Wednesday, December 07, 2011

An Even Better Christmas Present

Sask. changes clear in study
"The first wave of analyses from a massive study undertaken by the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy indicates just how great a sea change has occurred in Saskatchewan.

That the province's environment is remarkably different from a decade ago is difficult to miss. But just how much of an impact the changes have had on traditional voting trends wasn't clear until the school took advantage of the Nov. 7 election to parse out why people voted the way they did.

As political scientist David McGrane put it, "The Saskatchewan Party killed the NDP.""
[---]
"Of the 30 groups the researchers examined, the majority in 29 groups voted for the Saskatchewan Party. These included such traditional NDP supporters as those with low incomes, young persons and the elderly, unionized workers, urban, suburban, and rural voters, and even public sector workers.

Not only was the Saskatchewan Party successful in getting its message out, but Monday's throne speech made it clear Mr. Wall was also listening. Included in the 20-page document are promises to make housing more affordable, help for young families and first-time homeowners, provide more childcare spaces, help for low-income seniors, and a commitment to work with unions to provide greater accountability for members."
[---]
"In fact, the Johnson-Shoyama study suggests that when it comes to tapping into what union members want, Mr. Wall has been more successful than the union leaders who spent copious amounts of their members' dues to buy advertisements opposing the premier's ideas.

The government is wise to suggest it would like to work with unions to make sure the leaders are attuned closer to what their members want. It's a message the union leaders should take seriously."
[---]
"But the study points to places where Mr. Wall seems offside, particularly with his own base. When researchers asked about support for the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly on the sale of Saskatchewan grain, there was considerable ambivalence.

But when the University of Saskatchewan's Social Responsibility Research Laboratory used its geographic data system to calculate concern about the board, it showed that the regions west and south of Saskatoon, where most of the province's wheat, barley and durum is grown, are also where there is greatest support for the monopoly.

There is a message in here for Mr. Wall that his ideology and that of his base might not be in sync, at least on this one critical issue. This could be a damaging aberration for a premier who has built his reputation on pragmatism."
The University of Saskatchewan's Social Responsibility Research Laboratory - three guesses what this "Laboratory" is all about. No doubt it's infested with NDPers, just as the rest of the U of S is - seems to have forgotten that most Saskatchewan farmers quit growing wheat a long time ago and have been growing crops they can sell without the approval of the Wheat Board. The region described is likely the area where the farmers are too chicken-shit to try marketing their own crops - precisely the group that needs nanny's protection.

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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Good Grief!!

A collection of eye-rolling lunacy and Conservative common sense from today's headlines:

Grim scenario for CBC if ads dropped, study says
"Removing advertising from the CBC would greatly lower the quality of the public broadcaster’s programming and eliminate about 3,600 jobs in independent Canadian television production, according to a new study.

The study, commissioned by the CBC itself, also suggests that removing ads would result in a downward spiral – and increasing questions from Parliament on whether a hobbled broadcaster could fulfill its mandate and provide value for its annual $1.1-billion subsidy."
And besides that, what would the 5% of Canadians who watch the blessed thing do without those bathroom breaks. I mean even CBC lovers have to pee sometimes, and please don't tell me they'd expect the rest of us to pay for their time spent in the loo.

Related: And who would get paid to produce such virulent anti-American bigotry? Heavy sigh.

Norway killer Anders Behring Breivik to escape jail after declared 'insane'
"Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in a bomb blast and gun rampage in Norway, is likely to escape jail after a psychiatrc evaluation concluded he had been "psychotic" at the time of the attacks."
So, it's the insanity plea. I wonder how various leftards will feel about that? After all, it's not supposed to be used to let right-wing, anti-Islamist loons off the hook.

Iran protesters storm UK embassy in Tehran

It's deja vu all over again. But I guess there won't be any Canadian Caper this time, since we don't have full diplomatic relations with Iran.

Wheat Board vote means the end of the iron fist

Well, one fist anyway. We've still got the Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act to go. Once we get rid of that bit of nasty, the rest of the Liberal Party legacy dismantling process can take whatever amount of time might be necessary. With free markets and free speech restored, I'm looking forward to a brand new era for Canada. BTW, the article at the link is full of real stories lived by real Canadian prairie grain farmers illustrating the lunacy of the Wheat Board.
"The board still has its passionate defenders, to be sure. But the defenders seem stuck in an ideological time warp. Consider the reaction of board chairman Allen Oberg. “We cannot sit idly by while this government sacrifices farmers’ interests to those of giant American grain corporations.”

Really? That’s your best shot, anti-American, anti-corporate, Depression-era fear-mongering? It’s so outmoded, it’s almost precious, like some museum relic crafted in a superstitious time to ward off evil spirits.

It’s also straight out of Socialism 101: The freedom of the individual must be curtailed for the good of the collective. Farmers in a free country must be compelled to sell their wheat and barley through the CWB for the good of all farmers. Grain on the prairies must be pooled with the CWB so that less-efficient growers and farmers who can’t be bothered learning how to master free-market grain sales nonetheless receive the same price as their more-efficient neighbours.

But as that outdated approach to grain sales dies a much deserved death, it’s important to reflect on just how abusive the board has been in defending its monopoly over the years."
Keep reading.

And speaking of Socialism 101, let's end with this:

Canada won't obstruct others from re-committing to Kyoto at climate talks: Kent
"Environment Minister Peter Kent said Tuesday that Canada won't stand in the way of other countries that want to continue with the Kyoto Protocol."
[---]
"Kent said Canada won't make a second commitment to Kyoto because the accord doesn't include some of the world's biggest emitters, like the United States, India and China.

He reiterated the Conservative government's postion (sic) that Kyoto is the "greatest blunder that the previous Liberal government made.""

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Friday, October 28, 2011

Lawyers Get Rich