WEIRD RECENT CANADIAN LAWS

 
1) Canadian Supreme Court rules (on June 11, 2015) making Medicinal Marijuana legal in all forms and ways of ingesting it (as in cookies, oils, tea, etc.) .

- The Federal Health minister was" outraged' by the Supreme Court ruling and vowed to combat "normalization" of pot.

- In Vancouver police appear to be ignoring the marijuana controversy. Vancouver currently now has more medicinal marijuana outlets than Starbucks coffee outlets.

2) Canadian Federal  Bill C-51 has been passed by the majority government in spite of much opposition.

   The recently passed Bill C-51 allows for a person to be held in jail  for up to 7 days WITHOUT BEING CHARGED with a crime. All that is required is for there to be suspicion of promoting terrorism (which is not clearly defined - just social media activity is adequate). Unless the person agrees to some 25 conditions including "religious counselling" and wearing an RCMP electronic GPS tracker) he could be kept locked up for up to 12 months.

     Winnipeg, Manitoba, is not noted for being a hotbed of terrorism.
However, on June 4th Aaron Driver was arrested and placed in jail.for verbally admitting he supports the Islamic State. He hasn't been charged with a crime, let alone convicted, nor accused of dong anything wrong.
    So much for our freedom of speech and legal protest. And what about innocent until proven guilty?

3) Why does the Conservative Federal Government keep introducing bills with no expectation of them ever becoming law because Parliament rises for the summer next week and the "fixed" election date is in October?

ON A HAPPIER NOTE

Canadian sprinter  De Grasse wins NCAA sprint titles.  Andre De Grasse, representing the University of Southern California, produced two of the fastest times in history under any conditions to win the 100m and 200m double at the NCAA Championships in Eugene on Friday (12). His times of  9.75 and 19.58 are not "official records" because he had a wind in his back.

NO COMMENT REQUIRED

Pope Francis' encyclical on climate change had been leaked but is now released. 

Prime Minister Harper's prior 10 minute meeting with the Pope met with with mixed reactions:

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Looking Forward To 2015 . . . and beyond

LOOKING GOOD

1) Microsoft HoloLens

2) Mercedes-Benz  F 015 Luxury in Motion in an autonomous car.

3) The future for legalized Pot.  Oct 19th is the "fixed" Federal election date in Canada with legalization of "pot" a likely major issue in the election. It has been a year since Colorado became the first U.S. state to legalize marijuana for recreational use, Denver now has some $1 billion US in sales in a city of about 650,000. It has more than 60 marijuana outlets, which sell different hybrids of the drug as well as cookies, creams, pipes and T-shirts.      

Legalzed marijuana: What Colorado looks like 1 year after Amendment 64

Colorado gets high on pot revenue, marijuana tourists

Map: Marijuana use around the world

4) Volvo announced a new safety system that warns drivers of approaching cyclists via a symbol on their car's head-up display. Not to be outdone, Jaguar Land Rover has just announced its own system, which takes a more tactile approach – among other things, it buzzes drivers' hands and feet, and even taps them on the shoulder.

5) CES 2016,  Las Vegas, Nevada.  6-incredile facts obout CE2015

THE JURY IS STILL OUT

1) 3D printed shelby cobra model

This Shelby Cobra sports car, 3D-printed at Department of Energy's Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, on display this week at the Detroit Auto Show Technology Showcase.

2) HitchBOT - The Canadian twin of the original hitchBOT, (a chatty internet-connected robot that hitchhiked across Canada last summer) is scheduled to hitchhike in Germany from Feb. 13 to 22.

NOT LOOKING GOOD

     OXFAM predicts that by 2016 the richest 1% of the global population will control 50% of the total global wealth unless the current trend of rising inequality is checked.

     If you find it hard to grasp just how unequal the global economy is, here's one stat that should put it all in perspective: The richest 80 people on Earth are now as wealthy as the world's 3.5 billion poorest people. In other words, 80 people control as much wealth as half the population of the planet.

    That's one of the most shocking findings from a report released Monday by Oxfam, an international charity dedicated to finding solutions to global poverty. The report's overall point is that global inequality is soaring to amazingly high levels as the world's richest just keep getting richer.

As you can see from the chart above, it hasn't always been this bad. In 2010, it took a slightly greater number of rich people -- 388 billionaires, to be exact -- to equal the collective wealth of the world's poorest 50 percent.

YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ? 

 1)  How NOT To Make Friends (With A Powerful Neighbor)       (CLICK HERE)


2) Would You Ride These?

(a) The Worlds Wildest Thrill Ride - The Insanity in Las Vegas


(b) The World's Craziest and Highest Roller coaster - the Xstream in Las Vegas




        Final thought:  "If you want to live the American Dream go to Denmark".
                                       

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Canada In Election Mode

GERALD CAPLAN

The Globe and Mail

Published Friday, Dec. 12 2014, 10:34 AM EST

      Canada will have a federal election no later than October 19th, 2015 (the "fixed by law" date).  The general feeling is that it will be earlier than that - possibly in the Spring of 2015. I will try to provide periodic special blogs of FACTUAL information (not partisan and no spin).

     If you haven't been following political activity for the past 9 years in the media, this article in the Globe and Mail might help to get you up to speed in time to VOTE.

Click on the underlined type below.

"If I could shake Harper’s hand, 

this is what I’d tell him"

***

Insite - Vancouver Supervised Drug Injection Site -10 years of SUCCESS

            FOUR KUDOS to Insite for:

1) For having the insight to recognize ways of mitigating social problems associated with rampant drug use in their neighborhood

2) For being the FIRST Supervised Drug Injection Program in North America (established Sept 2003)

3) For 10 years of successful (no fatalities) operation in Vancouver, British Columbia and still going strong

4) For proving they CAN survive the efforts of a government ideologically opposed to its operation.

There are short videos detailing the daily operation of the Insite facility

     From Insite's beginning, the Canadian Federal Government has tried (unsuccessfully) to prevent Insite's operation and to close it down, requiring court orders to keep it open in: 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011.

***

THE RCMP IS AN "ARM'S LENGTH" OPERATION ?

As has been said in a lot of the recent media:  
"The RCMP should be above suspicion, a crucial national institution that cannot be forced to lie by the government"

1) In 2008 the RCMP was complicit in attempting to discredit and undermine the Insite operation even to the extent of "quietly funding study critical of Insite effort". The Globe and Mail reported: "e-mails show the RCMP tried to discredit Vancouver's supervised-injection clinic and are part of a pattern of interference in science by the federal government". 

2 ) In 2010, McLeans magazine reported:

     "The Mounties were set to publicly acknowledge the benefits of projects like the Insite facility.    Then they backed away (because) . . . that would have been a politically awkward move for the          federal police, since Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government is firmly committed to shutting down Insite."

3 ) In 2014 The RCMP helped create a handbook entitled, United Against Terrorism. It was a joint

effort between Islamic Social Services, the National Council of Canadian Muslims and the RCMP. It was released Sept 29, 2014.

    On Oct 1, 2014, the RCMP suddenly withdrew their support for their handbook "specifically stating that it could not avoid using the terms "Islamist terrorism,” “Islamic extremism” and “jihad" as was suggested on the back cover. Is it a coincidence that those terms are favorites of Harper and his Government, as is a term he has personally coined, "Islamicism"?

4) This spring (2014) , when the RCMP moved to ban a kind of semi-automatic rifle that can be easily converted to full automatic, Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney angrily denounced the Mounties as “unelected bureaucrats,” and reversed the decision. 

5) And recently, while the world (including the Canadian Government) is concerned about going to war in Iraq (again), Leona Aglukkaq, the environment minister, told the House of Commons the public safety minister had told the RCMP to reverse their researched decision to cancel their researched plan of replacing some their muskrat hats with wool ones.

    According to the Ministry of Public Safety (on a different topic), “The RCMP has complete autonomy to direct its own personnel matters.” I guess that doesn't include head wear.

     As one commentator said, " The PMO is fully aware of the RCMP head gear but claims to know nothing about the $90,000 given to Senator Mike Duffy by the then Chief of Staff of the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada.

makes one of these

three of these 

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NEWS UPDATE
      Harold Camping  has postponed "The Rapture" (commonly known as the "end of the world") until October 21st. I suggest you mark this date on your calendar. It would be a shame to miss it . . . again.


THE CANADIAN FEDERAL ELECTION
     I guess the election results have answered my blog heading question “Where Has My Canada Gone?” It has gone into a Conservative majority government under the leadership of arguably the most powerful Prime Minister in Canadian history.
     PM Harper has not only a majority in the House (and hence can get any bill passed) but also has a Conservative dominated Senate thanks to some 39 new appointments (unelected) and will have a Conservative majority in the Supreme court (after he fills the upcoming vacancies).
     And that isn’t even mentioning a totally inexperienced official NDP opposition, a decimated Liberal Party (34 seats) and the Bloc Party without even official party status (4 seats), and the establishment of the new Sun News Network to provide an easily controlled Conservative media outlet.
     On the upside, The Green Party now has its first seat elected seat in Parliament.

     The answer to where my Canada is going in the next four years can maybe best predicted by two quotes:
1) Stephen Harper's speech in 2004 when he won the leadership of the Conservative Party,
"We can create a country built on solid Conservative values not on expensive Liberal promises. A country the Liberals would not even recognize. "
2) Bette Davis (as commonly misquoted in the movie 'All About Eve'), "Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy ride. "
                           FYI the correct quote is, "It's going to be a bumpy night".

UPDATE ON CANADA'S NEW "FOX NEWS" network
     After a couple of false starts, the Sun News Network is officially on the air as of April 18th, 2011,on a few stations/channels. Their start-up problems have been “resolved” and Kory Teneycke, VP of development for Quebecor and a former director of communications and chief spokesperson for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, is again at the head of the organization,
     The news program has two slogans: 'Canada's Home for Hard News and Straight Talk' and 'We're On Your Side'.
     I can accept the possibility of the first slogan but I have two problems with their second slogan. Firstly, how can they say they are on “my” side when they obviously don’t know me or what “my side” is on any given topic?. And, secondly, how can they say they are on everyone’s side a the same time?

THE CANADIAN FEDERAL ELECTION  
      I guess the election results have answered my blog heading question “Where Has My Canada Gone?” It has gone into a Conservative majority government under the leadership of arguably the most powerful Prime Minister in Canadian history.
     PM Harper has not only a majority in the House (and hence can get any bill passed) but also has a Conservative dominated Senate thanks to some 39 new appointments (unelected) and will have a Conservative majority in the Supreme court (after he fills the upcoming vacancies).
     And that isn’t even mentioning a totally inexperienced official NDP opposition, a decimated Liberal Party (34 seats) and the Bloc Party without even official party status (4 seats) Oh yes, and the establishment of the new Sun News Network which should make it easier to provide controlled Conservative national media outlet.
     On the upside, The Green Party now has its first seat elected seat in Parliament.


     The answer to where my Canada is going in the next four years can maybe best predicted by two quotes;

1)  Stephen Harper's speech in 2004 when he won the leadership of the Conservative Party,

 "We can create a country built on solid Conservative values not on expensive Liberal promises. A country the Liberals would not even recognize."
 2) Bette Davis (as commonly misquoted in the movie 'All About Eve'), "Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy ride".
                              FYI the correct quote is, "It's going to be a bumpy night".
 
UPDATE ON CANADA'S NEW "FOX NEWS" network"
      After a couple of  false starts, the Sun News Network  is officially on the air as of April 18th, 2011,on a few stations/channels. Their start-up problems have been “resolved” and  Kory Teneycke, VP of development for Quebecor and a former director of communications and chief spokesperson for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, is again at the head of the organization,
     The news program has two slogans: 'Canada's Home for Hard News and Straight Talk' and 'We're On Your Side'.
     I can accept the possibility of the first slogan but I have two problems with their second slogan. Firstly, how can they say they are on “my” side when they obviously don’t know me or what “my side” is on any given topic?. And, secondly, how can they say they are on everyone’s side a the same time?

NON-POLITICAL NEWS

       In keeping with my plan for this blog to be unbiased I am ignoring the current election. In the present campaign any comment would be taken by someone as being partisan. 

REALLY?  2,564 miles per gallon?
    For the third year in a row students from Université Laval in Quebec, Canada, took home first prize in Shell’s Eco-marathon Americas fuel-efficiency competition, with a vehicle that was able to get 2,564.8 miles per gallon.


FOX NEWS NORTH?
A new 24-hour TV news station in Canada has been quietly launched by the Quebecor-owned Sun News Network. This is their second attempt. Their first run was held up when the CRTC blocked the use of “fake news”.
The specialty channel was the brainchild of Kory Teneycke, former spokesman for Canada’s Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

INCOME TAX DATE RANT
Doing my income tax reminded me of one of my pet peeves – the lack of common sense in dates. Can you tell me what date 12/11/10  is? 12h of Nov 2010?  or Dec 11th  2010?   or maybe even  Nov 10th 2012 ?  And have you noticed that receipts, banks and income tax forms are nowhere consistent in their use even within their own forms?
How hard can it be for Canada and the USA to decide on a format? I have noticed that the bank cheque printers have begun this silent revolution by printing “yymmdd” under the blanks for the date. Maybe FaceBook could move this revolution along.
And while we are at it why not promote a slashed 0 to distinguish it from a capital O like early computers did. and maybe some way to distinguish more clearly the numeral 1 from the letter l. Airlines like to use a mix of capital letters and digits for your unique reservation code.
There are a few other examples too, but I have to finish sorting my medical bills by date for my income tax.


BTW , today is April 20th which`could be written as 20/4. A lot of younger people prefer to think of it as 4/20. You know – “420”?  If you still don’t get it ask anyone between the ages of 17 and 30. Or just hang out in a public park or place where kids gather at 4:20 this afternoon. And there are people who don't think it matters how you write dates !

Do We Really Want Fake News In Canada ???

         The initial stimulus for this blog was a discussion I had a couple of years ago with a fellow at a party in the USA about politicians telling lies. I, (being naively Canadian), felt that honesty was high on my priorities for a politician. His position, (being worldly American), was that he would never vote for a politician who DIDN’T lie.  At that point we became ships that passed in the night – never to meet again. However, it has given me much cause for thought. Should we really expect our politicians to be liars? Maybe there are cases where the end justifies the means? I’m not as sure as I used to be.
    But when it comes to our public news media being allowed to spew forth information they know to be false I would have said, “NOT IN MY CANADA. NOT NOW. NOT EVER.”
    
    I had always thought that there was a ban (legal, or at least moral) on allowing the Canadian TV and radio news media to spew forth false information. And I find I was right. The CRTC has had a ban on broadcasting false information on radio and TV, and the CRTC was content with that current ban on fake news.
    Then, late in 2010 the commission was “coerced” to approve a proposal to make "fake news" acceptable on Canadian TV and radio. One can only guess from where this political pressure came, but it is most likely related to the earlier move to establish a “Fox News North”.
" We never wanted to touch this thing. We put it forward because we were ordered to do it," von Finckenstein told reporters.
   
     The CRTC is dropping this proposal to allow fictitious news items thanks to on the support from a Parliamentary committee. "All I can say is, 'Thank you committee.' I will withdraw this proposal tomorrow. This is the end of the issue,’”Finckenstein  said.

     I sincerely hope this is “the end of the issue.” MY CANADA didn’t (and never will) approve of giving right to broadcast information that is know to be false or deliberately misleading.

But it scares me that this sort of thing was going on without the knowledge of the Canadian public.

Our Government: Fomerly Know As "Canadian"

      It has been made public by CBC news that a directive has been given by the PMO to public servants to use the works "Harper  Government" on all communications in place of  the words, "Canadian Government".

     When a Bloc MP tried to query this in the Friday Parliamentary Question Period, she was blocked by the Speaker of the House because MP`s cannot be named and must be referred to by the riding they represent. She tried to rectify her error by referring to `Harper` as the `H - word`.

     So, we now have added one more to our list of unspeakable words: `the f - word`, the `n - word` and now the `H - word`.

     I don`t much like the sound of the `H - word Government`. I would much prefer to follow the example of TAFKAP (The Artist Formerly Known As Prince).

     The `Government formerly known as Canadian` has a much nicer ring to it.

NOW I Know Where “My Canada" Went

     The “Canadian Government” has been officially replaced by the “Harper Government” in all federal communications by an order given late last year to public servants.

     I now know where “My Canada” has gone. I really want it back because I don’t like where it went. And I am afraid of where it is heading.

     Wikipedia states:
Because the prime minister is, in practice, the most politically powerful member of the Canadian government, he or she is sometimes erroneously referred to as Canada's head of state,^{[n 2]} when, in fact, that post is held by the Canadian monarch, represented by the governor general.^[12] The prime minister is, instead, the head of government . . . “

     Harper is the head of the government, but it is not HIS government. We still have a Parliamentary government, not a personal one.

     No matter what Harper may choose to say.

A Perspective From The USA

      A few decades ago when traveling overseas, I discovered that Canadians were held in high regard most everywhere. A Canadian flag lapel pin assured one of a pleasant smile and a friendly everywhere because Canadians had a reputation of being quiet, friendly cooperative and accepting of the differences between cultures. Americans, by comparison, seemed to be loud, pushy and wanting things the way they were at home.
      On my vacation last week to California, I discovered that Americans seem to have mellowed with age (or maybe it is I who has mellowed).. Americans seem to have become more Canadian in deportment and manner.(or is it just that I have found that out current  government embodies much of what used to be annoying about Americans). And, by the way, our Federal Government is OUR government and not Harper’s Government to use as his personal chess game. The Canadian parliament is made up of the elected representatives of the people and IT (not Harper) should be making the rules as the governing body of Canada. But I digress.
       For example, I was in a hardware store in Redwood City and a sales person asked if I needed help.(apparently I have a perpetual look of confusion). I explained that I was looking for some kind of wax product to lightly wax a table. He suggested I could rub the table with a large brown paper bag instead of buying a commercial product. It was a marvelously helpful idea (and it actually works, although it will never replace Pledge). I never get that kind of useful assistance (without a sales pitch) in Canadian stores.
      It seems “My Canada” has gone south in more ways than one. I found everyone in California (and in Denver where I had a stopover) to be pleasant and friendly – well, maybe not as much when they are driving, but still much more polite, considerate and respectful than in Winnipeg. They even take a turn signal light as a suggestion for them to make room for the signaling car. In Winnipeg it is usually taken as a challenge to close the gap.
      Maybe I don’t really want my Canada back. Maybe I should just let it run merrily along on its present self-destructive course and move south. But I would miss our winters . . . less than you might imagine.