I Dont Recognize.CA

Are you done with it yet?

[idontrecognizeca-blog]

An article (with video) from the StarPhoenix in which XL Foods admits its safety protocols at the Brooks meat plant might not have been up to snuff.

I'm shocked.

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Veteran Affairs announced today that it will reverse its decision to end the cuts to long-term disability which would have affected an estimated 2,500 families.

Here's what Steven Blaney has to say:

"We are working hard to bring real help where and when it's needed most for Canada's heroes," Blaney said in a news release.

Seemingly altruistic, maybe the government does actually care what happens to our brave men and women in uniform. Or maybe it has to do with this gem a couple paragraphs down:

Wednesday's changes also come in the wake of a class-action lawsuit filed against the federal government that veterans successfully won in May.

Oh snap.

[idontrecognizeca-blog]

Well, folks, just when we thought the "our" government's vendetta against its own creation couldn't get any more ridiculous, the CPC goes right on ahead and proves us wrong.

The money shot is in the third paragraph:

Taxpayer-funded lawyers are about to take on taxpayer-funded lawyers to keep tax spending secret from taxpayers. If this already sounds silly, it just gets worse.

So, basically it breaks down thusly: The "government" that wrote in on a promise of openness and transparency (in this instance, of course, promise being spelled L I E) is now going to lawyer up (using our money) and fight other lawyers (also funded by our money) from an office of their own creation (using our money) whose purpose was to identify exactly how they're wasting our money.

Confused? No. More like depressed.

[idontrecognizeca-blog]

South of the border, the Department of Horrible Shit has announced plans for testing drones over the US for "public safety".

According to an RFI posted on the Federal Business Opportunities site, they want to begin testing the death machines by various manufacturers to see how they perform in various "law enforcement" operations.

I'm so glad I'm not attending any outdoor weddings in the US anytime soon.

[idontrecognizeca-blog]

We're baaaaack.....

Hello again everyone, it's been a while. I'm sure the twos of you that popped by regularly were wondering if some cruel fate had befallen your intrepid heroes in their quest to categorize, simplify and outright mock the comings and goings in Canadian politics. Had we become overwhelmed sifting through the stupidity and checked ourselves in to an institution? Had we been covertly shipped off to room 101 for large helpings of koolaid?

No, friends, we've merely been standing in the corner, crying and tapping our heels together. Four months and innumerable pairs of shoes later, we're still stuck here and decided to get back to sharing our Toronto Liberal elite (even though we don't live in Toronto or really support the Liberals) viewpoint with the rest of the country.

Enjoy.

[idontrecognizeca-blog]

Money shot:

Canadian troops quietly stopped handing captured Taliban fighters over to Afghan authorities in mid-2011, almost six months before the Harper government publicly acknowledged the change to the controversial policy.

Of course it took 6 months, weren't the CPC spindoctors busy somewhere else in mid-2011?

[idontrecognizeca-blog]

Money shot:

Martin says it's overly simplistic for Mulcair to blame Canada's prosperous oilsands for artificially elevating the dollar and hurting manufacturing exports.

I guess we could try blaming pixies and fairies, but I don't think they exist.

[idontrecognizeca-blog]

Sorry for the lack of updates, folks, life got busy for a bit but don't worry, our beloved country still seems to be locked into a downward spiral which I shall endeavour to chronicle with dry sardonic wit, biting cynicism, and a tear in my left eye.

[idontrecognizeca-blog]

Sure sucks when someone doesn't tell you what's going on, eh Deaner?

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In which Justin Saunders over at Rabble reminds us all that C-30 isn't dead, it's merely taking a nap.

Expected to return for second reading in the fall sitting, it's tough to say exactly what (if anything) will have changed but I'd imagine it hinges on how badly dear leader decides we need to be punished for not backing ridiculous shit like his "budget" bill.

The money shot comes towards the end of the article:

This will not change the fact that C-30 is likely to eventually become law in some form, so long as the Conservative Party can whip its caucus properly. As the current government has amply demonstrated, it can and will ignore public opinion with impunity.

Can, will, and, omitted from the list, take great relish in.

Dark days ahead, boys and girls. Dark. Fucking. Days.

[idontrecognizeca-blog]

Good write-up on pogge.ca about Petery MacKay's defending the use of killer drones, regardless of whether or not a few innocent folks get death from above'd.

Remember, drones are little computer controlled baddies capable of flying around and killing people from 10,000 feet in the air. And the US has officially opened the door to cyber warfare thanks to Olympic Games and the associated Stuxnet.

This will not end well.

[idontrecognizeca-blog]

Chris Selley pens (emphasis his):

Conceivably, the Supreme Court might not rule on this until October — and if they uphold the decision against Mr. Opitz, Prime Minister Stephen Harper would then have six months to call a by-election.

I don't know about you, dear readers, but I parse this as:

Stephen Harper will take six months to call a by-election.

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It started Saturday morning with a twitter posting by Ross Morley in Etobicoke stating: “Just took a ‪#CPC‬ telemkter call in Etobicoke Centre “calling for Stephen Harper and Ted Opitz”. And “They’re trying to overthrow your vote”

Much of the subsequent online discussion related to the calls...

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It would seem that, much like the phreakers of old, the federal cons just can't stop dicking with the phones.

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Story from the Winnipeg Free Press detailing how Immigration Minister Jason Kenny threw his own bureaucrats under the pass after the fake citizenship ceremony broadcast a couple months ago by the Ministry of Truth.

Here's the money shot:

An hour earlier, under the subject line "What we will say," a political staffer in Kenney's office wrote: "We didn't know about this. Sun TV didn't know about this."

[idontrecognizeca-blog]

More from the UN: Seems they're not exactly impressed with the way our system treats mentally ill inmates.

There are some hardliners who will maintain they did the crime, they can do the time, but those of us with compassion towards our fellow man will stop and wonder why they're shut up in solitary confinement instead of somewhere properly equipped to help them.

A grander and much more morose observation would be that, except rare cases like Paul Bernardo or Captain Crazy, prison is almost always an imperfect solution that dovetails very nicely into our North American obsession with handling the effect while paying only the vaguest of lip service to the actual cause.

But then I'm nothing but a blow-hard liberal elitist from Ontario, what do I know?

[idontrecognizeca-blog]

The hits just keep on coming, folks. We all know that a UN report came out a little while ago stating Canada was complicit in humans rights violations (ie. torture). Dear leader has until June 2013 to respond. Wonder who's to blame this time: The liberals, the NDP?

On behalf of all Candians: Sorry, world.

[idontrecognizeca-blog]

Due to the fact the Green Party doesn't have official party status, Elizabeth May is allowed to propose an unlimited number of amendments to bills that come back from committees.

She's promised to use this super power for the benefit of Canadians (wow, weird thing for a politician to do) and, with the help from a few Liberals, plans to table hundreds of proposed amendments in the hopes of creating a logjam. This could potentially be our last best hope for bringing some measure of sanity to dear leader's "budget" bill.

The money shot (re: US law enforcement entering Canada to arrest people under US law):

So this is how we're celebrating the War of 1812? We're surrendering?

The article finishes with another quote from May:

I refuse to accept it will pass just because the government has a majority.

Personally, I remain skeptical but hopeful.