HOW TO AVOID THE TRUTH WITHOUT LYING

  (as with the F-35 fighter jet fiasco)

1) For three years don't release information on the expected cost of 65 fighter jets other than that is the only "fifth generation fighter jet available to meet the requirements. When required by vote of the Canadian Parliament to release cost and specifics, refuse to do so. When the Speaker of the House threatens a contempt of Parliament charge, prorogue Parliament and cause an election (2011).

2) State the total cost of the jets as $9 billion dollars and totally ignore maintenance and other costs as required in the governments regulations.

3) Have photo ops of the Prime Minister and Minister of Defense posing in the pilot's seat of a MOCK-UP of  the F-35 aircraft as if it were real. Also, as often as convenient, show pictures off the F-35 flying and doing maneuvers even though the plane is an experimental design without undertaking a full test flight.

4) For 3 years, answer all questions about the F-35 with the sound-bites,"as we have said, the cost of the F-35 is $9 B.", and "not a single dollar has been spent on the acquisition of this plane". Ignore the fact that some $600,000 had been spent on the process of preparing for the acquisition of the experimental plane.

5)  When the Parliamentary Budgetary Officer reports the expected cost to be $15 B attack his competence and ridicule his report. Say it will be $9 B and that there is a contract signed (actually a  memo of understanding)

6) When the Auditor General suggests the cost over 20 years would be $25 B set up an Independent Audit committee and begin distancing the government from the whole project.

 7) When the committee reports that the cost over 40 years (the updated predicted life-span of the  planes) would be in excess of $45 B set up another committee to look into possibly of having an examination of the needs of Canada and the availability of other 5th generation fighter jet.

8) Repeat that the total cost has been capped at $9 B as they have always said its would be. Don`t mention that will mean there will be 11 fewer planes purchased than the number previously stated as the minimum for Canada`s safety. When questioned, say you are pressing the "reset" button. Then keep pressing it.

Note: The timeline for the delivery of  the first  F-35 to Canada (2019) is dangerously close to the estimated end of the current CF-18 fleet life (2020).  There are 8 "fifth generation" fighter jets currently under development with production dates from 1990 to 2020.

     The F-35 has three main models; the F-35A is a conventional takeoff and landing variant, the F-35B is a short take off and vertical-landing variant, and the F-35C is a carrier-based variant. Which one is everyone talking about?  Or don't they care? They are not all the same price but it seems price is not an issue.

 

HOW THE MEDIA SELECTS NEWS ITEMS

Two items competed for coverage last week. One received extensive media coverage the other did not.
Which do you think was front and centre of the news?

  

Item 1:

 APTN National News 
OTTAWA –Facing mass country-wide protests under the banner of Idle No More, the Conservative government unveiled its plans for proposed First Nations legislation Tuesday only to have it met by immediate derision.

Item 2:

CBC LIVE ONLINE: The Ikea monkey and Canada's exotic pets

     The "Ikea Monkey," as he's come to be known, has been dominating news headlines, Facebook status updates and water cooler chatter all week - possibly even inspiring some body art.  

The cute monkey in a nice coat won hands down in the media. One cute monkey was by

 far more newsworthy than country-wide First Nations protests with one of their leaders (Chief Theresa Spencer) going on a hunger hunger strike.

COMMON SENSE IS A RARE COMMODITY

     The CBC radio show "This is That" recently presented a deadpan parody suggesting there was a proposed Montreal bylaw requiring all dogs in public parks to be bilingual and that dogs should obey commands in both English and French to avoid confusion.

     The issue went viral after the show posted a segment on its website about the "untenable chaos" that was rife in Montreal dog parks because some animals were receiving commands in French and others in English.      Many readers and viewers took the "bylaw" and even the added suggestion that dog parks be language-free and dog owners must use "tones and hand signals" seriously.

     It was all a joke (duh?).

                                                                           * * *

Canada's Debt VS Deficit

      Canada’s Finance Minister (Flaherty) recently said that our Federal yearly budget (deficit) will not be "balanced" until 2016-17. That just means we will not be increasing the debt after that date.  

      The Prime Minister contradicted him three days later and reaffirmed the government's plan ". . . . to  balance the budget prior to the next federal election (2015)." They disagree by only a year or two of increases to the debt.

     The following updating "clock" shows the TOTAL debt that Canada has accumulated to date. Our children can pay it off some day. Reducing the yearly DEFICIT by adding to the DEBT may make good sound bites but it doesn't change reality. The following updating "clock"  can be downloaded from Taxpayer.com.

.

 GOOD THINGS HAPPENING IN CANADA

1) University of Waterloo student team earned the title of this year’s Facebook hackathons Champions over teams from U.S, Canada , Brazil, and Ukraine. It isn't really "hacking". It is more of an APP for finding  groups of your :friends.

2) Maybe it is not a big deal, but the Parti Quebecois (Quebec provincial party) has approved having the Canadian Maple leaf flag fly beside the Quebec Fleur de Lis in their National Assembly. For the party devoted to the separation of Quebec this is a major concession. The fact that a recent poll showed 57% of Quebecois had strong positive feelings for the Maple Leaf flag.

3) Somewhat related to the above, an online survey of 2,287 Canadians found that just 55 per cent are very or somewhat satisfied with the way democracy works in this country. That’s sharply down from the 75 per cent who expressed satisfaction in response to an identical question in 2004.

"Atypical" Canadian Happenings

1) National Chief Shawn Atleo of the Assembly of First Nations opened a three-day strategy session for First Nations leaders from across Canada with a call for unity in a "shared struggle" for change.

Some of the chiefs went to Parliament Hill, where MP's were to begin voting on the government's second omnibus budget implementation bill. A brief scuffle ensued after security guards stepped in to prevent some of the chiefs and First Nations members from trying to enter the House of Commons.

2) And speaking of scuffles, near the end of the session Wednesday, Peter Van Loan, the government's House Leader, crossed the floor of the Commons to confront his NPD counterpart, Nathan Cullen. Microphones were shut off but tape recorders showed "in-the-face" shaking of fingers complete with use of "f***" words. It was on the way to becoming more typical of a hockey game than the Canadian Parliament when the combatants were physically separated. Not typical of the staid old Canada I used to know.

Why We Need The USA

1) The XL Foods plant was at the centre of an E. coli outbreak in September that led to the largest meat recall in Canadian history. The contamination was discovered by US border inspectors who notified the Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Sept 3rd.
    Until Sept 16th the Canadian government continued to say publicly that the meet was safe. On Sept 16th CFIA sent out its first alert warning with recalls continuing to increase past Nov.16th.  Check the timeline.

2) The RCMP opened an investigation into the spy activities of Sub-Lt. Jeffrey Paul Delisle, a Halifax navy intelligence officer, several months after it received a letter from the FBI notifying them of the possible security breach. The RCMP investigation began only after Delisle voluntary turned himself in as a spy for Russia.

SIGNS THAT CANADA WILL SURVIVE

THE GREEN PARTY IS ALIVE AND WELL

1) The recent three by-elections indicated a strong Green presence in two of them:

                - Calgary Center, which has for decades been a solid Conservative riding in the middle of the oil sands, was seriously threatened by the Liberal and Green Party (37%, 33% and 26%).  There was only a 30% voter turnout.

                - Victoria was won by the NDP with the Green Party a strong second (37% and 34%). The Conservative candidate was a distant third at 14%.

2) Elizabeth May, currently the sole MP representing the Green Party in Parliament, was voted “Parliamentarian of the Year” . However, her clear thinking and straight forward discussions earned her the title by a vote of ALL MP’s without regard to party lines. How very Canadian in our usually dysfunctional Parliament.

 The Legoland Discovery Centre 

is being billed as an interactive and educational two- to three-hour indoor experience geared to families with children aged three to 10.Construction is set to begin this summer on the $12-million centre at Vaughan Mills Shopping Centre, about 30 kilometres north of Toronto, leisure giant Merlin Entertainments announced Thursday. Maybe the park will feature the LEGO Stephen Harper doll that an Ottawa man had created and advertised for $50 on Kijiji.

No more Canadian asbestos exports

Canada's last asbestos mine is being closed after many years of controversy about the deadly product  being sold to Third World countries without proper labeling . Quebec's Jeffrey Mine is being used to simulate the Mars mission initiated by Canada's space agency. Thanks to the newly elected Parti Quebecois provincial government which cancelled its $58 million loan

Recreational Marijuana to be legal 

- for adults 21 in Washington State on Dec 6^th .

- Public consumption of marijuana can mean a $50 fine, similar to alcohol consumption in public.

-  It will be illegal to sell marijuana for recreational use anywhere except state-licensed marijuana stores.       Those stores won't open until at least December 2013.

Major Canadian city mayors vs the law

1) Toronto mayor Rob Ford found guilty of “conflict of interest” and ordered to leave office in 14 days.

        He refused to repay some $3150 obtained for a charity (using official "mayor" letter head and voting in favor of himself (conflict of interest). It wasn't much money (and he did not benefit financial from it) so why is the mayor of Canada’s biggest city being removed from office?  Very simply, the law states that it is the MANDATORY sentence.  This is a prime example of why the Federal Gov't omnibus Criminal Justice Bill 10 calling for of mandatory minimum sentences - like marijuana possession - is a BAD IDEA.

Mandatory sentences are a BAD IDEA - the judge cannot use his/her own judgment in sentencing. Our federal government with

2) Laval (Quebec):  GillesVaillancourt resigned because of corruption allegations although no formal charges.

3) Montreal (Quebec):  Gérald Tremblay resigned over allegations that he turned a blind eye to corruption.

4) London (Ontario): Fontana is staying in office after being charged with fraud, breach of trust and forgery

Car of theYear - Telsa

Tesla Model S: Motor Trend "Car of theYear" Award

(The first electric car to win this award)

 The Tesla S, which is assembled in California, carries a sticker price of $49,900 to $97,900.

 It has a range of 265 miles and accelerates from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 4.4 seconds.

The company is also building a network of charging stations that run on solar power.

MY CANADA IS DISAPPEARING - FAST

(just like the Arctic Ice and clean atmosphere)

1) $2-million in toys and donations have been stolen from Salvation Army warehouse, just as their annual Christmas "kettles" are appearing on the streets all across Canada. There have always been individuals stealing a few dollars from a single kettle, probably rationalizing their theft as: "well the money is for the poor, and I am poor. I am just helping them with distribution of their money." But $2-million? Who steals toys from needy children at Christmas? And in Canada?

2) Robocalls In Canada.

       Canada has been arguing about the use (or non-use) of robocalls in our Federal Election with great rhetoric, pointed accusations and partisan fury ever since the election (May 2, 2011).  

      Just when the furor seemed to have died down, recent information in the form of emails between Election Canada and the Conservative Party headquarters and their lawyers has re-opened this disquieting chapter of our political scene.

3) The Council of the Confederation is a meting of all the Canadian provincial premiers. This year it is meeting for two days in Halifax to discuss the economy and other matters of importance to all Canadians. As usual, Prime Minister Harper has been invited and has declined to attend without even giving a reason. And he is in Canada at that time.

 4 ) Our Federal government used to be centered around the parliament and the elected Members of Parliament. Over the past few years there seems to be deliberate move to emasculate the Parliamentary process and denigrate its usefulness.

      It began with having government announcements (including presenting the budget) made in locations such as Tim Hortons coffee shop and business establishments. The ultimate affront to Canadians, in my opinion, was the recent signing (in Russia) of a trade agreement between Canada and China, without any significant involvement of our elected Parliament. It would seem that such a major trade agreement could at least have been signed in Canada or China. There are more government announcements (such as the plan to raise the age for pensions) made by the government in foreign countries rather than in our Parliament. 
     This trade agreement is binding for 31 years (compared to NAFTA which can be terminated  or amended on six months notice). It will give Chinese firms in Canada, and Canadian firms in China, 31 years of “protection”  from environmental, human rights or resource conservation measures they don’t like.

CARS AND HOW TO LIVE WITH THEM

    

1) Three ways to parallel park:

         a ) check YouTube for instructions (only if you want serious help) 
         b ) if there is a small parking space on the other side of the road demo (requires practice and
                   a  Mini Cooper car)
            c ) buy a car with self parking feature. The Lexus LS 460 in 2006 had the ability to parallel
                  park itself. Ford, Lexus, Lincoln, Mercury and Toyota now offer this feature.

2) Go all the way and save up to buy a self-driving Prius car

      Google's Milestones with Toyota Prius:
               - self-driving car traveled more than 300,000 miles without a mishap (except for a
                    parking-lot  fender-bender when a human was driving it.
              - one of its driverless cars drove a legally blind man to a Taco Bell
              - Google plans to have self-driving cars deliver goods from shipper to home 24 hours a day
                    
             At present the biggest problem is with the laws which require a driver to be in the car.
                    Nevada, Florida and California have legalized driver-less cars

3) Electric cars - the looks of the future:
       
This link connects to literally hundreds of pics of electric cars worldwide with "cursor over" for thumbnail info on each.

4) Looking Ahead:
     Toyota is testing smart cars talk to each other and to the road.  Maybe in 10 years ?

SUN MEDIA NEWS

Quebecor is cutting 500 jobs at Sun Media. Not everyone (including me) sees this as a bad thing. See my earlier post, "do-we-really-want-fake-news-in-canada", in which I discuss politicians and others deliberately telling known lies in public and not being challenged in any meaningful way on them.

The USA election provided a rich source of the use of lies and their acceptance.  Dave Johnson posted on July 19, 2012:  "Regardless which candidate wins the US presidential election on Tuesday, neither of them has been honest to the American people about the scale of the problems facing the country. But Americans have only themselves to blame".

Neil Newhouse, a pollster for Romney, has even said, "We're not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers."

GOOD NEWS FROM THE USA ELECTION

1 )  Florida did eventually close its polls (and took another 40 hours to count them). It could have been worse.

2) Several "propositions" showed the power and will of the people.
   

.-  Marijuana – Washington State, Colorado, and Oregon will all vote on whether to legalize the drug for -  Marijuana – Washington State, Colorado, and Oregon will all vote on whether to legalize the drug for recreational use and tax it. Washington looks likeliest to become the first US state to do so.

 - Same-sex  marriage - Ballots are taking place on the issue in Maryland, Washington, Maine and Minnesota

-  Right to die – Massachusetts will vote on whether to allow terminally ill patients with less than six months to live to request drugs to end their lives.

-  GM Foods – California is voting on whether to require mandatory labeling on genetically modified foods sold in the state recreational use and tax it. Washington looks likeliest to become the first US state to do so.

3) Robocalls advising voters they could vote the day AFTER the last date were discovered and offset quickly. Maybe these activities will become ineffective as more people are willing to use social media to advise large groups of the population when they occur.
  

Canadarm celebrated in Google Doodle 

(launched 31 years ago)

 video