Comments on The Burd Report: Llike a Chinese water torture

It took me awhile to figure out which other detest...

2009-11-10T12:37:05.429-05:00

It took me awhile to figure out which other detested right wing guy Norlock reminded me of, and it came to me last night: good ole Dr. Phil from US TV.

Always on the side of virtue and family values, very smug in his confidence about himself. Just like RN when you think about it.

Another thing I noticed is that Rick is very good at sending out material, but not so good at responding. He has yet to respond to even one letter I have sent him. But then again, he has indicated very clearly he only listens to those who agree with him, and I generally do not.

Once he decides you are not going to vote for him, he could care less what you think - you are dead to him, just like Tony Soprano and his mother.

More good news: a just-released poll for BBS Worl...

2009-11-09T15:16:05.043-05:00

More good news: a just-released poll for BBS World News reveals that 20% of Canadians say the capitalist system is “fatally flawed” and another 40% say it can be fixed with regulation and reform.

The next time someone asks, "Why bother," tell him/her you're doing it in the interests of the public, 60% of whom agree with you!

On the missing Conservative candidate, Diana Dilwo...

2009-11-09T14:43:36.637-05:00

On the missing Conservative candidate, Diana Dilworth, in the upcoming by-election in BC:

Dilworth has expressed her support for health privatization. We must hope that the H1N1 problem, in particular, and healthcare, in general play a role in the voters' choices.

Deb wrote: "After months of scare mongering....

2009-11-09T14:33:23.281-05:00

Deb wrote: "After months of scare mongering..., 96% of Americans will now have health care.... [I]ts not perfect, but it's a start."

Just so: a good start, but not just for Americans. We know that increases in equality within US society lead to American support for increases in equality throughout the world.

LOL, Merk/Merf/Muff. Seriously, I think Rick Norl...

2009-11-09T11:46:29.492-05:00

LOL, Merk/Merf/Muff.

Seriously, I think Rick Norlock would have developed a different attitude if he had ever worked for himself instead of always being paid out of the public purse. It really is a shame that our normally financially modest citizens have been tainted by such blatant diregard for tax dollars.

Merflin said: Martin: Put yourself in Rick Norloc...

2009-11-09T11:03:22.624-05:00

Merflin said:
Martin:

Put yourself in Rick Norlock's shoes, if only for a moment. There you are, you got yourself elected. You're a backwater backbencher in a riding where there's so little happening -or even likely to happen- that it's nigh on impossible to run out your office supplies budget. On the rare occasions the phone rings it's usually a wrong number, somebody looking for a locksmith or a pizza. You are unrecognizable except for an uncanny resemblance to Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau -an image that, try as you might, you can't shed. And, it isn't just because of the look either. So you spend your time making elastic band cat's cradles and hoping something, anything, might happen that will raise your profile above water level. Meantime, it's another day, another trip to the printers. And so it goes.

What an awful existance it must ne. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy....

I say to Wally -with a sense of awe Forgive us Lau...

2009-11-08T18:32:21.652-05:00

I say to Wally -with a sense of awe
Forgive us Laureate if at we paw
For meanings obtuse we thought we saw,

Flashing by, unstuck in craw,
To which we said but once "Pshaw!"
Only now to stifle Guffaw!

Can you imagine the high dudgeon if Paul Macklin, ...

2009-11-08T13:16:57.414-05:00

Can you imagine the high dudgeon if Paul Macklin, or Christine Stewart before him, had been cited in the national media (with picture no less) as the TOP WASTEFUL SPENDER IN POLITICS? From any political perspective, Rick Norlock's record in this regard is disgusting and shameful. Local Conservatives are the ultimate hypocrites to allow his behaviour to go on without protest.

"progressive" "progressive idea...

2009-11-08T13:04:17.581-05:00
"progressive"
"progressive ideas"
"progressive community"

Poets have always been part of a progressive community, living on the cutting edge of progressive culture; the avante garde, dada, vers libre.

Verse libre has been practiced by the world`s most outstanding progressive poets: Pablo Neruda, Frederico Garcia Lorca, Jorge Luis Borges, Mayakovsky, Anne Sexton, Margaret Atwood to name a few.

The orthodoxy that poetry must rhyme is a manifestation of a conservative or retro-mindset led by the poetry-consumers of Hallmark Hall of Fame cards and their corporate ilk.

I am with those for progressiveness.

Today my level of optimism is considerably higher ...

2009-11-08T12:54:07.273-05:00
Today my level of optimism is considerably higher after learning the health care reform bill in the USA passed last night.

After months of scare mongering by republicans and endless debates and meetings, 96% of Americans will now have health care. Obama expects to sign it into law before year end.

I hear its not perfect, but it's a start. A big one.

Yes. It's better than voting Conservative. B...

2009-11-07T20:13:37.126-05:00
Yes. It's better than voting Conservative.

But then ANYTHING is better than voting Consevative.

Here are questions in search of answers that a pro...

2009-11-07T15:12:43.409-05:00
Here are questions in search of answers that a progressive could swallow and stomach:

(1) Did we really need the last 10 months to be convinced that we didn't a "burning issue" to want the federal tories out?

(2) Other than Iggy's simply not wanting to participate in a "shared" government, what reason is their to explain his refusal to take hold of government last January?

(3) Is there, then, any good reason for a progressive to vote Liberal in the next election?

Rick Salutin's recent column suggests that the next election might be shaped by two issues: "flu versus crime, health care versus prisons." Amusing!

Perhaps also an opportunity, save for the fact that, as Salutin also remarks, the Liberals seem averse to taking ownership of the health care side in the dispute, which is theirs for the taking.

I share that sense of gloom and helplessness about...

2009-11-07T14:18:03.555-05:00
I share that sense of gloom and helplessness about what our governments are doing to us at all levels, from town council up to the Harper gang.

It seems our opinions don't count, common sense doesn't count; we are just the cash cows to pay for their pet projects. When there seems to be nothing we can do to steer them away from their follies it's very discouraging and we feel impotent to bring positive change.

Is it better to just give it up and start watching reality tv instead, or keep banging our heads against brick walls while we howl in frustration?

Sometimes at our house we impose a news blackout for awhile; at least we get a break for a few days.

Like my handsome spouse says, humanity and the planet are all going to hell anyway, regardless of what we do. Might as well close our eyes and just party on!

Ben's post today on civic engagement is a good...

2009-11-07T13:52:46.596-05:00
Ben's post today on civic engagement is a good basis for discussing what might be said to the "Why bother?" folk among us. He laments, "How many times do your friends say to you 'Why do you bother?'"

Not very often, really: first, I have few friends who notice what I'm doing; second--more importantly--I'm not doing much that would cause them to comment.

My hope for this blog:

(1) that it serve point of contact with people who have progressive ideas and are acting on them;

(2) that it serve as an online journal for who's thinking and doing what in the Northumberland progressive community.

Two difficulties: separating the wheaty comments and getting mired in the chaffy heckling--easier said than done.

That's an utter waste of money spent however y...

2009-11-07T11:06:55.999-05:00
That's an utter waste of money spent however you choose to look at it. I doubt the average voter in this riding cares enough to oust the local Captain of Useless . You really gotta hand it to Rick, he knows what's useful and what's not.

If you want to see the top and bottom 20 list that...

2009-11-07T11:05:13.683-05:00
If you want to see the top and bottom 20 list that appeared in the print versions of the story, it's now up on our Eye on the Hill blog.
http://blog.canoe.ca/thehill/2009/11/07/frequent_flyers_costing_taxpayers

Think positive Merf usefullness!

2009-11-07T09:35:41.545-05:00
Think positive Merf usefullness!

I think you mean "utter USELESSNESS" Ben...

2009-11-07T09:27:56.987-05:00
I think you mean "utter USELESSNESS" Ben, not "utter usefulness".

Utter usefullness is what Norlock suffers from in the first place. The conundrum of suffering from utter usefullness is that the condition disguises from those afflicted the fact that they are, in fact, utterly useless.

(See: Council, Port Hope, Watts, Lees, O'Hara, Turck et al.)