TEE HEE HEE

I saw this on Audacious Ontology's website and it made me laugh quite hysterically.

Pennies are Brownish, not Red

Well, I guess it's about time for me to get yelled at by bloggers about Palestine. I haven't made any comments in the past, not because I don't care, just because I was too busy making fun of The Harp. The Cons today have released a statement regarding Hamas and Palestine, proof read by The Harp, and P-Makkie won the task of dishing it out to the people.

Now, with just about everyone in politics, The Cons have gone too far on this situation. It's not as if they are the only ones to do it, but since they are in power now, I get to comment on them. Now, I do not condone terrorism in any way if it is either a guy strapping a bomb to his chest and blowing up half a city block, or burning crosses in front of a persons house, or bombing the crap out of a city to try to get one person who committed terrorism, but they could have used more tact when they were dealing with this situation. Instead of The Cons just flat out turning their back on Palestine, what they should do is open up the diplomatic channels and find any sort of way to hammer out an agreement. If you just turn your backs on them, they will just become more resentful and steadfast in their opinion. We should be sending our best diplomats on a plane to Palestine to talk to the leaders of Hamas to try to convince them to change their ways through sound open communication rather than sticking their fingers in their ears and screaming LALALALALALALALALA until they are drowned out entirely. We need to step up and help the Middle East by trying to broker a deal with Hamas and I would even volunteer to go down there myself, if I was in the political circle that would be able to get me there.

UUUGGHH!!! Work Bad!!!!

Started my first day of work at The Sony Store today, and I realized how much I hate working. I miss being on EI, with the nothing to do and all. It was almost first time having sex awkward for the first half of the day. Don't know what to touch, what not to touch, where to put things...just kinda freaky. But me kinda tired now, it's been a while since I have been up for more than 12 hours and I am gonna curl up into bed and sleep.

More of the Greatest Platform Ever

Well, time to add a few more issues for the greatest platform ever. I missed a few of them while I wrote the last bit and now it is time to put those ones back in.

National Unity- This one is such a no-brainer that I am still shocked as to why nobody ever thought of it. I would go to each province and ask them what exactly their problem is. Instead of constantly throwing money at the problem, why don't we just attempt to solve the problem in the first place. I would hold town halls in every province and territory to find out what their major issues were and try to solve them. The only way to solve a problem is to find out what it is and address it and that is what I plan on doing.

Child Care- Bring back the Liberal National Child Care Program. It is the best program out there as it actually provides child care. The Con's policy is just a hand out that can be spent on anything. If you don't need child care, then you just get a free $100 a month. The National Child Care Program that the Liberals put out was designed for the families out there that need child care, and not a simple cash handout that the Cons wanted. Canadians want the Liberal Child Care program and I will make sure that they get it.

Same Sex Marriage- Although it is a protected right I am going to make sure that it stays as a protected right. I don't want anyone to ever remove the rights of people because of religious beliefs and I will make sure it is protected by the constitution and not allow anyone to use the notwithstanding clause or any other means to remove those rights. The anti-gay movement has the right to be against it, but they do not have the right to infringe on the fundamental human rights of others because of their homophobia.

Crime- My stance on crime is a mixture between Liberal and Conservative thinking. I want to put extra money into hiring law enforcement officers across the country so they will be able to help prevent crime. I also want to help try to rehabilitate criminals during their first or second offence. There are people who just make one bad decision and we need to make sure that they are not lumped in with the dangerous offenders who have no chance of being rehabilitated. I will have psychological assessments done for those offenders to find out if they are in deed able to be rehabilitated. For the most dangerous offenders and the one's that cannot be rehabilitated, then tougher sentences need to be in place to make sure that they do not harm any other people.

Marijuana Laws- I would legalize it. Not because I am a pothead, but because of the fiscal benefits that would come from taxing the hell out of it. It would also reduce the workload from police as they would no longer have to spend their time dealing with a couple of harmless pot smoking people and would be able to deal with real crime. As I said earlier, I would tax the hell out of marijuana as well to obtain the large sums of money we need to help run the nation. The more weed we sell, the more social programs we can fund. Can't see anything wrong with that. Now I know some of you are thinking that smoking pot is a gateway drug, but it is not. The only thing it is a gateway to is a gateway to munchies. I know a lot of people who smoke pot and they are doing just fine in society. Yes some of them have experimented with stronger, more dangerous drugs, but it wasn't from smoking pot, it was because of their addictive personalities. If they drank, then they would become alcoholics, if they gambled, they would be penniless. It is not the drug that causes the problems, it is their psyche that creates the problem. The money that we collect would also allow for funding added counseling for gambling and substance abuse to help anyone who truly has a problem.

Now there will still be others and I will most likely expand on each topic in its own post but for now this is it. For any other posts or changes, I will put them in a different colour to differentiate between them.

The Platform To End All Platforms

Sorry about the delay in this, I got rather busy over the last couple of days, job interviews out of the blue and the 45 metric tonnes of snow that fell on Saturday made my weekend quite insane. Now, it is time for the post that you are all waiting for, the greatest election platform of all time. None of these are certainties, as I don't have budget tables available to me so I don't know what I can afford but we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

Health Care- Federalize it. The provinces have done such a piss poor job managing the system that we need to rebuild and restructure the system. With a federalized system, we can stream-line our resources to free up funds to expand the services that we need. Federalizing health care will reduce wait times by allowing patients to go to another province to get their medical work done. Also, we should increase funding to health care to rebuild the closed hospitals and re-staff all our hospitals to cope with our health needs.

Education- Federalize it as well. We need to make sure that every child in Canada has the same level of education. We also need to allow our children the same opportunities that we had in school by allowing them to participate in extra-curricular activities and have teachers available for the students if they need them. I also want to subsidize post-secondary education to allow everyone the chance to get a better education.

Accountability- Change the Ethics Commission so it holds 1 member of each party. This will bring balance to the system and allow for fairer scrutiny to our political system. I would also expand the Auditor General's role in Parliament and have them make sure the money that we spend, will be going where it needs. We don't need to have our departments blowing their money just so they use up the money in their budget. Budgets will be flexible to allow for extra funds if needed in certain areas and to save money if we don't.

Foreign Affairs- This one is a long one, but I believe that Canada should play a larger role in foreign affairs. First off, we should look into debt forgiveness for third world nations to allow them to start getting a level footing in global affairs. They are burdened with too much debt and as one of the richest nations on the earth, we need to help make sure that they have a chance to make something of themselves. We should also send extra aid to those third world nations to stabilize their resources. We need to send engineering teams to their countries to help irrigate their land so they can produce their own food and become self-sufficient. Food is their biggest priority and will allow prosperity in the region if we help them feed all of their people. If this issue is solved for the people of third world nations, then they can focus their efforts, with our help, in more advanced areas of life like technology and business. Canada is also a nation of peace and we should help bring that to the world’s stage. Canada should play a leading role in creating a lasting peace between many nations which have a long history of hatred between them. A stabilized world will allow for greater prosperity and if it is done peacefully, it will be a longer lasting stability and will not have as much of a detrimental effect on the people of those nations.

Social Security- We have been able to obtain large surpluses over the last several years and my theory on how to fix social security is to invest our surpluses to allow a larger winfall. This, I know, is a radical idea but I believe this may be the best chance to obtain the funds that we need to help make sure that there are funds available for social security in the future. Feasibility options would have to be done to make sure that this is possible and we would have to make the investments secret so we don't disrupt the natural flow of the stock markets but it may just be the best bet to save social security before it's too late.

Native Affairs- We have done a lot of damage to the native communities over the last 500 years and we need to start making amends to them. Land claims are just one example of how we can help them as this will give them the land that was taken from them so many years ago. I want to increase the land that the native groups have so they can live their lives as they see fit. I would also allow self-government for the native peoples in a broader role and look into the feasibility of giving them the same rights as a territory of Canada and have an elected group of representatives to address the needs of their peoples. We would also re-draw the electoral districts so there is more representation of the native people in federal politics.

Amateur Sports- I want to increase federal funding to amateur sports athletes and training. Canada should play a lead role in the Olympics as well and our athletes need to be able to train for their events without taking a second or third job just to pay the bills. Canada will help pay for the training facilities and pay the athletes to be able to live while they train. If the athletes want luxuries, then they will have to take a part time job, but we will pay for all their essentials so they will have a lot less to worry about.

Gun Control- The Liberal plan during the last election was good but needs to be increased. There should be a ban on all handguns for everyone except law enforcement and professional shooters. Professional shooters will have to have their guns locked in a safe at the shooting range and will have to be escorted to and from events by police officers to ensure nothing happens to them. There will be no option to use the notwithstanding clause for this as this will be a national law and there will be no exceptions. Handguns are used for only 2 things, competitive shooting and killing other people. We have to find a way to make sure that we keep handguns out of the hands of criminals and this is one major step to do so. We will also increase border security to make sure guns do not come into Canada from the US and also invest in better detection methods to stop guns and dangerous goods from entering the country.

Taxes- Increase the minimum amount that people have to earn before they are taxed. The poorer people of Canada need to be able to pay for their food and their essentials and we need to be able to help them. We will also increase taxes on the richest bracket of people as well to be able to compensate for the lost income and gain additional funds. They are rich people and can afford the extra income that the government will take to help the less fortunate. We will also increase taxes on large businesses to help pay for our initiatives. I also plan to make churches pay taxes as well. This one is controversial but there is no reason why they do not have to pay taxes. They collect large sums of money and that money should be given to the greater good rather than a select few.

Electoral Processes- Keep them as they were last year. They have done a good job for the last 139 years and we should keep them as they are. No fixed terms, no elected senate, no elected judges, no proportional representation. Our country works just fine as it is, and we don't need to change it.

Military- Increase funding so we can equip our troops with the most up to date equipment. We also need to help pay for extra soldiers to help increase our role as peacekeepers in the world. These funds will be used only for peace and not for war with other nations. We are a nation of peace and we need to maintain that role. I would also reduce our role in Afghanistan after our term is up. We will still be there, but only in a supplementary role and we will also help train the Afghani military and police so they can become more self-sufficient.

I will add more as the topics come up but this is a very good start. These are all preliminary ideas and some may be scratched due to economic feasibility. My main goal is to do all this while still being under budget and things will be adjusted to be able to keep that going. Also, these points are just a rough draft and if they were to become an official policy, would be cleaned up to make it a lot more professional and would be re-written to make sure that nobody would be able to find a loophole and exploit it.

Let the Games Begin!!!

It's been a slow news day and I have been quite busy today so sorry for my late post. I am also quite tired now so I am going to keep this brief.

Well, it's official, Paul Martin will be stepping down as leader of the Liberal Party this weekend when he meets with the Liberal execs and the official terms of the leadership race will be discussed. Now I have never been a huge fan of Paul being Prime Minister but I do wish him all the best in his future endeavors. Over the course of the next week, we will most likely see several Liberal MP's throwing in their names as candidates and it will be interesting to see who decides to run the gambit. I would be one of them, however I do not have the money to do so. This still will not stop me from listing my vision of how I think Canada should be governed and tomorrow I will be posting my vision on my blog for all to see. I hope that my postings will get me some backing and I hope it is in the form of monetary payments but I will settle for candidates using my platform as theirs, as long as I get the kudos for it.

Stay tuned tomorrow for my platform as I am very tired now and I don't want to do it tonight.

Z Big 5-0

This is my 50th post on my blog and I decided to mark this occasion by explaining all the little extra's that are on my little ole site.

The first one is my biggest feature which is the CBC Headline roll. This roll gives my readers the current news events as posted by the CBC on their site. I love this thing. This headline roll is worth all the money we spend on the CBC, and we should put more money into keeping Peter Mansbridge looking so damn good.

The next one is right above it. The AltaVista Babel Fish. This little gem allows anyone to change the language of my site to suit their needs. The only thing you have to do is click on the flag and the page will be automatically translated to the requested language.

Now, below the Headline roll is the FeedBlitz e-mail subscriber. This link allows you to subscribe to my site and receive daily e-mails showing my posts. It really helps the lazy people who don't want to actually click on my site, but still want the articles. It also lets you know if there is a new post so you can visit my site and read my posts and respond.

Below the FeedBlitz is ApolloFind Search Bar. He lets you search out any words you want on my blog and view all relevant data about it. So, if you want to see how much profanity I use, then just type in your favorite swear word and presto, you can see all my vulgarity.

Of course below that is the great, all powerful Liblogs. This is a site that shows lots of Liberal bloggers and their posts. It usually refreshes every 2 hours, and might happen faster when it becomes a non-profit corporation.

At the very bottom of my page is my counter. This is very self explanatory so I am not even going to bother aside from the previous statement.

Below that is my Site Meter. He shows the location of who visits my site. It's great to see how many people from the Government of Canada visit your site so you can be prepared for the worst.

Back to the top, you will see my Google AdSense advertiser. This thing attempts to generate money for me so I like it. I also ask that whenever you come to my site, to click on those links to give me that fraction of a penny that I so desperately need. All the money from AdSense will be going to my electoral campaign so every click counts.

Now the right side of my blog is pretty standard. My profile is at the top, followed by my selection of links and a listing of my previous posts. There are a couple of links I would like to talk about. The first one is my Search By Name link. This link allows you to search my blog for any post that I have done by its title. This took a lot of time and I hope you all appreciate it. Below it is my anime website. It is my personal drawings that I have done. I haven't updated it for a while but if you haven't been there, it will be new to you. Northern Vidiots is mine and Dave's review site. We mainly focus on games but we throw in the occasional movie/music album in there. If you are from the Knife, and you want to help out, let one of us know and we will add you to the list. Dave's blog is next. He is a very good friend of mine who I've known and trusted for years. He will be my first appointed senator when I become Prime Minister. His blog kicks ass and I urge everyone to visit his site. My mp3 review that I gave a while ago is on the bottom. This is my review on the various mp3 players on the market as I have played with them all and I have a very good knowledge of them. If you are considering buying an mp3 player, read this first as it will give you some insight in the mp3 world.

Directly below the previous posts section is Blogshares. Blogshares is a site that puts your blog on a fictitious stock market and you can buy and sell shares. It is rather cool and I ask everyone to vote for my blog so I can get it traded on the exchange.

Below that is my Google Search Bar. This is pretty self explanatory as it is a Google search engine. Below that is more advertising. What can I say, I am a greedy sell-out.

The final thing is the Progressive Bloggers Blog Roll. I am mentioning this last as they still haven't approved me for the site which makes me sad. I hope they will approve me soon so I can get more traffic and hopefully more money.

Pushing That Envelope

Sorry about no post yesterday, I was very busy and I didn't have time to get to my compy. Anyways, I am back and with something that will shock all the Cons that read my blog. I am going to criticize the Liberals. Now I know you are asking yourself, but Milan, you're a Liberal, how can you go against your party? Simple, I have free will and we live in a democratic nation.

Now, I know I am beating this thing like a dead horse but I am still discussing Canada's role in Afghanistan. I got a lot of heat regarding my comments a couple of days ago about my views on the increased role in Afghanistan. I am still in firm belief that we should not be in an offensive military role there. My little rant today is targeted at Bill Graham. Now, I do not have 100% definitive proof that Mr. Graham did give the order to make our troops go on the offensive as it was announced by General Hillier on November 25, 2005, which was 2 days after Parliament was dissolved by the Cons, NDP, and the Bloc, but he was in charge of the department before then and it is quite possible that he did let General Hillier go on the offensive. This is quite retarded and I think Mr. Graham is a giant douche if he did allow this. Canada is a nation of peace and we have no right to take lives, no matter who they are. The sanctity of human life is paramount in Canada and now we are exporting the opposite to fledgling democracies. I know you are thinking that the Taliban is evil and must be destroyed, but running around Afghanistan arbitrarily shooting Afghani's as they might be part of the Taliban is still wrong and will only lead to more attacks but this time it will be inside Canada. For every Afghani Canadian soldiers kill, there will be several more that will be outraged by the attack and join the Taliban. Now, do I have a solution to this problem....no, I do not. I do not have a solution, because I don't think there is one. If we turn the other cheek, they will just slap us again, however if we hit back, then they will just kick us in the junk. The only thing that I can think of is to only attack as a retaliatory measure. Do not hunt them down, just wait for them to come after us. It is very dangerous, but if you place buffer zones between the rebuilding crew and possible terrorists, you can keep casualties to a minimum. This way, we don't kill any innocent Afghani's and we are not seen as an aggressor by the Arab community. By constantly shoving peace in their face, the Afghani people will eventually turn and leave the hatred behind them. For hundreds of years the white man has treated blacks and women as second class citizens, but we have managed to eliminate that for the most part. There are still a few dissenters but they are few and far between. We have to give the Afghani people the same chance to turn their hatred around in a peaceful manner that will keep everyone alive and allow us to live as one race on this planet....Human.

Hey Look, it's Day 1 When Harper Didn't Fuck Anything Up...Nevermind

He came so close to doing it too. I was pulling for him like I was pulling for Dubya to handle a disaster correctly and in a timely manner. Unfortunately, The Harp didn't quite make it through the entire day without fucking it up in some manner. Last night, The Harp made a "surprise" visit to Afghanistan to inspect the troops and re-confirm the support for the troops. Now, where The Harp made his mistake is making his "Dubya style" speech when he addressed the troops.

The Harp's speech was designed to stick it to the opposition that we aren't a nation that cuts and runs at the first sign of trouble, and that we are taking a lead on the world stage. Now, I am all for taking the lead on the world stage, but not by being the lead on terrorist hit lists. There are several ways for Canada to be a leader on the world stage, but doing it by being an aggressive nation is not one of them that Canadians truly want. If The Harp wants to be a world leader, then how about doing some humanitarian relief missions with Canada taking the lead. It would be a lot safer, and we won't have extremists plotting to bomb the fuck out of our country. As I stated in previous posts, I am in strong support of our troops overseas but only in a supplementary role. What I want to know is who gave the order for Canada to take the lead in Afghanistan. There is very little info out there on who specifically gave the command to take over the lead in Afghanistan from the US. If anyone knows who was did that, please post in the comments along with a link showing proof. I do want this to be accurate to help inform the people who actually gave the command.

Now, I stated that we should take a commanding role in the world in a more peaceful manner and now here is my plan. Africa has millions of starving people and thousands of them die every year. What Canada needs to do is give debt relief to African nations and send engineers to Africa to irrigate the lands to make sure African families can feed themselves. If Canada took the lead in helping Africa in this matter, then other nations that want to help out will have a peaceful outlet to make a difference. I would prefer The Harp to be going to Somalia to help feed the children over going to Afghanistan to help bomb the crap out of them. Even if The Harp wants to stay in Afghanistan, then at least be there to help rebuild the nation, not tear it down some more. Canada is a nation of peace and we should make sure we keep that status around the world.

Hey Look at Us, We're Important Too!!!

Well, we all knew it was coming as it always does. The NDP decided to jump up and remind everyone that they do exist, and how did they do that, by jumping on the bandwagon. Unfortunately, it was the bandwagon that came and left 10 months ago.

Pat Martin, the NDP MP from Winnipeg Centre, decided to speak up like the drunk friend at a party and give his opinion on something that he knows nothing about. The wrong PM is asking for Ethics Commissioner Bernard Shapiro to investigate Belinda Stronach's move from the Cons to the Liberals 10 months ago. I guess they were asleep at the switch when this story came down 10 months ago. Calling for the investigation 10 months ago would have been fine, but it is 10 months, and a new government later and they are asking for the investigation. The only thing I have to say about this is SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!! This is the reason I agreed with Jason Cherniak about his views on the NDP, they are a bunch of useless pricks who think they are better than everyone else but have no knowledge about anything. The wrong PM stated the reason he is asking for this is that he has gotten several e-mails about how the NDP have attacked the Cons about Emerson and left the Liberal get off unscathed. I just think he wasn't able to check his e-mails for 10 months until he accidentally hit the caps lock key again and all of a sudden, his password worked again. There is a time and a place to address a concern and that is at the time it happens. If this is the NDP's thinking, then I just can't wait for them to ask Shapiro to investigate Richard John Cartwright for his defection. Now I would have been for an investigation 10 months ago when Stronach crossed the floor, but since that time, there had been an election, and it wasn't even officially considered unethical by the Ethics Commission until months after the crossing.

April Fools!!!

Wow!! Just Wow!! The Cons were harping over the whole fiscal imbalance thing and made it a key issue in the January Election. Now, in a statement today, Jim Flaherty now says that the whole fiscal imbalance thing was just a myth. My god, this guy is really freaking dumb. The fiscal imbalance problem is real but not as bad as it was stated by the Cons during the election and not nearly as good as Jimmy Flay is saying. Then again, he didn't do that great of a job as finance minister in Ontario so we all know finances aren't his strong suit.

The fiscal imbalance that Jimmy Flay was talking about is that every province and territory is doing just fine except for Ontario and PEI. Now, last time I checked, Newfoundland wasn't the booming economy that everyone thinks it is, and 15% HST that is in every Atlantic province isn't usually seen as a sign of economic boom. He also stated that addressing the fiscal imbalance wasn't a priority for the federal government which was quite the contrary statement from the election campaign. I guess the Cons wanted us to stand up because lying down clenched your ass cheeks too much.

Here is the Con's stance on fiscal imbalance from their blue book:
Fiscal Imbalance
In the last eight years, the federal government has amassed enormous surpluses. Meanwhile, many provinces have seen reduced revenues and have had to run deficits in order to pay for education, health, and other social programs. While some sectoral and ad hoc agreements with provinces have temporarily reduced the financial pressure, it is time for a comprehensive agreement.
The plan
A Conservative government will:
• Work with the provinces in order to achieve a long-term agreement which would address the issue of fiscal imbalance in a permanent fashion.
• Ensure that any new shared-cost programs in areas of provincial/territorial responsibility have the consent of the majority of provinces to proceed, and that provinces should be given the right to opt out of the federal program with compensation, so long as the province offers a similar program with similar accountability structures.
• Work to achieve with the provinces permanent changes to the equalization formula which would ensure that non-renewable natural resource revenue is removed from the equalization formula to encourage economic growth. We will ensure that no province is adversely affected from changes to the equalization formula.
(Source: The Conservative Party 2006 Election Platform)

Even Ed is Pissed

With the continuing controversy over The Harp/Shapiro/Emerson dealio, Ed Broadbent has put his 2 cents worth into the fiasco. Now Ed was, and still is, for removing Shapiro from office as the Ethics Commissioner, but due to The Harp's sheer incompetence in handling this, Shapiro's job is all but secure. Now, I am on the fence about Shapiro and I am trying to hear both sides before making my decision in regards to whether or not he should still be the Ethics Commissioner but with The Harp making his trademark "I'm an idiot" responses to the allegations, it just makes Shapiro look more and more like a martyr.

This has gotten worse for The Harp and it didn't have to be. Before Shapiro was just going to investigate the deal with Emerson and most likely would have gotten off due to the technicality of Parliament not being in session. Now, The Harp has committed an ethical conflict of interest because he has refused to co-operate. There is no denying this one, it is against the rules to refuse to take part in an Ethics Commission investigation. With The Harp actively looking for a new Ethics Commissioner, it has made him look even worse as he is trying to replace one person for another person who is more likely to see things by his point of view.

I dusted off the Cons blue book and here is their stance on the Ethics Commission:
The plan
A Conservative government will:
• Give the Ethics Commissioner the power to fine violators.
• Prevent the Prime Minister from overruling the Ethics Commissioner on whether the Prime Minister, a minister, or an official is in violation of the Conflict of Interest Code.
• Enshrine the Conflict of Interest Code into law.
• Close the loopholes that allow ministers to vote on matters connected with their business interests.
• End “venetian blind” trusts that allow ministers to remain informed about their business interests, and require all ministerial assets to be placed in truly blind trusts.
• Allow members of the public – not just politicians – to make complaints to the Ethics Commissioner.
• Make part-time or non-remunerated ministerial advisers subject to the Ethics Code.
(source: The Conservative Party of Canada 2006 election platform)

Now, the second point on this one was the funniest. The Cons will prevent the Prime Minister from overruling the Ethics Commissioner on whether the Prime Minister and a cabinet minister is in violation of the Conflict of Interest Code. Now, what Shapiro should do is fine The Harp, 1 years salary for violating that rule. Unfortunately those mandates aren't in place, and will likely never be in place as it would be dangerous for the Cons political future.

AARRRRGGHHH!!!!!!

Bill Clinton is in town today and I just found out about it. God that pisses me off. I wanted to meet the guy and I have pretty much lost the opportunity. He is speaking tonight at Rexall Place and the tickets are ranging from $75-$200 and it's too late for me to get them. Bill owes me an apology and a coffee at Tim Horton’s because of this and when I become Prime Minister, I will make him pay me for it.

"Harp"ing on Stupidity

The Harp made a couple of stupid remarks today and everyone in the blogosphere has jumped on it. Now, I am all for kicking The Harp when he is down, but there are soooo many other reasons than his slip of the tongue. The Harp said in a statement today:
“March 8 is International Women’s Day—a time to reflect on the vital contributions made by women to the building of this country, and the prosperity and quality of life that have made Canada the envy of the world. And so today represents an excellent opportunity to salute Canadian women.
It is also a chance to reiterate my Government’s determination to provide Canadian women with the security and sense of opportunity to which they aspire, and to reiterate our commitment to working with them to ensure the economic security, timely health care and safe streets that are so vital for raising strong families."
Now, the part that has everyone up in arms is the last part of the second paragraph regarding families. Everyone is saying how The Harp is a chauvinistic pig with those comments but the comments themselves aren’t really sexist. People are just picking out words and creating so much spin that trailer homes are in danger. Now, I am a single male but my thought was that women who are part of a family do in fact care about that family. Since it is woman's rights day, the comment would obviously be directed towards women. Now if The Harp said "Dem's women folks should be chained to a stove and only have a break to birth children" then we can say he is a chauvinistic pig. The Harp has done, and will do, a lot of stupid things for everyone to scream at but this is not one of them.

The next one was in regards to Quebec. The Harp did some more grandstanding in La Bell Province today by visiting Jean Charest at the Legislative assembly. Now, I am probably going to get a lot of flak for this one but what the fuck is he thinking. Quebecers are screaming about equality but they are in fact the province with the most freedoms and perks and now you want to give them more. Now, Quebec does have a different culture than the rest of us, so does BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, Labrador, Nunavut, Northwest Territories, and the Yukon. Also, in each of those provinces/territories there are several separate and distinct cultures. Canada is a multi cultural nation where are differences were celebrated not shunned. Now The Harp wants to give them even more clout by getting them involved in UNESCO. Please, The Harp doesn't give a rats ass about Quebec aside from extra votes. Whenever a Prime Minister tries to deal with Quebec, the only thing they do is throw them more power. Here is a novel idea, ask Quebecers what there beef is with the rest of Canada and try to resolve it. Band-Aids do not work and will only repress the rage until another prominent separatist gets into power and calls another referendum. I invite anyone from Quebec to use my blog to express their concerns/rage/disgust about Canada and let’s try to find a way to resolve it.

I never thought that I would ever defend the douche, but I just did. I feel so dirty that I am going to scrub myself with steel wool and javex for the next hour.

Yeah, How Dumb Can You Be?

How dumb can Iran possibly be? I mean really, when the US is closing in on attacking you, the one thing you don't do is provoke them. In a statement today, Iran suggested that it could cause the US "harm and pain" during discussions at the Atomic Energy Agency. When the nation that you are threatening controls a nation on either side of you and has more soldiers, you don't insult them because that will just get you killed. Why do you think Canada plays nice with the US....well because our too economies are intertwined and we are culturally quite similar, but if we didn't have that, then the surrounding us thing would be the reason. There are times to stand up and there are times to bend over and take it. Guess which one this is? Iran's only hope is the support of Russia and China. The three countries would have a lot to loose if sanctions were placed as they are large trading partners, but the Chinese and the Russians know when to step back to relieve the fears of Armageddon. The US is trying to start world war 3 and the only thing we can do is wait it out for 2 more years until Dubya is out of office.

Terror on War?? 2: Cruise Control

Well, to keep up on the ongoing debate on our Terror on War, The Harp has come out and made a statement regarding the democratic process known as an open debate in parliament in regards to Canada's role in Afghanistan. Of course, he is against any sort of open debate on sending our troops, but he is still in a firm belief in opening up discussions on limiting the rights of the gay community. The second part has nothing to do with the first but I just wanted to remind everyone about it. The Harp reiterated P-Makkie's statement yesterday that talking about Canada's role in Afghanistan will jeopardize their safety, and in true Con fashion, he did not elaborate in any way.

I just have to say it again. CANADIANS AREN'T AGAINST TROOPS BEING IN AFGHANISTAN, THEY ARE AGAINST CANADA BEING IN A COMMAND ROLE AND BEING THE FOCAL POINT OF THE INSERGENT ATTACKS!!!! We had a duty to help the US and we fulfilled it. We have a duty to the world to be in Afghanistan to stabilize the nation and we were doing it. What we don't have a duty to do is lead the war on terrorism. History has accepted the fact that being part of the mob is fine, only leading the mob is wrong.

Now back to The Harp's comments, the first one is so American, you would think that Dick Cheney himself wrote it. This statement was in response to questions by the press about a debate: "I understand the frustrations," he said. "Perhaps the previous government should have had a vote on the deployment, but that was not their decision. The decision was taken and we can't change our opinion when the troops are in danger." First of all, when the Liberals sent the troops to Afghanistan, it was in a supplementary role (minor role for all the Cons out there) with the US leading the military as per our agreements with NATO. Secondly, I thought free will allowed us to change our mind. If our troops are in danger and there are ways to avoid it, then we should contemplate those ideas as a fall back just in case. Finally, we have no purpose running the show in Afghanistan, the ideal group that should be running the show is the Afghanistan government, however there isn't enough stability in the country yet to safely do so.

These types of statements just blow my mind. "It's not the intention of this government to question the particular commitment when our troops are in danger," he said. "Such a debate or such a lack of strength by any of the political parties in Canada will merely weaken the resolve of our troops and will even put our troops in even more danger." Now, war is a very unpopular thing for most people but is understandable for the most part. If people didn't disagree with opinions, then we wouldn't really need a democracy. As I said earlier, denying democratic debate on our role in Afghanistan is more detrimental than actually debating it. At least if the debate is done, we are showing that democracy works. The troops would be better off knowing that there is still a democracy at home that they are fighting for. I am speaking for a lot of people when I say that we want the troops to stay in Afghanistan, but only to help out the Afghanistan government in a supplementary role. If the current campaign was led by the UN with close input by the Afghanistan government, this would be more acceptable and also less dangerous. Why less dangerous you ask, because our name is not on the front page as the leaders of the infidels invading their country.

The final quote I am going to discuss is a long one but is still ridiculously stupid.
"The exact involvement of our commitment does change every year or so, depending on what obligations we take on or don't take on, and we'll be reviewing those obligations at the appropriate times in the future. "
"But as I say, we will not be in any way backtracking from an obligation which has been undertaken."
To do so, he said, "would not only not be in the best interests of Canada's international reputation or of our obligation to the people of Afghanistan and to the international community, it would be a betrayal of the men and women, the brave men and women we have in the field, who are danger.
"So we will not be revisiting any decisions until the time when those decisions would normally come up for review."
So what The Harp is saying is this, there are times and places for opinions to change and that is called an election campaign. If your decisions do not change while the situations do, you will die. It is as simple as that. Analyzing and adjusting is the basis of strategic military planning. If you do not follow this, you will get another Vietnam/Iraq on your hands. I am unsure who gave the okay to let Canadian forces lead the Afghanistan forces and if anyone does know, can you let me so I can bash them on my blog. It may be Liberal, but I am not 100% certain. The Harp is just doing one stupid thing after another and Canadians are starting to wake up to what exactly they did on January 23, 2006. If The Harp keeps it up, then that loud thumping noise you will be hearing will be every Canadian bashing their head repeatedly into a wall for voting for this guy.

Terror on War??

Peter McKay is starting to show his true colours. P-Makkie released a statement earlier today about Canada's new role in Afghanistan. Now I am for lending support to the Americans on their attack on Afghanistan but that's all I am in favour of. Canada had an obligation as a part of NATO to help the US retaliate after September 11, but our new role as the lead in the rebuild/security effort is not something that Canada should be doing. We are a nation of peacekeepers and as such should not be leading an occupation force in another country.

Now, the statement that P-Makkie put out was in regards to opening up the role of Canadian troops in Afghanistan to questioning in Parliament. His response to this is as follows: "We do not want to jeopardize or in any way have a psychological or a real impact on the troops who are in Afghanistan." This is just plain wrong. First of all, parliamentary discussions about the role of the military has no effect in the psychological impact of the troops. Most troops don't even know that there will be any discussion or will know that any discussion would occur. As for the real impact, the only real impact would be withdrawal, or role change of the military personnel serving in Afghanistan. The purpose of these discussions would be to democratically weigh the pros and cons of Canada's increased role in Afghanistan and possible effects of the increase. If those discussions make a psychological impact on the troops, it would be "So it's a democracy we're fighting for???"

My largest problem with the increased role is that it may lead us down a road where we could be targeted by a terrorist attack. The odds aren't that likely, but would increase every day we occupy Afghanistan as the lead force. This war was supposed to increase our national safety and with this increase, has done the opposite effect. Our national safety has been secured not by our military force, but as our role as peacekeepers and peacemakers. To be the one's with the sword, we risk an attack on our country, which we are not prepared for in the least.

These Blogs Grow Up So Fast *sniff* *sniff*

I have gotten my first quote from another blog. Well, at least that I know of. Take off, Eh? made a comment in regards to my post about the LPC leadership. It is a very nice expansion on my comments about the LPC leadership race. I suggest you give it a read. Since he is from Ontario, you know his opinion matters.

A Chance to do Good

Some pretty big news came down the pipeline today by the UN. It seems that the UN Food Agency does not have enough food to help the people of Kenya. If they do not get the food they need, then million of people will starve causing a major catastrophe. It seems that Kenya has had a rather large drought this year and without the help of the UN, there will be a catastrophe of epic proportions. The drought is not just in Kenya but most of the north eastern part of Africa. Now, Canada has a large abundance of food in both wheat and cattle, if we give it to the UN to help feed the African people, we would save millions of lives. The US could also give money to the UN to pay for the food as well. This is a chance for world leaders to step up and show that they care about the people of the world and help out. After the food is given, we could send engineers over there to figure out a way to permanently irrigate the area or even all of Africa to stabilize the region.

This is a time to act people, and if we don't do something soon....it would be disastrous on a global scale.

Questions for the LPC

WHY THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING SO LONG TO ELECT A NEW LEADER!!!!! I mean what the hell are you guys thinking!!!! The Con's government will most likely fall this year and now you are going to hold the elections for the leadership of the party in 2007??? I love the Grits and all but this is just plain retarded.

The Liberals are starting to test the leadership waters today in Nova Scotia at the annual NS Liberal meeting. I have no issue with them testing the waters, as you get a bit of an understanding on what your chances are but why the hell is the LPC waiting to elect the new leader. With the LPC divided right now, there is no stability and the people won't rally behind us. With all the crap that The Harp has done to this point, an election will be inevitable and the LPC will be calling a leadership election in November or February 2007?? The Grits really need to get their heads back into the game and start the leadership ball rolling already. Not only get the leadership ball started, but leave the leadership candidacy open for anyone to run without a large admin fee. The Liberals need a new blood and new life and we need someone who will rally the people together. I still nominate myself, but as I stated earlier, the whole money issue just makes it too bloody unlikely that I will be able to do it for at least 10 years.

You Know You're in Trouble When....

When things start to suck, find yourself a scapegoat and run with it. Now I am not the biggest King Ralph fan, in fact I hate the guy, but this is ridiculous. The whole book throwing thing was wrong, also very funny, but if you are going to get rid of King Ralph, there are a lot more reasons than this. I may be out on a limb here but I think King Ralph did this just to deflect some of the pressure off of The Harp's problems. Either that or he's hitting the bottle again. If it is the latter then I feel sorry for him but if it was the first one, then you know how desperate things are getting in the Con's camp.

These are the reasons I went from being a supporter of the Reform Party, straight into the hands of the glorious Liberal Party....well that and the guaranteed job availability (and I guess you could throw Stockwell Day talking into the mix as well). I think that the first day of parliament, the opposition should call a vote of non-confidence and get another election before the Con's do any damage to the country. I know you are thinking that we can't go into an election without a leader, but if all the Liberals just say that I am their new leader, then we can live in a perfect 40+ years of Liberal rule. Now that would be perfect. Stable job, centrist views, having a nation that is leading the world, not following America. Ah, we can only dream...or get me into office, whichever is good for you.

Fear and Loathing at 24 Sussex

In a very amusing article here, it seems that the Harp is anti-ethics commission. This just blows my mind on how unbelievably easy it will be to win the next election. This is the worst case of self destruction since Kim Campbell's government. I am just waiting for him to kill a black crippled baby and then we can elect a towel to run against the Cons, and win a majority government. The Ethics Commissioner, Bernard Shapiro, received several complaints about Emerson's move and the Harp now has a problem with the Ethics Commissioner doing his job.

The Cons election platform was centered around accountability in office and to bring ethics back into government. In his first month as Prime Minister, the Harp has went against his elected senate stance, bribed an MP to cross the floor so he could have the seats needed to work with the NDP, appointed lobbyists to the Privy Council, appointed a military lobbyist to head the military, and refused to answer questions from the Ethics Commissioner in regards to the Grewal affair. Next election the Liberals better point this out to the people to make sure they win the majority. This is not the time for the Liberals to take the high road, they have to push this hard so the election will be a cake walk for the grits.

Everyone Loves Me Day!!!!

This is quite interesting, as of right now, I have had over 30 people visit my blog today, which makes this the official Everyone Loves Milan Day!!!!

Now the rules of Everyone Loves Milan Day are simple, Send me money and get drunk. I do emphasize the give me money part as the most essential part of it all.

Yay Me!!!

Our Next Prime Minister???

Your results:
You are Jean-Luc Picard
A lover of Shakespeare and other fine literature. You have a decisive mind and a firm hand in dealing with others.


Jean-Luc Picard 85%

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Chekov 75%

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Spock 67%

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James T. Kirk (Captain) 65%

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Geordi LaForge 55%

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Will Riker 55%

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Mr. Scott 55%

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Worf 45%

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Data 39%

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Uhura 30%

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An Expendable Character (Redshirt) 30%

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Leonard McCoy (Bones) 30%

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Beverly Crusher 25%

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Mr. Sulu 25%

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Deanna Troi 15%

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Click here to take the "Which Star Trek character are you?" quiz...

Oh Ralphie, You So Crazy

Yesterday, King Ralph finally introduced his "third way" health care plan with quite a bit of controversy. His 10 point "solution" is as follows along with commentary.

1. Putting Patients at the Center New directions and strategies for the continuous improvement and development of the health system will give priority to the interests of the people being served. Albertans will be encouraged to play an active role in maintaining and improving their own health and in deciding on appropriate care and treatment.

Translation, look after your own health, because we ain't gonna do squat for you.

2. Promoting Flexibility in Scope of Practice of Health Professionals Alberta’s new legislation governing the health professions provides greater flexibility in terms of the scope of practice of the various professions as a means of promoting greater innovation. Alberta will continue to work with health professions to take full advantage of the opportunities that the Health Professions Act has made possible. Team approaches to care will be promoted in areas that provide the greatest benefit. Mechanisms will be developed to determine the most responsible caregiver in each particular situation and to ensure that care is seamless and meets high standards of proficiency and quality.

So, you say you are a neurosurgeon and you say you got skin...guess that means you are now a dermatologist as well.

3. Implementing New Compensation Models Alberta will develop alternative compensation structures and models that provide incentives for quality of care, efficiency and inter-professional collaboration. These compensation models should be based on the achievement of measurable health outcomes and compliance with indicators of quality. New compensation models should also contribute to recruitment and retention strategies and take into account changes in clinical practice resulting from such initiatives as telehealth and the Electronic Health Record. Successful implementation of alternative compensation models also will require consultation and negotiation with professional associations.

Now, to save money, every service is now considered non-vital and as such, you can now charge whatever you want. Soooooooo......MONEY FIGHT!!!!!

4. Strengthening Inter-regional Collaboration Regional health authorities and Alberta Health and Wellness will collectively plan for the delivery of health services and the establishment of shared service networks throughout the province. Building on the successful implementation of the heart institute and the bone and joint institutes, Alberta will continue to support the establishment of such institutes so as to combine leading edge research with advanced clinical care.

So......I guess that means that it is business as usual

5. Reshaping the Role of Hospitals The collective planning process between regional health authorities and Alberta Health and Wellness will include options for changing the role of urban and rural hospitals so as to provide better and more responsive service to Albertans. Changes may include shifting some day surgery and ambulatory care services to community settings, delivering more services through private surgical facilities, linking some rural hospitals to urban hospitals for the provision of less complicated acute or follow-up care and converting small rural hospitals to centres of multi-disciplinary primary care. If necessary, regulatory changes will be made.

"Heart surgeries cost less in Wetaskiwin" (Warning: must live in Alberta to get this joke)

6. Establishing Parameters for Publicly Funded Health Services Public funding will still be used for the essential kinds of health services. Alberta will build on the work already completed to implement the recommendations of the Expert Advisory Panel to Review Publicly Funded Health Services. Services and benefits which are discretionary, are not of proven benefit or are experimental in nature may not qualify for public funding.

This one frightens me. This one gives the Alberta government carte blanche to tell us what is necessary and what is not. Now, if you tear your muscle, you would now have to pay for the surgery since it is not vital to have that surgery.

7. Creating Long-Term Sustainability and Flexible Funding Options Alberta will closely examine how various alternative funding models for health related benefits and services, such as prescription drugs, continuing care, dental care, allied (nonphysician) health services and non-emergency acute care services, would work in this province. Appropriate legislative changes will be introduced to ensure long-term sustainability and flexible funding options.

Still tying into the privatization of health care. Now you can get an estimate on how much it would cost to get heart surgery. So in summary....Hi Doctor Nick!!

8. Expanding System Capacity Where it makes sense, in response to identified needs, Alberta will expand system capacity and consumer choice in both the public and private delivery systems. The supply of skilled health professionals will be increased by providing onsite training opportunities in both public and private facilities in cooperation with professional teaching institutions.

Close, but no cigar. Now if King Ralph just put more money into the public health sector, the problems would have just gone away...but that would be too easy.

9. Paying for Choice and Access while Protecting the Public System Service providers will be encouraged to find innovative ways of providing improved consumer choice – provided that these innovations do not adversely affect the provision of essential services through the public health system. Mechanisms will be required to closely monitor the impact of the private system on the public health system to enable corrective action to be taken to safeguard the public system if necessary. Prohibitions in the Alberta Health Care Insurance Act that prevent physicians from “opting-out” in certain circumstances will be replaced with provisions that will not adversely affect the delivery of services within the public system.

So.....If the doctor doesn't make money doing the procedure or if he has plans, too bad for you.

10. Deriving Economic Benefits from Health Services and Research Alberta will capitalize on its world class health service and research facilities and will encourage and assist in the national and international marketing of intellectual property and innovations developed in Alberta.

So now we are going to sell our research to other parts of Canada to get money....yet another blow to the Hippocratic Oath.

Now as I stated earlier and quite often, if the Alberta government just put more money into the public sector, then we would reduce wait times, and be able to provide an excellent, top notch health care system. The problem is that King Ralph just wants to make money and screw the rest of us. I wish someone would slap King Ralph and drive some sense into him. Alberta has a 6 billion surplus which could be put into health care so we could open up the hospitals that King Ralph closed a decade earlier. Why am I the only one who sees this??

The new Alberta Health Policy Framework is here for your perusal

Ummmmm....Help!!!

I went outside and I saw this.

I have no idea what this is. If anyone can tell me what that white stuff on my lawn is, that would be greatly appreciated.

Which Sci Fi Series....

You scored as SG-1 (Stargate). You are versatile and diverse in your thinking. You have an open mind to that which seems highly unlikely and accept it with a bit of humor. Now if only aliens would stop trying to take over your body. SG-1 (Stargate) 81% Moya (Farscape) 75% Babylon 5 (Babylon 5) 69% Galactica (Battlestar: Galactica) 69% Nebuchadnezzar (The Matrix) 69% Enterprise D (Star Trek) 69% Andromeda Ascendant (Andromeda) 63% Millennium Falcon (Star Wars) 63% Deep Space Nine (Star Trek) 56% FBI's X-Files Division (The X-Files) 50% Serenity (Firefly) 50% Bebop (Cowboy Bebop) 31% Your Ultimate Sci-Fi Profile II: which sci-fi crew would you best fit in? (pics) created with QuizFarm.com