The continued collapse of Alberta’s “progressives”.

July 13th, 2010

 While Alberta’s Liberal party still will not shed itself of it’s name (which equates to poison), individual left-wingers in Alberta have tried to cloak themselves by using the term “progressive” rather than Liberal. The vast majority of Albertans do not support left-wing movements however and it has been a rather dark comedy observing “progressives” ripping themselves apart in trying to hide from this reality.

 Eddie Stelmach is continuing to represent the “progressive” part of the Progressive Conservative Party through his continued top-down governance style and out of control spending. The recent flip-flop on teacher salaries and his questioning of the bonuses given to the people that he appointed himself prove a level of incompetence that only a progressive can achieve.

 On the Liberal front, a desperate David Swann issued an open letter begging for other “progressive” movements to join them so that they may possibly retain their status of official opposition in the next general election (the PCs will likely fill that role). Brian (irrelevant) Mason was quick to dismiss Swann’s plea as he is more than happy to keep his party in the two to three seat position that it enjoys. Mason likes being a big fish in a small pond and he will remain there.

 During the Stampede Parade an incident occurred that could not have been better scripted in the symbolism that it represented. An antique car was acquired and Swann along with his dwindling caucus tried to ride in the parade.

 The car broke down and they had to push it.

 Wow. The provincial Liberals forlornly pushing an outdated machine in front of tens of thousands of Albertans who are indifferent to them.

 Another group that dissed Swann’s love letter was the Alberta Party. For those not aware, the Alberta Party is a fringe political party that was taken over by a group of “progressives” who felt that the Liberals and NDP were not serving the needs of that minority of left-wing citizens of Alberta. These progressives rationed that the small pool should be split into wading ponds.

 This group of homeless progressives failed dismally in getting a few thousand signatures in order to form a fresh party so they took the route of taking over a small but existing party.

 The newly anointed leader of the Alberta Party is Edwin Erickson. Some may remember him from when he participated in the takeover of the Alberta Green Party which he subsequently destroyed.

 In light of recent events, it looks like Erickson is taking the skills he learned in dividing the Alberta Green Party and applying them to destroying the fledgling Alberta Party. Below are some transcripts from  Alberta Hansard where the Alberta Party presented to a legislative committee.

The Chair: I would ask that the Alberta Party take their chairs at the
end of the table, please. I’ll ask you to introduce yourselves, please.

Mr. Erickson: I’m Edwin Erickson, the leader of the Alberta Party.
I have an official statement to make from the party.

The Chair: And the other member, please?

Mr. Whyte: My name is Bob Whyte. I’m one of the Edmonton
region elected representatives. I’m perhaps the first person for this
party to register to make a presentation today. My presentation will
be very brief.

 Ok so here we have Edwin Erickson the apparent leader of the party and Bob Whyte a board member of the party each approaching the committee. Whyte felt he had to point out that he was the first person to register for this presentation. The reason for this comes below:

Mr. Erickson: I will make the official statement from the party.
Any other statement is not an official representation of the party and
is certainly not part of our mandate for being here.

 OK, so Erickson has to make it clear that he is the only one who can speak for the party. Elected board members may not do so and will not be considered part of the mandate or official.

 Quite the disclaimer. Rather ironic considering the Alberta Party is still wrapped in their idealistic and delusional “big listen” and that they are trying to come from some sort of high position in supporting democratic rights and free speech.

Mr. Erickson: Thank you. Mr. Chairman, members of the committee,
ladies and gentlemen, it’s my pleasure to speak to the committee
on behalf of the Alberta Party. I will take this opportunity to give
you a brief description of our party for your information, followed
by the Alberta Party’s recommendations to the committee.
The revitalized Alberta Party has suspended all its former policies
and on March 4 of this year embarked on a program to reach out to
Albertans through its Big Listen project. The intention of the Big
Listen project is to engage a wide cross-section of Albertans in the
process of creating party policy, with the first fruits of that labour to
be realized at our policy convention in November of this year. The
Big Listen project is born of the Alberta Party’s core belief in
exercising accountability, transparency, and collaboration with
members of the Alberta Party, with participants of the Big Listen,
and with all Albertans.
Although some initial thoughts on potential positive changes in
accountability for funding of leadership campaigns have been items
of discussion within the board of directors and executive of the
Alberta Party, it must be stressed that our party has not yet completed
the first decisive phase of the Big Listen program. Because
that process has not yet been fulfilled, we are not prepared to make
specific recommendations to the committee at this time.
However, we would like to make it known for the record that the
Alberta Party does definitely support in principle the concepts of
funding limitation,accountability,and transparency for all provincial
political parties when conducting partyleadership campaigns. In the
spirit of collaborative effort toward enhanced good government, as

July 8, 2010 Public Safety and Services PS-321

leader of the Alberta Party I extend the offer to work together with
the committee and all other political parties toward this common
goal.In closing, the Alberta Party wishes the committee success with
its endeavours to institute meaningful legislative or regulatory
reform applicable to all. Thank you for the opportunity. I’m
available for your questions.

 OK, so Erickson makes his big presentation which essentially is a plug for their party with no substance. Nothing new there.

 Now it gets more fun:

The Chair: Thank you, Mr. Erickson.
I’ll open the floor to Mr. Whyte for some comments.

Mr. Whyte: Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the
committee, for upholding my registration to speak here today. Very
briefly, I support the representations that were made in writing by
Mr. Robert Leddy, who is present today and who is a former interim
leader of our party.
I query one of the important statements made by the gentleman
who spoke before who stated, “The revitalized Alberta Party has
suspended all its former policies.” The query is because those
policies which have been adopted by the general membership of the
province continue until they are changed by the general membership
of the province. I think it is suitable to make a representation that a
board of directors cannot discharge the decisions of the general
membership. A board of directors needs to act within the mandate
that has been given to them, and it is on that point that I wanted to
speak here today. I felt if I remained silent, then I would be giving
consent by silence to this statement.
Thank you.

 Whyte has to begin by thanking the Chair for upholding his registration. Clearly Erickson and others in the Alberta Party tried to shut down Whyte’s right to speak to their committee. Thankfully  reason prevailed, Bob Whyte was allowed to speak and we can enjoy this comical event.

 Whyte is rightly mentioning that in their takeover of the Alberta Party, the rights of the existing members were completely ignored. The party constitution was completely trampled on too. How progressive.

 No wonder Erickson wanted Whyte shut out.

The Chair: Thank you.
I’ll open the floor to questions, starting with Mr. Allred.

Mr. Allred: Thanks, Mr. Chair. Mr. Whyte, in your reference to the
former policies of the party, was there any policy that dealt specifically
with this issue of disclosure of leadership campaign funding,
et cetera?

Mr. Whyte: To the best of my knowledge there was not. A lot of
work has been done on it, but it has not received the final imprimatur
of the board of directors.

Mr. Allred: So there never was a policy with regard to disclosure of
leadership campaign funding.

Mr. Whyte: To the best of my knowledge. There is a desire for
transparency and so on, but to the best of my knowledge there is no
exact provision on this.

Mr. Allred: So with regard to this particular issue, then, I would
presume that you and the leader are in concurrence.

Mr. Whyte: Generally speaking, yes.

Mr. Allred: Thank you.

The Chair: Okay. Thank you, Mr. Allred.

 OK, so through questions it is determined that the original Alberta Party never had any policies with regards to leadership donors.

Mr. MacDonald: Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Erickson, you
were present for the submissions made by the Conservative Party, by
Ms Notley from the New Democrats. Do you generally agree?
Certainly, the Alberta Liberals have been the leaders here. We have
had full and open disclosure for some time. The statements made by Ms
Notley and certainly the statements made by Mr. Smith that they,
too, would like to see an open, transparent disclosure process not
only for donations but also for expenses to leadership campaigns –
you’re the leader of the Alberta Party. What would you like to see
done?

Mr. Erickson: Well, I think my statement that I made saying that
we support in principle the concepts of limited funding, accountability,
and transparency for all political parties pretty well tells you that
we concur with that notion.

Mr. MacDonald: Thank you.

The Chair: Thank you, Mr. Macdonald.
The next question by Ms Calahasen.

Ms Calahasen: I understand that you both agree. According to the
concepts that you’ve been working with on the funding limitation
and accountability, both of you agree that there should be an
accountable measure to be able to deal with financial situations for
leadership races. Is that in fact true?

Mr. Erickson: Yes, that’s the general . . .

10:15

Ms Calahasen: Okay. Knowing that – and I understand that you
have not completed the Big Listen, as you call it – are there any
policies or anything that would guide this party to look at public
disclosure from a context of reporting, and what would your
thoughts be as to who should govern the management of such a
thing?

Mr. Erickson: I’m sorry that I can’t give you any indication in that
direction because of the fact that our process is incomplete. I’m here
today to fortify the concept that we do want increased accountability,
transparency, and fundraising limitation for leadership races.
Unfortunately, I can’t expound on that very much. I’m here to show
my party’s support to the concept.

Ms Calahasen: So if the party is in support of the concept and if our
process is finished before your process is finished, you would live
with whatever we come forward with in recommendations?

Mr. Erickson: Absolutely.

Ms Calahasen: Thank you.

 OK, so Erickson has confirmed that the new Alberta Party has no stand or policy in regards to leadership funding and disclosure either.

In other words, they had nothing to say yet felt compelled to waste time and people’s tax-dollars in order to stand before a public committee and air their internal party dirty laundry.

 Wow, those progressives sure know how to make good public impressions. 

 The entire original document can be found here.

 I sort of wish that the Alberta Party could get a seat or two so we could laugh at their antics in every Hansard. Alas, it is clear that they will rip themselves apart from within long before they get even a single constituency association registered. There is no way this group of folks will get themselves into a position of electability.

 The bottom line in all of this is that a small group of people will simply not face the reality that Alberta is not left-wing and their stunts are getting increasingly pathetic on all fronts as they try to dodge this reality.

 Meanwhile, the Wildrose Alliance Party continues to soar along on the heels of a monumental AGM and packed fundraisers.

 The next election is going to be a fun one indeed.

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Fired for being effective.

June 21st, 2010

 Well folks, I guess we really shouldn’t be all that surprised.

 As a reward for being one of the few people in city hall who is actually doing their job, city auditor Tracy McTaggart has been fired.

 This is third-world style politics people and it is nothing short of disgusting. McTaggart exposed the gross mismanagement and possible outright fraud that has been happening under the watch of our current  city council and now she has been fired for it.

 We need to find out which aldermen voted to fire McTaggart and assure that these people are fired in this fall’s civic election.

 What have these aldermen to hide?

 Sorry folks. I can only conclude that those aldermen who fear the auditor are hiding corruption. Their fear of transparency proves that they have something to hide. The next auditor (should we get another one) will not be able to do their job as they know that they will be fired for doing so.

 Calgary needs a true and comprehensive, outside audit ASAP before the paper-shredders can get too far.

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Alberta Liberals officially give up on trying to win provincial elections.

May 18th, 2010

 Well it is official. Rather than trying to look within and change themselves to suit Albertans, the Alberta Liberal Party has resigned itself as a permanent opposition party.

 I guess Swann is being honest in all this but it is still astounding. To outright say that your party will not run candidates in every constituency in the province is to say that you have no hope nor intention of winning the election.

 This must be a quite the slap in the face to those loyal Liberal supporters who have worked their butts off in constituencies that Swann could consider unwinnable and abandon. What about the donors in those constituencies with limited Liberal support?

 Most of all, what about the Liberal voters in these constituencies? As per usual, the Alberta Liberal Party continues to ignore the most important Albertans of all; those that vote. To outright alienate and abandon those voters who supported their own party is nothing less than unconscionable.

 It certainly is quite an assumption to make that those former Liberal voters who will be set adrift electorally will vote for whatever “progressive” option Swann directs them to.

 A Wildrose Alliance government is looking more likely by the day. Clearly Alberta’s Liberals are not ready to change themselves in order to become Alberta’s government in waiting and Albertans are ready for a new government.

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A biased view of the Alberta Liberal convention.

May 17th, 2010

  Yes, I am biased. I see some Liberal types have been whining at bloggers and tweeters for their daring to show a bias when posting/tweeting about Alberta’s hapless Liberal Party. Uhh, well yeah that happens guys. Blogs and tweets are pretty much editorial content and people are putting forth their personal views as they are entitled and expected to do. What you Liberals should be wondering is why 80% of the province demonstrates a bias against you rather than whining about the bias itself.

  Alas, it appears that the forlorn and dwindling Liberal supporters in Alberta have disregarded the sage advice I provided in the posting the other day and have accomplished little to nothing at their annual general meeting last weekend. This should not be that surprising I guess. Alberta’s Liberals have stubbornly clung to their losing formula in Alberta for nearly 100 years. With 2009/2010 being a year of exceptional disappointments for the Alberta Liberal party (plummeting in polls, by-election losses, MLAs quitting and/or seeking other positions)one would think that Alberta’s Liberals may consider doing something different for a change. One in thinking that would be wrong.

 If Albertans were polled and asked what annoyed them most about Liberals, I suspect that Liberal arrogance would top the list. Liberals arrogantly don’t really ask Albertans what they think so the vicious-circle continues and the Liberal Party of Alberta continues to dwell in electoral obscurity.

 I would imagine that those few remaining stalwart Alberta Liberals must be getting pretty dejected by now. One thing that a convention can provide is an opportunity to rally and inspire the troops. A popular means to  doing this is by bringing in a bright and inspiring keynote speaker. Alberta’s Liberals however decided to bring in somebody who typifies the Liberal arrogance that the Alberta electorate despises by inviting the uber-belligerent Warren Kinsella to speak to their gathered membership.

 Ahh yes guys. Nothing would amuse Albertans more and endear them to you than bringing in Chretien’s former attack dog. The Prime Minister who implied that Alberta needed “tough love” really won the hearts of Albertans. Establishing your continued and fawning relationship with the Liberal party of Canada was a brilliant move as well. How many federal Liberal seats are there in Alberta again?

 Now let’s see, Kinsella advised in his speech that the Liberals should “get nasty” and exploit rifts within conservatives in Alberta. Not only are Liberals in Alberta disconnected with the electorate but they would have to be disconnected with basic mathematics in order to consider that to be wise advice. The Liberal party of Alberta currently is sitting at 23% support and is dropping. The combined support of the two parties that are considered to be conservative is around 60%. No matter what way you divide up 60% the Alberta Liberal party still loses here.

 The journal reported on Kinsella’s idiotic advice and the comments from readers were rather telling.  Here are a couple gems from the few Liberal supporting folks who commented:

“The Liberals have been undercut and dismissed so long by the big money right wing that many Albertans are so brainwashed that they cannot see them as the decent alternative that they are, Plus, they are not left wing they are central”

 How can you not love that? Albertans who reject the Liberals are clearly brainwashed and the Liberals are not left wing. This after a baseless shot at an apparent “big money right wing”. Alberta’s Liberals should not only learn to listen to the electorate, they really should listen to themselves some time. The electorate is listening to the Liberals thus the rejection of the Liberals at election time.

 “60% of voters support right wing parties in Alberta? I can appreciate that all the displaced Americans in Calgary are trying to create Shrub’s Lil Texas in Alberta but I really thought real Albertans were too smart to cut their noses off to spite their faces. Unbelievable. Governments are here to serve the people not nameless faceless corporations and special interest groups. After almost 60 years in Alberta I will leave it gladly.”

 Sadly these are arrogant and idle threats. These folks don’t leave. They remain, they support Liberals while insulting Albertans while wondering why almost 80% of Albertans are rejecting them.

 Many have advised this to Liberals before but clearly Liberals and their supporters are not listening. I may as well say it again though it is likely pointless: Quit calling Albertans idiots for not supporting you!!  I assure you, it has not exactly helped you at the polls.

 Now, rather than examining themselves and asking what Albertans may want, our provincial Liberals decided to continue down that road of mathematical impossibility and came out with a useless yet divisive, fluffy resolution to cooperate with other “progressive” parties in the next provincial election. Clearly these folks are not aware that parties considered not to be “progressive” make up more than 60% of the voting electorate. Some claim that the non-voting population will rescue the Liberal party. That idiotic notion is fodder for a future posting.

  The NDP holds a small but solid following within Alberta. Even if 100% of the current NDP supporters suddenly voted Liberal, the Liberal party still could not form government. Rest assured that the NDP voters are not looking to go Liberal anyway so this cooperative notion really is foolish to say the least.

 The Calgary Glenmore by-election of last summer gave a perfect example of the futility of this concept of uniting the “progressive” parties. I was there for every day of that by-election and while I was quite busy with the WAP campaign, I was able to peripherally watch the campaigns of the other parties. Here is the one conclusion that so many Liberals can’t seem to get from that campaign: the “progressive” parties were united in Calgary Glenmore under Avalon Roberts, they gained nothing!!

 The Green Party was gone and the NDP ran a candidate who did no campaigning and as far as I can tell never even set foot in the city during the campaign. The “progressive” field was wide open for the Liberals. The Liberals threw everything they had at the campaign. Volunteers came from around the province while their MLAs dedicated time to things such as hypocritically campaigning outside of polling stations while decrying others doing the same thing (as Kent Hehr did). The turnout was very similar to that of the provincial election and the Liberals did not gain a point! The only thing the Alberta Liberals could have gotten out of that election was a lesson and in light of last weekend’s convention they clearly did not get that.

 Calgary Glenmore was a PC stronghold. The voters of Calgary Glenmore were prepared to reject the PC party and they did. It appears that none of those voters went to the Liberal party however. They went to the Wildrose Party en-masse as did the few Green voters who were there. The Liberals gained nothing despite their best efforts.

Please think about the above paragraph dear Liberal reader. Why were you rejected yet again? It was because you have not changed. What part of Albertans don’t vote Liberal do you not understand? How many decades of rejection will it take for this to get through to you? Even if won’t change the name, quit associating with the federal Liberals for crying out loud.  You guys remind me of that handful of stubborn Social Credit members seeking a time machine that will suddenly bring us back to supporting a theocracy based on flawed monetary theories. It won’t happen folks and the heady days when Decore took you to the right are gone too.

  Albertans are not going to change for the political ideals of Liberal stalwarts thus the Liberal stalwarts had best re-examine themselves.

 Some folks have broken away from the provincial Liberals and they have something of a clue anyway. They are actually trying to listen to Albertans or at least are pretending to. They appear to have put “progressive” filters over their own ears and are likely never going to go beyond being a social-club holding small meetings of like-minded people.  Those Alberta Party supporters still at least realize the futility of the Alberta Liberal approach. These people realize that Albertans want to be listened to. I suspect that these self-styled “progressives” won’t like the answers they would get if they broadened their meetings to Albertans at large as opposed to people within their own small circle.

 The staunch “big listeners” are already eying the Liberal idea with a jaundiced eye as are Alberta’s NDP.

 Albertans have had enough of the PC party and are seeking an alternative. With the clear lack of understanding demonstrated by Alberta’s Liberal party at last weekend’s convention, it is clear that the alternative party for Alberta remains to be the Wildrose Alliance Party.  

 The WAP remains a true grassroots party and was formed based on the needs and wants of Albertans as opposed to misguided ideals. Despite repeated efforts by Liberals and PCs to label the WAP as extreme, the Wildrose continues to establish itself as the alternative government within Alberta. Alberta voters are not as stupid as Liberals continue to assume and that has been reflected in the polls. While PCs and Liberals continue to spit outward, the WAP is looking inward and creating the party that Albertans want.  The Liberals really could have filled that role had they embraced populism but clearly they had no such interest in such a concept.

 The Reform Party swept Alberta and many of our federal seats are still held by Reformers. The PCs and Liberals kept telling Albertans (wrongly) that the Reformers were extremists. That strategy failed utterly as the PCs and Liberals got themselves essentially shut out from federal politics within Alberta. Despite this clear and stark lesson, Alberta’s provincial PCs and Liberals seem insistent upon repeating history on a provincial scale. I guess as a WAP supporter I should be happy about this but it does pain me to see folks who think they are so bright continue down a road so foolish. The day after election dejection must be unreal for Alberta’s handful of Liberal supporters.

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A 12 Step Program for the Liberal Party of Alberta to attain electoral viability.

May 13th, 2010

 Yes, the Alberta Liberal Party has hit a whole new level in demonstrating their disassociation with political reality and their utter lack of viability as a governing party with their release of a 12 step program for Alberta. While their 12 step release contains a great deal of the usual fluffy statements of limited substance, there are gems in there that really help illustrate what the Alberta Liberals are all about.

 One great idea is the banning of all corporate and union donations. Now on one hand, our Alberta Liberals have been patting themselves on the back for having retired their party debt through laying off their staff and putting on the lackluster performance these last two years that one would expect from a party with no money. There was of course some revenue brought in and dedicated to the party debt. Why, in 2009 alone the Liberal Party of Alberta solicited for and received $115,845 in corporate donations.

 Will the Liberal Party of Alberta lead through example and turn down corporate donations from here on in? Taft certainly is working to eliminate corporate donations to the party with his selective number crunching and attacks on Alberta corporations (employers) but that is not the same as the party itself turning down that money now is it? Alberta’s Liberals feel that the corporations who employ the majority of people in the province should not be able to donate to political parties. OK, fair enough. Show the other political parties how to run without corporate donations then Swann.

 The Liberal Party of Alberta knows that they will never form government Alberta and it shows in their unrealistic platforms.

 One would think that with nearly 100 years in opposition in Alberta that the Liberals would learn something by now. Stelmach has created the worst provincial government in living memory and brought the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta to record lows in provincial support. Have the Alberta Liberals been able to capitalize on this opportunity? Nope. With their best chance to form government in nearly a century in front of them, Alberta’s Liberal party has found itself in a distant third place in the polls.

 What solution was found to this voter rejection of Alberta’s dwindling Liberals? What profound initiative was going to bring the Liberal Party of Alberta into contention? Which of the Liberal’s 12 step program steps would solve this conundrum?

 In step 8 the Liberals want to financially castrate themselves. In step 10 the Liberals feel that they have found the route to all those hidden Alberta Liberal voters. The Liberal step 10 calls for us to pay people to go out and vote. That’s right, Alberta’s Liberals feel that we should offer $50 tax credits to everybody who goes out and casts a ballot. Of course, the provincial Liberals seem to be ignoring the reality that even if people suddenly felt inspired to cast a ballot due to this initiative; they still probably would not vote for the Alberta Liberals. Tax credits are really only beneficial to the employed. People who support the Alberta Liberal brand of socialism usually don’t suffer from excess income tax as they usually are not bothered by such annoyances as employment. The chronically self-entitled are the domain of the NDP anyway who are not going to be amused by the Liberal concept of banning union donations to political parties.

 With dozens of electoral defeats in Alberta, the best the Liberal Party of Alberta can do is create a lame 12 step program that demands that we pay people to vote.

12 step programs exist and have been used to help correct people who practice compulsive and self-destructive behaviors (primarily addictions) for decades.  Let’s have a look at how the classic 12 step program could be applied to Alberta’s Liberal party.

Step 1 – We admitted we were powerless over our addiction – that our lives had become unmanageable.

 Well, the Liberals have indeed been powerless in Alberta for a long time and Liberals in general have demonstrated that they are addicted to the fruits of the labors of others through taxation. It will be a tough step for Liberals to actually admit this though.

 Hey guys, you have to work the program. Let reality be your guide and admit for a change. Voters appreciate humility and they certainly have no appreciated the Alberta Liberal Party. Give it a crack. You have very little to lose.

 Step 2 – Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity

 OK, classic 12 step programs get pretty spiritual and that can be a hindrance to participants. In order to deal with this, programs have allowed their participants to define their own “higher power” into one of their own understanding in case the addict may be an agnostic or practice something outside of mainstream faiths.

OK Liberals, listen up! I am going to define the power greater than yourselves to be that of the electorate. You know, those folks who shun you at every election who you then label as fools for their not having voted for you who then loathe you and your Liberal ways even more thus causing you to go deeper into your ivory-tower world thus separating you further from real Albertans thus dropping you in the polls thus…………….. How’s that for a run-on sentence? I think it helps make the point of the self-destructive cycle Alberta’s Liberals are in though.

 For the remainder of the 12 steps I will substitute the word “God” with “the electorate”. In electoral politics voting (the ones who stay home on election day mean nothing) are God as far as political parties are concerned (at least to parties who want to actually get elected one day).

 Come to believe that the electorate can restore you to sanity Liberals!

Step 3 – Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of the electorate as we understood the electorate.

 OK folks, not all of this should be taken literally.

 You Liberals most certainly should be turning your lives and will over to that of the electorate. This is the key misunderstanding that Alberta Liberals have of the electorate. Albertan voters want to be listened to, not dictated to. The snotty and condescending attitude that Alberta’s Liberal party sends out to the electorate is not exactly endearing. The  academic champagne socialism of the Alberta Liberal party does not sell. Get used to it and get over it.  You either respect democracy or you  don’t. The majority of Albertans do not embrace the Alberta Liberal brand of leftism. Learn this or forever resign yourselves to the opposition benches like the NDP whom you are not very far from at all lately.

 Now back to that “understood the electorate”. Alberta’s Liberals do not understand the electorate at all as they constantly refuse to listen to them. A group of some disaffected Liberals realized part of this and have broken away from the Liberal Party of Alberta to take part in the Alberta Party with their “big listen”. While the listening has been realized, the undemocratic takeover of an existing party has not exactly gotten that bunch off to a good beginning. I am getting the impression that they are claiming to listen but are rather selective so far in what they want to hear. Holding coffee meetings all over the place is indeed dandy, but it will not win seats in the end which really is all that matters if one wants to achieve their goals.

 Do a “big listen” dammit! Shut your Liberal mouths for a minute and listen to the Albertans that you purport to care about. Don’t just listen like the breakaway group though; act on what you hear. Represent those speaking to you and work to get yourselves into a place where you can make the changes that Albertans tell you they want (some call that place the legislature).

 In other words, turn your will over to the electorate as counseled to in this step.

Step 4 – Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves

 OK, having not been in power since the turn of the last century you really have few contemporary examples to view for your moral inventory.  Federally though, your Liberal counterparts have held power on many occasions. Whether through Trudeau’s assault on the West or Chretien’s sheer arrogance and the corrupt shenanigans of his cabinet, the Liberal brand has been completely soiled in Alberta. Look within guys and admit this. Be fearless and accept this.

 Morally, what else are you Liberals in this for? Do you respect democracy? Do you want to represent the majority of Albertans or are you seeking a backdoor way to pursue your personal ideals? Most Albertans feel that Liberals are pursuing the latter goal (voters are more perceptive than you Liberals give them credit for).

 Alberta’s Liberals are in desperate need of some soul-searching. An honest practice of step 4 will go a long way towards that.

Step 5 – Admitted to the electorate, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs

 Now, if you Liberals properly pursued step 4, you will have gotten yourself a list of things that you have done wrong. Rest assured if the list is short, you need to repeat step 4.

 I am going to bring up the name of the person you Liberals consider to be the “Great Satan” of Alberta politics; Ralph Klein. Yes, Klein came from nowhere and snatched the last vague chance you Liberals ever had of forming government under Lawrence Decore from you. Most of you are still stuck in that Decore lala land thinking it will come back for you. Here is one hint on what Decore did that you guys can’t or won’t; Lawrence Decore campaigned from the right-wing.

 Back to Klein, rather than demonizing the man, try to learn from him. Love him or hate him, Klein was unquestionably one of the most successful politicians in the entire history of Alberta. Now here is something important about Ralph Klein that relates to step 5. Listen closely:

   ADMIT IT WHEN YOU ARE WRONG!!!!!

Nothing puts off voters in Alberta more than that usual Liberal arrogance. You guys have been wrong for decades and it is undeniable. That is why you are still in distant opposition. Why do you think that if you use the same formula over and over again that something will change?

 People want to see some humility from you clowns. Drop your nose down an inch and look a voter in the eye for a change. You may be amazed with the results.

 Klein made mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes. Klein used to admit that he made mistakes. Do you Liberals remember that? What would happen after Klein admitted to making a mistake? The PC party jumped in the polls!! Think about that.

 Alberta needs to be convinced that the Liberal Party has recognized the nature of it’s wrongs and is legitimately changing it’s ways. Are you guys ready to do that? How much more electoral rejection will it take before you do this? You don’t need to making and admitting to a mistake a minute, but geeze guys you have to be realizing that you need to change some things.

Step 6 – Were entirely ready to have the electorate remove all these defects of character

 OK guys, this gets back to that listening and acting. Do you have faith in the electorate? Do you want to listen to them and actually represent them? Will you represent the electorate even when it may clash with your personal ideals?

 The electorate will remove your defects of character. They will tell you what they want you to do. You have to be prepared to listen to the electorate in good faith in order for this to work.

Step 7 – Humbly asked the electorate to remove our shortcomings

OK, I have to admit that the steps get a little repetitive here. The point is important though and is worth repetition.

 You have searched yourself, you have questioned the electorate and you have come to some conclusions. Are you ready to put those conclusions into action?

 Your opportunity is at election time. Is your platform based on the wishes of the electorate or is it built on your flawed and repeatedly rejected Liberal ideals?

 Have you any idea what it is to humbly do anything? I understand that this is another one of those challenges for many Liberals. Be humble and give the voters what they want for a change. You may be astounded by the results.

 Try to cut back on calling Albertans rednecks and decrying the province as some sort of backwards cesspool. I assure you that the voters do hear you when you pull that crap.

Step 8 – Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all

 Here is one area where your utter electoral failure has made your job easier for you. Having not been able to gain any power, you really have not been able to harm many people.

 Your initiatives and platforms have been an assault on common sense and your supporters chronic talking down to the electorate have been an offense to good taste. You can’t make amends to taste or common sense however.

 How about people who have supported the Liberal Party through fiscal and volunteer support through the years only to watch you guys throw away election after election? These people must feel like season ticket holders to the Maple Leafs.

 At this point, are you willing to make amends?

 Step 9 – Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others

The best way you can make amends is to follow these steps and actually become a force in the province guys.

 Easier said than done.  If you listen to the electorate, your making of amends will not injure others.

 The collective wisdom of Albertans is more than you Liberals will give them credit for. Try following it for a change.

Step 10 – Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it

OK, now we are talking. You have reformed yourself, your party is growing in the polls. Hell, lets jump waaaaaay ahead and assume that you have gotten the Liberals into power in Alberta for the first time in nearly 100 years.

 Sorry guys, the work is not done. These steps are an ongoing process. Were your prior steps a means to an end or did you truly reform yourself? If you simply pretend to work the earlier steps, rest assured the electorate will continue to see through you so you will not get into power and this step is moot.

 There is always a risk that you will get into power and fall back into your old Liberal ways. I guess if you want a single term before sinking into another century of electoral obscurity you could disregard this step.

Step 11 – Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with the electorate as we understood the electorate, praying only for knowledge of the electorate’s will for us and the power to carry that out

Consult your higher power (the electorate) at all times whether in or out of power.

 Your own best thinking has failed you. What have you got to lose in asking voters what they want for a change?

 Prayer and meditation are not really required for this. Polling, townhall meetings and doorknocking will suffice.

 Only the electorate can grant your wishes. That can’t be stressed enough to you guys thus the repetition.

Step 12 – Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs

 Here is the good news guys. Once you are truly reformed, you can spread the good word country wide. Liberals languish in an electoral wasteland in many provinces within Canada. If you guys could learn to win in Alberta, you could help Liberals in Canada win in any jurisdiction.

 Congratulations on completing your 12 steps.

 Of course, I am somewhat skeptical of the capability of Alberta’s Liberals in reforming themselves so I will stick to supporting the Wildrose Alliance Party who’s willingness to listen to and represent Albertans is reflected in current polls.

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Dogs are evil!!!!!

December 29th, 2009

 Let’s see now; you have done everything you thought possible to be “green”. You have slogged your way back on foot from the organic market with overpriced, wormy and shrivelled, fair-trade produce to feed your vegan diet. You suffer frostbite during these trips as the organic hemp-wear outfit you have allowed yourself the luxury of is not quite as insulating as you would like and the global warming that you were confident would arrive has not appeared for some reason. At least you will have the smug satisfaction of being green as you apply organic, locally-grown bandages to that peeling skin, you have not frivolously used a carbon belching, combustion-driven machine to get to the trough.

 You shiver at night while trying to read the dog-eared, second hand book that you borrowed as you refuse to turn the heat past 10 degrees. Again that hemp-quilt seems a little inadequate. Your eyes are strained as you try to define the print under the weak light of a $50 special green LED light as conventional illumination is indeed the work of Satan. Hey, even if you go blind it is OK; you have been wearing those little round John Lennon style glasses for effect for years now. Finally you will be able to justify a prescription for them.

 You dedicate an hour a day in summer to hand weeding your lawn as you fear the allegations of environmental effects of herbicide. Sure no study has proven such ill-effects but hey, we must be green right? Keeping up is difficult as the nearby city property is a sea of yellow due to Pincott and Farrell having been successful in banning city use of such chemicals. Your day is rather crunched though as what used to be a 10 minute drive to work is now a one-hour, hair-raising bicycle ride or even longer walk as you have eschewed the evils of motorized transport.

 You grow a herb-garden in the back yard in a futile attempt to add flavor to your rather bland and lifeless vegan diet of unpronouncable beanish things. You have fertilized the garden with a mixture of regular compost mixed with your own feces in hopes of saving our waterways. You recycle every conceivable thing despite reports that we really don’t actually have efficient means to recycle them. Who cares about reality? You need a distraction from the self-loathing that you endure in having been born a natural enemy of the earth. A distraction from the itch and burn in the nether regions due to the use of single-ply, recycled, organic toilet paper (only one sheet per poop as Sheryl Crow told you) is nice as well.

 You do it all. On your weekends you attend any rally opposing pretty much everything that you can find. You don’t quite understand what globalism is but dammit you are strongly opposed to it. Your compatriots are smashing windows at these rallies, assaulting police officers and wearing designer shoes that were made in third-world nations by child labor. That’s OK, you are confident that their facial piercings must be organic at least. It does not seem to make sense to you but those who lead you tell you this is worthwhile in saving dear Gaea. You do what the herd does as you revel in your perception of individuality.

 You have allowed yourself to indulge in one pleasure in life. It does feel wrong but you can’t help yourself. With 23 hours per day dedicated to self-sacrifice in the name of mother-earth you need one hour of pleasure.

 Yes, you have adopted a dog. With days filled with guilt and self-hatred, the unquestioning love that is displayed in your furry friend’s eyes give a break from stress and restraint that is unparalleled. The dog does not get on your case for having eaten meat in your youth. The dog does not harp on you for having eaten that Nestle chocolate bar in a moment of weakness in 2002. The dog does not even complain about the meat-locker style cold that you live within. The dog is always overjoyed to see you as you experience joy in seeing it. The dog never complains of the scent you emit due to a refusal to use detergent-laden soap or deodorants that may offend the environmentally sensitive. The dog does not want to talk about the plight of the albino, Equadorian sea-slug nor the endangered booger-lichen of the Northern Andes.

 This little indulgence can’t hurt can it?

 ALAS!!! YOUR ECO-LEADERS HAVE DETERMINED THAT DOGS ARE KILLING MOTHER EARTH!!!!

Sadly and unsurprisingly, some eco-driven scientists in New Zealand have determined that owning a dog is actually twice as bad as driving an SUV. The dog consumes food that could feed children in the third-world and his farts are eating our ozone. Cats are evil as well by the way and these nuts have even found that owning goldfish is the equivalent of using two portable phones.

 Your dog ownership has completely countered the sacrifice and misery that you have endured in your adult life. Those fawning brown eyes were simply there to distract you from the reality that your pooch was put on this earth (like yourself) simply to ruin it. You collapse on the floor in despair. Sadly, no neighbors hear the collapse as your malnourished vegan body creates nary a flop. Gluten-free, vegan, organic, fluoride-free tears become free-range as they flow from your sunken-eyes.

 Ohhh woe is you. How many acres of Brazilian rainforest are you now directly responsible for the destruction of? How many hairs have fallen from the arses of how many polar bears due you your selfishness? Will a new hole in the ozone be named for you? Why didn’t you just enjoy a little bacon now and then? Questions. Self-doubt is now mixed with your self-loathing. Your high-horse has vanished. You are no better than those neighbors with the sports car that you sneered at. Perhaps you are worse. You should have known better.

Exposed for what He is, your supposed best friend approaches and offers you what humans have offered His species for a century when it is found (by somebodies definition) that you no longer serve a beneficial purpose to the planet.

 All I can say is that I hope a degree of reality has kicked in by now you trendy, eco-kook.

 Oh and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

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If you feel like making your eyes bleed for some reason….

December 27th, 2009

 May I suggest that you read some of the wisdom provided within the forums and articles at rabble.ca.  

 Rabble has been around for some years now as a haven for elements of Canada’s extreme left wing. The site initially enjoyed government subsidies and actually offered tax-receipts to donors. After having been exposed the site lost such benefits in embarrassment but sadly still does exist. Despite their constant pleas for funding in the past (and demands for tax dollars) it is obvious that an online discussion site does not require multiple full time staff members (as rabble used to have).

 Either way, I do pop in there now and then when I am seeking a distraction. Reading the rabblers tying themselves into knots while discussing ways to save the world without ever offending anybody in any sort of way is entertaining in a dark-comedy sort of way. The infighting on their threads is worthy of a chuckle for the political voyeur as well as one tries to out-extreme the other in their self-styled political correctness. It does appear that the only thing that these people can really unite upon is their deep seated loathing for individual success on any level.

 Going through their labor threads, feminism threads etc. etc. one constantly sees calls for the boycotting of this and that. It must be incredibly difficult to be an extreme left wing consumer in this day and age. The obvious purveyors of evil such as Wal-Mart go without saying in demanding boycotts of course. It is the ever growing list of other companies that is laughable.

 I see they hate American Apparel stores. Now American Apparel prides itself on purchasing and selling only domestic-made products and refusing to exploit third world labor. Isn’t that what the left has self-righteously been demanding of all businesses? Well aside from the clear American involvement (lefties hate all things American of course), it turns out that American Apparel may be guilty of refusing to hire enough ugly people. Yup, I am not kidding. I saw the term “lookism” for the first time in my life on rabble and nearly choked on my coffee (no it is not free trade or organic). Wow. Now what should be done? Shall there be quotas set for a level of ugliness among the employees? Perhaps a union of the esthetically challenged should be formed (I would hate to attend their rallies). What happens if an ugly person evolves into a good looking person through change of diet or something? Should this neo-attractive person resign any management positions? Decisions decisions.

 How about the Body Shop. They sell products that are natural, hypo-allergenic, fair-trade, yadda yadda yadda and have openly refused to sell anything that has been tested on animals. They are OK right? WRONG! The Body Shop is evil as somewhere in their corporate structure a subsidiary of another company that crossed paths with some corporate soul has made a many times removed connection to the evil empire of Nestle incorporated. Nestle is on the evil list for selling baby formula thus people MUST NOT shop at the Body Shop. This is of a limited dilemma to people on the fringe of the left anyhow since personal hygene has never really been a priority in their subculture. They can still roll in organic dust or something in order to get clean. Any other body aromas may be covered with copious application of pitchouli oil (as I have discovered at left-wing rallies to my dismay).

 No petroleum companies are good nor automotive. We are supposed to walk or bike wherever we go of course. Well what is a good place for walking and hiking apparel? Mountain Equipment Coop comes to mind of course. They are a coop thus are not evil capitalists, they purchase fair-trade and all that crap so why not? Well it appears that MEC is going too far into the bicycle market and they have displaced some small bike retailers thus they rallying cry has been sent; BOYCOTT MEC!!!! Yup, MEC got to that point where they could be considered successful thus they are now not worthy of the patronage of pompous lefties. Only free-range bicycles handcrafted by some local tinker are now socially acceptable.

 Where is that magic line where a company goes from a nice little outfit to a corporate demon anyway? Starbucks is a prime example of this evolution. Starbucks began as a snotty little outfit that justified overcharging for coffee by going out of their way to purchase politically correct everything. Lefties could gather and share their pretension guilt-free and drink coffee that was saving the world somehow. Alas, the model was too good and Starbucks is now yet another evil corporate empire worthy of loathing and boycott by the left. Sigh….

 Tim Hortons is out too by the way. They have some American ownership and they cause too much pollution. They make a profit too which is of course immediate grounds for boycott.

 The great thing with left-wing boycotts is that they are completely ineffective anyway. You see, the majority of those who are calling for these boycotts are students or graduates with liberal-arts degrees (waiters/waitresses) who really have utterly no economic clout anyway. Sure there are champagne socialists such as Maude Barlow and David Suzuki who make immense money on the left. These folks purchase their stuff from high end specialty shops that are not part of these boycotts anyway.

 The pains in attempted political correctness are fun to watch with them too. It is quite a lexicon that the left must keep up upon in order to avoid offending anybody. Crippled went to handicapped went to special which went to disabled which went to differently abled which went too…..  bah I  don’t know. The term used makes no difference, it is the respect that a person displays towards people within that identifiable group. Smug fools who feel changing the term used changes the reality are living in the wrong world.

 The feminism forum is an entertaining read. The embittered gals who fire their venom at everything even conceivably male is almost frightening in it’s profound hypocrisy and hatred. It must be nice to plant every personal shortcoming one endures directly on the feet of another gender. Much better to blame men for everything rather than to better one’s self. The feminists hate exploitation of women thus harped on pretty strongly against prostitution. Alas, some women who have chosen prostitution spoke up and a conundrum regarding choice arose. The battle was legendary. The solution was to make an entirely new forum catering to issues with sex-trade workers and the feminists stick to their own. The growth in side forums at the site is interesting to say the least.

 The reviews of the movie Avatar are interesting. Apparently the movie is racist, it is anti-disabled and is pretty much evil in general. What their issue really is of course is that the movie is popular and successful. Those are two qualities that the left oppose at every opportunity.

 It must be stressful and tough living in such a world where one has to constantly tiptoe and live in a politically correct world. One needs to embrace a complete disconnect with economic and pretty much general reality in order to do so. Rabble contains those willing to pursue that disconnect. Thankfully these folks are a tiny but vocal minority among us.

 We see the extremes highlighted on the right on a regular basis. The extremists on the left are often overlooked. There is little to be gained in reading rabble aside from a distraction. I do feel that people should pop in there now and then though if only to remind themselves that such lunatics do exist out there.

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Holy Crap!! I’m mortal!!

December 23rd, 2009

 Yeah I know, for most people that conclusion about themselves is pretty much a no-brainer. Of course, I was always aware that I was indeed going to pass on to the great beyond eventually. I took an assumption that the passing would not happen until well past my retirement. I have taken my health for granted through heavy smoking, poor diet and sending a little too much single-malt towards my liver since my adulthood. To be fair to myself (though it does not justify my poor living), I have been in excellent physical condition due to genetic luck and regular exercise. I had not seen a doctor in well over a decade as I had not had a single symptom of anything that demanded that I do so.

 Well in the last few weeks I have seen more clinics and doctors than I had seen in my entire life. I will back up a bit and explain here.

 A couple months ago I headed to Southern New York to work on an exploration program (Stelmach has assured that there are few to none in Alberta). Within a few days of my arrival, I noticed for the first time a small, hard lump under my jaw. I saw little of concern at the time but did decide to keep an eye on it. The lump continued to grow over the next few weeks and I did begin to become concerned. As I was indeed still considered immortal on my leaving Canada, I had never even considered purchasing any extended health coverage for being out of country. I had reached a point of concern where I was resigned to see a doctor but was willing to wait a couple weeks until I returned to Canada and coverage. Needless to say that last couple weeks in New York was rather stressful and I wisely compounded the stress by researching the many many things that such a lump could be. The internet can indeed be a cruel tool for a new and budding hypochondriac. I had convinced myself of the possibility that I had dozens of potentially fatal conditions by the time I boarded the plane home.

 OK, so I finally got my butt to a doctor and had this thing looked at. I still tried to convince myself that I was simply being paranoid and so indeed did my doctor until he examined the lump. On the bright side, my web based research led to an accurate self-diagnosis. With a hard and attached mass growing in that location it was looking pretty likely that I had a submandibular tumor. I was promptly set up for some blood work and an ultrasound of the area. The ultrasound confirmed a tumor due to the density and location. Now we needed to seek the cause and nature of this thing. The term that the radiologist used for my next step was “expedited biopsy”. Did I mention that I rarely even  get colds?

 OK, moving on a few more days I am nervously in the treatment room of a specialist who is doing my biopsy. The good doctor did a thorough head and neck examination before beginning. In doing so, he determined that my thyroid is enlarged and suggested that I get blood work and an ultrasound to find out the cause of that. The biopsy was performed and I was sent on my less than merry way to await the results.

 I went in a couple months from a carefree guy with no health issues to a person who couldn’t seem to visit a doctor without them finding something else wrong with me. I was rather dejected and went to bed that evening fully expecting that I would awaken to find that my testicles had simply fallen off during the night. I had enjoyed figurative emasculation in my last marriage, I figured that the literal one was well on it’s way.

 My knackers did indeed remain with me I am happy to report. I did have to sleep a few more times before finding out the results of my biopsy however. If a person ever wants to truly slow time for themselves, I must say that nothing has made a clock move more slowly for me than to await the results of my biopsy. My high school French teacher could not even rival such time-slowing abilities.

 Now for some good news. The biopsy determined no cancerous cells in my tumour. Since then, the blood work has found that there appears to be nothing wrong with my thyroid though the ultrasound did find slight enlargement. For the time being, we are leaving things alone and seeing how they progress. While it is likely that I will still have to go in and have this thing removed from my jaw, it is not immediately critical. As we are going to be together for some time, I have decided to name my tumour Ed. The name reflects a problem that needs to be rectified but that I am forced to live with until the opportunity for removal presents itself.

 Now, that long and babbling story behind me I may as well get back to the subject at the title of this rant; my discovery of personal mortality. The long and sleepless period I enjoyed while waiting for test results certainly put thoughts and plans into my mind that I never really dwelled upon. Some was simple self-evaluation and wondering if I have even come close to accomplishing what I wanted to in this lifetime and others drifted into spirituality (I still remain an agnostic). I did vow to myself that I would no longer take my health for granted as I had. So far, I have not had a cigarette in nearly a month. The diet and scotch thing will be easier to tackle after the holidays but it is my intent to improve in those areas as well.

 I don’t plan to turn into a health nut who eschews all that is enjoyable in life nor will I live in fear that death is always lurking around the corner waiting for me. I will stop assuming that I am fated for a long life however and certainly will not do any of the obvious things that can lead to a premature demise (such as smoking). I am happy with how I have come out of this. I think this wakeup call has given me an improved outlook on things. I still have a pile to learn about myself what to do with myself within this life but I do think I have learned at least one big lesson.  

 A perception of mortality and a realization that one could drop-dead at any given moment does not mean that I need to live in fear or assume that I will not live until a ripe old age. Were I prone to live in fear however, our society sure is eager to feed me with things to be fearful of. There are clowns calling for the end of the world surfacing daily and a sensationalist media that is more than eager to give these people ink. Hysteria built upon nothing is the order of the day and I see no end to it soon.

 Every year it appears that some form of flu or infection makes the headlines and we get to hear about how it is a disaster ad nauseum despite the actual fatality numbers giving any credibility to this fear mongering.

 How about the dreaded West Nile virus. This one did wonders for insect repellent sales and caused fearful parents to douse their children in DEET if indeed they dared venture outside at all. How many people has this insidious and headline making virus killed in Canada anyway? To have kept us in fear for nearly a decade the deaths must indeed be in the tens of thousands. West Nile Virus has killed 42 people in Canada in the last 6 years.  WOW. If that death rate doubles, it may get near the number of people killed by lightning.

 How about SARS. You know the one. That virus of Asian origin that assaulted the center of Canada’s universe and called for mass Toronto subsidies due to tourist losses. Well this one is tougher to find global numbers on but one estimate is that almost 800 people died worldwide in 2002!!! The world population is around 7 billion and I will let you do the math on the odds of dying of SARS. In Canada overall we had 39 deaths by the way. That puts things in the one in a million range locally. Yes, we saw an entire year of breathless hysterical coverage of a diseases that has killed one in a million people.

 The disease flavor for this year is H1N1 of course. Solid numbers are difficult to find but one thing that we can conclusively determine is that we have gotten much better at making much ado about nothing. You see, the flu kills thousands of people every year in Canada as do other respiratory illnesses. This year we have simply given a name to one of the more particularly nasty strains going about. The deaths have not even come close to warranting the spending, the media or the general fear caused by this. That has not stopped this story from leading the headlines and creating countless new cases of agoraphobia.

 Here is a beauty that nobody likes to touch. When I graduated high school in 1988, we were all told that we would all know at least one person who will die of AIDS within a decade. We were assured that the disease was rampantly leaving the high risk groups where it dwelled at the time and would be sweeping the heterosexual, non-IV-drug using community. Massive public campaigns were launched. Research funding for AIDS surpassed (and still does) the funding for killers such as heart disease and cancer. Well folks, AIDS is still incurable and it has been over 20 years, how rampant has the spread been? AIDS does not even come close to killing 1000 people per year in Canada. The vast majority of HIV infections are still gay males and IV drug users by the way. I am not saying we should care less because of the effected groups, I am simply pointing out that we have indeed been fed bullshit in the demographics in a (successful) effort to spread a general fear of a disease that most of us have little reason to fear.

 The death count from global cooling as forecasted by environmentalists in the 70s or from the contemporary hysteria of global warming remains at a grand total of 0 so far by the way.

 Lead toys, hairspray, water bottles, trans-fats, saturated fats, good sugars, bad sugars, saccharine, good cholesterol, bad cholesterol………. damn, what won’t kill us anyway?

 Why do we see such exaggeration of deathly threats anyway? Well one part of it simply goes back to the old “if it bleeds, it leads” mantra of the media. Will people stay tuned if a flu is reported to kill one in 10 million people? People will pay attention if the true number is left out and it is implied that this new flu is spreading like wildfire and may kill us all. This is not some nefarious conspiracy on the part of the media; this is simple economics. Ratings drive advertising rates leading to profits thus reporting is geared towards increasing ratings. Sadly, viewers respond and keep viewing when they fear for their (or their children’s) lives.

 The global warming hysteria comes down to money as well though on a couple fronts. Greenpeace is multinational corporation burning through hundreds of millions of dollars. They need to keep the revenue coming in if they expect to pay their thousands of staffers. Now what gets more income for Greenpeace; a flyer going out saying “there is a theory that man may cause global temperatures to rise .5% in the next 100 years” or a flyer saying “man is causing cute fuzzy polar bears to die, the oceans will drown all coastal cities due to rising and your children will fry like bacon”? 

  Copenhagen showed how socialist groups have found a new way to try and tear down democratic and developed nations too. Using fear to hide facts, people are being convinced that by impoverishing ourselves and giving our funds to third-world dictators so that they may further slaughter their own people we may somehow keep global warming from happening. Socialism has never needed to be based in fact and their latest efforts demonstrate that.

Fear is a powerful tool that is commonly used to move large volumes of people whether through media, government or special interest groups.

 Now to finish off what is a looong and digressing ramble. I have learned new levels in fear for my own life. I have learned that my life will indeed end at some point and I should make reasonable efforts to defer that as long as possible. I will not let myself be led into a pointless fear of everything as so many have been.

 I have learned that life is a finite thing and it should not be taken for granted.

 Eschewing countless pleasures due to baseless fears is wasteful and is a form of taking life for granted.

 I will not live in fear or guilt no matter what the hysterical eco/health groups tell me through the all too eager media.

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Ed Stelmach is the worst Premier in Canada.

December 17th, 2009

 While most of us already knew that, it is nice to see an official poll come out to confirm it. A whopping 14% of Albertans approve of the leadership of Ed Stelmach.

 It would appear that 86% of Albertans know what 77% of the dwindling Progressive Conservative stalwarts don’t seem able to figure out; Stelmach’s administration has been an utter disaster of incompetence. With nearly 80% of the party rallying around Feeble Ed while the vast majority of the province rejects him, the disconnect that the PC party has with Alberta is rather well illustrated.

 The economy excuse no longer holds water Ed. Saskatchewan has a resource based economy. Brad Wall is supported by 58% of the province. Newfoundland is enjoying the same recession that we are Ed. Their premier has 78% support.

 Rather than pursue some desperately needed introspection, Ed has of course lashed out instead. Yes, Ed has attacked the Wildrose Alliance Party today calling us such nasty things as “draconian”.

 Uhh Ed, the party you are calling draconian has taken the lead in the province of Alberta. Essentially you are calling a giant segment of the province draconian. Great strategy Ed. You should give Olsen another bonus from the tax-kitty for that one. Are you trying to get to single digit support Ed? You are certainly within striking distance of that record.

 Never have we seen such an utter rejection of an administration in Canada. Unfortunately, there is no way to get rid of this gang of fools until the Premier chooses to call an election.

 I think we can safely say that this will be Stelmach’s last term in office no matter how long he tries to cling to it.

Posted in Wildrose Alliance Party, democracy | 1 Comment »

Looks like it is Alberta’s oil this week.

December 13th, 2009

 When Central Canada is seeking money to bail out their failing industries they shamelessly take well over $10 billion per year from Alberta. The energy wealth generated by Western workers is a Canadian asset to be shared by the West. Westerners who dare question the socialistic program of equalization are immediately labelled as greedy and selfish. While thousands and thousands of energy workers have been laid off in the West, it is considered a national disaster when an Ontario chocolate factory shuts down and lays off a few-hundred people. While EI is nearly impossible for an Albertan to qualify for, a maritime worker only has to work a few weeks to qualify.

 The parasitic nature of Canada’s system is nothing new and there has been plenty of discussion on it. What is infuriating though is the ingratitude displayed by these bumming neighbors in confederation.

 While activists and politicians are falling all over themselves to try and cripple their home economies by signing into unrealistic emissions agreements in Copenhagen, Ontario and Quebec representatives are whining that they should not shoulder any of the costs as Canada’s emissions are pretty much entirely Alberta’s fault.

 Yes, while these provinces will happily siphon the profits from the West, they have no interest in paying the price for an active industry.

 How about this then. Ontario and Quebec are welcome to kiss the collective asses of the West. As long as Eastern hands are out and begging for dollars from the West, they have no damn right to complain about it.

 Ontario and Quebec are more than welcome to purchase blood-soaked Middle Eastern oil if they like as opposed to Alberta’s dirty oil. Rest assured, there are plenty of eager customers in the world for Alberta’s products.

 I am sure that Alberta could make very good use of that $14 billion per year that we pay in federal taxes with no return in services.  I am more than tired of the double standard of this nation.

ingratitude

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