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Author Topic: News from the North  (Read 64167 times)

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Mongrel

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Re: News from the North
« Reply #460 on: June 24, 2010, 10:39:51 AM »

Police arrest Rambo/Ash-wannabe near the G20 security zone.

Haha, a homemade CROSSBOW? Oh man. Wow. We narrowly missed some prime entertainment, folks.
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McDohl

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Re: News from the North
« Reply #461 on: June 24, 2010, 11:05:02 AM »

Quote
a crossbow, five arrows, a sledgehammer, a pick-axe, a chainsaw, a baseball bat, a gasoline canister and a cola bottle.
Guys, guys, guys.  He was just heading to Valve to help them playtest the new TF2 LARP game.
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Mongrel

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Re: News from the North
« Reply #462 on: July 01, 2010, 10:36:11 AM »



EDIT: Hey, you know the guy from the link above, with the carload of weapons? Turns out he really WAS going to a LARP.
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McDohl

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Re: News from the North
« Reply #463 on: July 01, 2010, 11:01:57 AM »

I AWARD MYSELF FULL POINTS!
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Joxam

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Re: News from the North
« Reply #464 on: July 01, 2010, 11:44:55 AM »

Wait, is he still in trouble? That's kind of crap.... D:
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Mongrel

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Re: News from the North
« Reply #465 on: July 29, 2010, 07:28:57 PM »

You know... sometimes when you hear about a racial profiling case, you can see how someone might make a mistake or that it really might just be a misunderstanding. But four times in one week?

I mean, I like the one cop who was like "Yeah. We stopped him 'cause he's black. Yep."



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SCD

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Re: News from the North
« Reply #466 on: August 02, 2010, 05:11:04 PM »

To Iggy's Credit, talking and making promises on nuclear energy is the first issue that he's been willing to talk about that has received my ears.

But he is not being completely honest.  Canada's nuclear energy infrastructure is waning in the same way Canada's Navy is waning:  These things are planned for a decade in advance. 

I am a big proponent of 4th Gen nuclear stations, but that's only because most of the EX1 and 2's I've talked to in the environmental sector in the civil service are the same.  The best suggestion I've heard is to throw one into fort McMurray, and use the waste heat to separate the oil from the tar sands, which sure beats using combustion. 

I want this to be an issue in the next election bad, but I digress.
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Mongrel

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Re: News from the North
« Reply #467 on: August 05, 2010, 04:52:10 PM »

This is a small-time, almost insignificant article about a mortgage fraud in Calgary. Why post it?

Because, man, I am laughing my ass off at the name of the false holding company.
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Büge

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Re: News from the North
« Reply #468 on: August 05, 2010, 05:55:25 PM »

 :asplanned: ...
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SCD

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Re: News from the North
« Reply #469 on: August 17, 2010, 02:59:47 PM »

Ontario Politics

So I'm pissed off at the McGuinty Government, and not just because I'm a frothing pro-war Libertarian Conservative who wants to high five harper every five minutes, but more because I'm an ethnocentric left-coaster.

Here's the breakdown:  There are a bunch of clowns posing as an advocacy group setting environmental policy.  Their results so far this summer have been a eco-fee system that Canadian Tire decided after two days not to follow (contrary to law) because the system had no standards, in that one brand of product had a higher fee than another brand that had the same product, but for a different application. 

Now they've decided to go subsidize lower-income home renovation and wind-power generation by jacking up electricity bills.  This annoys me to no end, because I cannot trust those clowns to pull it off in a competent fashion as it is still inaccessible to those who could benefit the most, and it certainly would not have nearly as strong as an effect as subsidizing fiberglass insulation and double-pane windows for old homes and apartments as this program with its fee would also require some green people to run it.  And let me tell you, every advocacy position my incomplete GIS education so far has opened my up to so far is in the six figure range for being a friendly face to bullshit.  If anyone would like to call me on that, I have pdf's of the positions I've found so far handy. 

Sigh.

Meanwhile despite all this environmental protection and carbon conservation rhetoric that has not produced any tangable results (PS:  BC is now the only province whose carbon output from vehicles fell 0.1%!  The rest rose), I go to the beach at the base of a cliff near 24-sussex drive about a click north, and what do I see?  pop cans, oil cans and milk bottles.  What the fuck Ontario!  That's the upper-crust part of Ottawa!  The Governor General and the PM live there and you can't even keep those beaches clean..  Didn't you know that we (BC) already solved this problem? 

Two years ago, if I walked through the beaches in Victoria, I might have found a couple temporary homeless shelters, or someone asking for change but in no way would I have to navigate through a beach that was layers upon layers of sedimentary pop cans!  And right near the PM's home at that! 

Do you know what solved this issue?  Privatization!  That's right.  Throw a deposit like on beer cans on anything that can be recycled and let the private sector do the rest (after helping the startups with some temporary grants for five years).  The deposit will create the clientelle seeking compensation for fundraisers or their next dose of heroin, and the profit comes from selling this stuff in mass to the next area of the supply chain!  You've heard of polar fleece, right? 

Yes, you might have bums rummaging through your recycling, but deal with it.  They'll also rummage everywhere else, ensuring that the bottles don't hit the landfill or beaches.  Studies at UBC have found people who salvage as a career do exist, and that they add value to a society.  They were also able to put a dollar value beside it, but I forget how much at this moment. 

Yes Ontario, I know that you're afraid of corporations, or at least that's what I get the feeling of considering how much the manufacturing and housing sectors have shriveled in the year and two months I have been here.  But for the love of Bob This creates jobs and while the PR might cost tax dollars at the start, or the grants to recycling start-ups it will pay for itself in the long run in terms of space saved in the landfills and the tax reaped from those working in the companies at the receiving, admin and processing sides!  There are also political benefits.

People may see nothing but bad press by the socialists and the New Dems for Campbell and Alberta's Premier, but without them successful companies like these would not exist and I would be wading in pop cans on those beaches as well...

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Mongrel

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Re: News from the North
« Reply #470 on: August 17, 2010, 04:35:36 PM »

wants to high five harper every five minutes

Now that's just embarrassing.

Harper's no conservative, he's too stupid. It's like asking algae if it's left or right wing.

For the love of god, give me Zombie Robert Stanfield. For a real conservative, give me Preston Manning, I mean, I'll happily disagree with half of his politics, but he's twice as smart as any leader (other than Duceppe. Shit son, I'd vote for Gilles in a heartbeat).

Fuck, at this point I would take BRIAN FUCKING MULRONEY over Harper. Anything to save us from the worst mismanagement since, well, Mulroney. And possibly since Diefenbaker.
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SCD

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Re: News from the North
« Reply #471 on: August 17, 2010, 04:54:08 PM »

Pay little attention to that.

I'm trying to state that I'm an evil conservative-lover, and yet my ideas I stole from the only province that has free trade with all its neighbors (Until now, Ab has free trade with Sk), the only effective carbon tax, and the only competent environmental programme all made from a conservative government that happens to have the Liberal name can do better than your eco-twats and tree-hugging whale petting politicians your Toronto Constituents have elected in Queens Park.  I can't wait until I get my piece of paper and move back out west so I can tell all my friends what a stupid and scary place Ontario is.  I'll save Quebec for the campfires.

And for the record, your wind farm on wolfe island is a failure.  Give up on wind already.  All the progressives in Europe have already moved on to deep-ocean wind.
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Mongrel

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Re: News from the North
« Reply #472 on: August 17, 2010, 05:08:39 PM »

Oh don't get me wrong. McGuinty's a flailing retard too. Not that his competition looks any better. Tim Hudak makes Mike Harris look like an intellectual giant.

But what can I say? It's the Ontario disease, centered on Toronto. Look at the Mayoralty race for christ's sake. We've got a white-trash piece-a-shit would-be demagogue who can't do basic math (Rob), two utterly insufferable pretentious liberals, one known mostly for raging at everything and picking pointless fights (Furious George), the other for being a party greasemonkey (Rocco), and a bunch of nobodies who won't gather enough votes between them to pay back even one of their deposits*. The only truly qualified man pulled a Joe Clarke and recused himself from the campaign, even though most of the city was practically begging him to run (John).

As for liberals doing 'conservative' work, well, no one will ever beat Paul Martin in my books. That man spent a solid decade as the greatest economic steward this country's had since Louis St. Laurent. Don't let anyone ever tell you different.

As for Gordo Campbell, well, he may have some successes, but right now he's getting his clock cleaned by Vander-fucking-Zalm of all people. Time will tell, I guess?

* At this point my vote is with Sarah Thomson, who at least bothered to articulate a platform that makes sense on some level and has math to back it up.
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Mongrel

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Re: News from the North
« Reply #473 on: August 17, 2010, 05:15:19 PM »

By the way, you see this?: Scathing indictment of the government's treatment of vets from Pat Stogran

Granted, he's mostly mad at the bureaucrats, but in the end the buck stops at the minister - and they did have discussions several times. Also Harper was questioned on the matter briefly and really seems to blow off Stogran without so much as a pause.
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SCD

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Re: News from the North
« Reply #474 on: August 17, 2010, 06:38:46 PM »

Sorry Matt, but my gut tells me not to speak my mind on VA publicly and the Ombudsman, as I'm in the forces and the gripes go to him, and he has done a good job of making them public.  Remember that Harper plays chess while his enemies play checkers.  The reason why Strogan's not coming back may be for similar reasons why Brown (RCMP complaints commissioner) is not either. 

On BC politics, it's just weird.  I'm anti-HST and so is mr plaid-suit Vander zalm.  But we both like him more than the NDP or (hah!) the greens.  For all his hatred, he has done some legacy shit.  I'm going to list his legacy:

Olympics:
Olympic housing is modular and now is being used to house homeless in multiple cities
command and control centers now police headquarters that replace defunct centres
Arenas, rinks
Canadian Pride, something we haven't been this outgoing about since the Molson "I am Canadian" guy's rant
Sea to Sky Highway no longer has to kill 6 people a year.
The overall profile of Vancouver

Infrastructure:
Prince Rupert is now a megaport.  Check google earth if you don't believe me (you may not know where it is, but the Chinese do)
Site C damn, which allows us to continue exporting energy
Strengthening Vancouver into "Hollywood North" (just ask Space MacGyver)

Bureaucracy/Policy:
Cut tape so that companies such as Encorp could finally prosper
simplified recycling, deposit, and fee regimes
lowered both Provincial income tax and income tax
implemented only successful carbon tax, without much fanfare and the label of "experiment" in the case it flops.

Revitalized and gave new meaning to the Lt-Governor Position by appointing it to Steven Point, a former supreme court justice, native band chief and all-around good guy.  Open houses and cultural outreach all-around by adopting BC and the white people into his culture of the Coast Sailish.  Only Lt Governor since the 1800's to wear the silly uniform, hat and sword.  Loves the troops.  Previously given to NDP flunkies and union heads.


-1:  Created the HST
-1:  Tuition has skyrocketed (albeit after a decade of forced tuition freezes)
-1:  Infrastructure and jobs in interior has faltered (w/ exception of Kelowna)
-1:  DUI conviction in Hawaii (it's like a tradition for our premiers to go to court on charges while in office)
-1:  Cut civil service every time some fat is seen

There's quite a few more -1's.  I just can't remember them but overall, he is the only politician that I respect and hope retires soon at the same time.
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Mongrel

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Re: News from the North
« Reply #475 on: August 17, 2010, 07:35:40 PM »

I really don't get the beef with the HST. I mean, the tax rate doesn't change, it's just that some exemptions have been removed. Really, I would have thought that libertarian-leaning cons would prefer flat taxes, over complex ones with a web of exemptions. I mean, were you looking to buy a house worth more than $525K or something?

Sure I don't buy for a second the "And businesses will pas the savings on to consumers!" bullshit, but I prefer consumption taxes to income taxes by far.

Also, you forgot a key -1: "BC Rail, LOLOLOLOL".
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Büge

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Re: News from the North
« Reply #476 on: August 17, 2010, 07:42:03 PM »

I feel bad that I don't have the attention span for politics anymore. You guys sound like you're discussing stuff I should have a vested interest in.
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SCD

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Re: News from the North
« Reply #477 on: August 17, 2010, 08:03:53 PM »

Matt:  Concurred on the HST except that I wish that in the coming years the savings in this province would go towards income taxes.  It still slowed down real-estate, but more due to poor communication than anything... 

Buge:  I can't blame you.  I don't have the vested interest to listen in on Ontario, Ottawa, or Toronto politics either as it's really too murky and complicated, where the issues in comparison out west seem more easy to deal with.  It might be a sign, but it really delivers credit to Matt for being able to keep in as much detail as he has, without getting distracted by every mention of war.

On the flipside, I feel bad that I have a hard time talking about normal things that most people can talk about.  You have me there.
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Mongrel

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Re: News from the North
« Reply #478 on: August 18, 2010, 02:51:48 AM »

I don't know why I follow this stuff. It's such terrible masochism to read these articles when you see how blitheringly stupid our rulers are, but also know that this was a country that once produced an exceptional stable of sensible intelligent leaders in many provinces. Really it isn't just Ontario all the time... look at Alberta, they went from Peter Lougheed to Ralph Klein and now Ed Stelmach. It's not as bad as Ontario, but what a joke.
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SCD

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Re: News from the North
« Reply #479 on: August 23, 2010, 09:34:42 AM »

After a good week of asking myself why do I care, I think I'm starting to get a good idea of why in the form of where.  In about three years I'm going to be in a position where I'm going to be able to root, and I want to figure out which joint gives myself and my potential children the best possibility of success in our lives.  By understanding developments as much as possible in my free time both North and South of the border, I eventually will be able to figure out where to spread roots. 

Also the idea of better understanding urban systems is pretty nifty.  You look at cities such as Calgary and Vancouver, which are pretty-gay and racially friendly but conservative to boot (in the former, centrist in the later) and compare them to cities such as Toronto or Ontario which are overall pro-liberal except in certain areas such as some portions of suburbs which contain middle to upper-middle class technicians and administrators and are more conservative (mine has the highest "registered" handgun per capita postal code in Canada, and the least crime of all districts) and what you see is this fascinating web of interaction and efficiency. 

Understanding how this web works is something I wish to get down before I decide to move to my next big adventure come 2013 in a fashion that can account to political beliefs, which immigrant cultures are more easily accepted than others and other factors compared to the overall efficiency of running a city.  This is why I care.

PS:  Has anyone read the new Toronto Transit Report(PDF) on Customer Service?
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