before I find more Conservative hypocrisy.

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Palliser also lost its Liberal to scandal. Now a former police chief is taking on the nomination for the Liberals.
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Hat tip to Libertyville

Fortunately the Green Party candidate Larissa Shasko is someone I’ve met and would trust with being a Member of Parliament.

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The media cartel of CBC, CTV, Global, and TVA are putting up such a stink along with Harper’s Conservatives about including Elizabeth May in the televised leaders debate for the coming election, that it appears hopeless to include other parties that deserve to be seen on national TV debating their platforms.

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Dion appears to realize that the Green Shift needs to be made more attractive to energy intensive economies in order to win over more people to the intelligent plan.

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And here’s someone else taking on the monumental task of tracking the Conservatives’ lies, and broken promises. I have a list compiled too, ready to go for the election campaign. It was built by a few Liberals and I working on a blog that has been waiting in the wings a long time (due mostly to Liberal election avoidance).

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And on a completely different topic, I got a hair cut at a hair dresser for the first time (in memory) last night.

Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) is going to be a buzz word in the coming election campaign in Canada. You encounter it on DVDs, copy-protected CDs, Blu-Ray discs, and on countless software programs like Windows XP and Vista. Consumers are annoyed by it at every turn, causing countless thousands to swear off ever buying a CD (or purchasing a downloadable non-MP3 song file) ever again in their life.

Slashdot points to a discussion of the many problems that DRM has caused, and why it’s failing. And knowing that digitally locking consumer media is a failing business model, it makes it even more incomprehensible that Jim Prentice and the Conservative Party is seeking to enshrine digital locks in copyright law as the all-powerful LOOP HOLE that businesses can use to sue people for doing things that are legal today in Canada.

One of the best examples of just how absurd the Conservative bill is, is the case of Microsoft DRM known as Plays-For-Sure. The music bought with “Plays-For-Sure” DRM attached to it, will not play on the Microsoft Zune (their most modern MP3 player). Plays, for sure? For real? No, DRM is defective by design, so you pay for LEGALLY PURCHASED music again when Microsoft decides your old music collection is no longer making them money.

Do you want this kind of digital lock to be encouraged and protected by a new copyright act? Who does?

Jesse explains how Bill C-61 is an attack on Canadian culture, not an effort to protect creativity in the arts. The very act of uploading a mixed video to YouTube is part of Canadian culture now. Bill C-61 would all but shut YouTube down in Canada, as users fear $20,000 lawsuits for innocent actions like fair use of media (a use enjoyed by large media corporations to make money, while small time content creators do it for the love of culture).

Just sit back and watch the other parties have a conniption fit over the Greens breaking into the political scene in an undeniably significant way this week. For the NDP in the blogosphere, Wilson joining the Greens from being an Independent MP and former Liberal, is a sign that Elizabeth May is too Liberal or maybe unethical, or a Progressive Conservative.

For libertarians, May is either too conniving or controlled, or too out of control. Others think she is just loopy or Liberal in Green clothing. And some even think that by doing something that hasn’t been done by a party since the 1993 election (accepting independent MPs into a new party to gain seats in the House {the Bloc did this}) that she’s conducting politics as usual instead of playing the crooked system to make the game fair.

The Conservatives are so confused, they aren’t sure what party she’s in. They must lose count after trying to remember if they are PC, Reform, CRAP, CA, or Conservative this year. The media, like CTV, loses track too, so maybe it is complicated.

When a funny talkin’ Green blogger from Ontario makes more sense than a half dozen of the top political bloggers combined, it’s an interesting week indeed.

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Speaking of it being easy being green, I rescued an old TV for someone on Saturday and hooked it up for them in their nursing home. I recycled my neighbours’ cardboard, and took a big box of their unwanted, kids hockey equipment to a second hand sports store. Then I picked my supper from my garden, and cooked it up with local farm raised hamburger. I also rescued a table and chair from an uncertain future, and they are being picked up tomorrow to head to a new home. I lost points for using my car for the chores, and muttering at myself for not filling up when gas was $1.319 instead of $1.389 (up for the long weekend). It was a fun “recycle day” in any case.

Red Tory has the latest Conservative election ad (before an election call just like politics in the States). Heck, non-Conservative Canadians have been paying for and seeing Conservative election advertising right since the last election, so why not see some more?

Harper’s a straight up guy, who’s ready to stand you up too. What kind of straight up guy approves the In-and-Out advertising scam, and propaganda 10%er mail outs? The same one who smiles like an android for the cameras, and needs an oily spokesblob to explain that the Liberal leader is not a leader, but he’s somehow going to lead us down a different taxation path anyway. Probably one where income taxes will go down considerably, as opposed to the Conservative’s income tax hike when they came to power.

ADDED: What kind of straight up leader wouldn’t have his political opposition sent to jail in another country, and sued for speaking against his criminal activity?

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Also, an interesting thought. What if the CHP also came to the televised debates? Wouldn’t it be nice to have another voice ‘against’ Harper?

Can you see the double rainbow in this one?

In this photo you can see my sunflowers, beats, dill, spinach (going to seed sadly), zucchini, and radishes with plenty of seed pods to pick for my crop next year.

This afternoon I took part in a Skype phone conference that was recorded, and is being processed into a downloadable MP3 file (podcast) for your enjoyment (and possibly education). The topic was Bill C-61, the so called Canadian DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act), which is much reviled in the blogosphere, on Facebook, and possibly across Canada in the “offline” world as well. The bloggers who took part in the conversation are listed here:

Dr. Sam Trosow

Scott Tribe

Mike Park

Saskboy (Me!)

Devin Johnston

UPDATE WITH LINK:Devin will have the podcast posted later on Saturday, so check it out there! I’ll have the link later, but I’m going outside on this beautiful day (and I have a lot of excitement to burn off due to the Green Party MP announcement).