A political reality check

One of my favourite political sites is called ThreeHundredEight.com it is a site devoted to opinion polls and the examination of all poll results at the macro level. A reality check on the websites that claim that one party or the other is either over the cliff or rising to the moon!
As the EKOS poll is examined in the light of the others the 10% lead, as of yesterday, is put into perspective by the last paragraph of the latest post, "The biggest thing to take from this poll is that we're back to square one, back to October 2008. Which means no one has a reason to go to an election. "

So all of you partisans out there please comment, is this site worth the paper it is printed on or do you detect political bias) after all all sites have them!)

Two guest posts

#1 Deb O'Connor
GOODBYE CITY TV

We started watching CITY TV news when the kids were old enough to follow news, but needed a show that was a bit flashy to hold their attention. It was a habit I kept over the years because they did a fairly good job of reporting on issues that affected the disadvantaged, and they weren't afraid to broadcast opinions and alternatives from outside the mainstream. Certainly that nasty right wing bias prominent with CTV and Global, now worse as Canwest, was not in evidence. The CBC was just stodgy.

When CTV bought CITY TV some time ago, I knew it was going to be the end of any semblence of progressive TV news coverage from Toronto media, and more and more that seems to be the case.

Example: last week their public affairs show, CITY Line, discussed whether having the PanAm Games was good or bad for Toronto, and while they had a cheerleader on set for the yes side, there was nobody in place to explain the contrary position. It didn't take long for the show host to join in the cheerleading too, making it clear to callers opposed that they were all wrong. It was sad, and never would have happened in the old days, when the station was diligent about presenting all sides of any issue.

While we're at it, all their news shows seem to lead off with a sports story now, and their weathercaster kept talking about golf the other night. Did downtown Toronto hipsters suddenly take up golf and I missed that? I get the feeling they are trying to land a whole new demographic with these tactics, and it's not a demographic I have much in common with. Let sister station CTV keep them, and please, let CITY continue to BE CITY, just like it always was. In fact, if they would only bring back the baby blue late night movies life would be just peachy again!

#2 One from the lighter side
Wally Keeler

This is my video of the Canadian Cowgirls who are performing in the Coliseum at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. I record their performance over two two days from two different locations.

I apologize for the amateurism. It’s a low quality camera, and the zoom is difficult to manipulate. The video editing was done using a freeware program, the lowest form of software.

I hope that in spite of my shortcomings, the sprit and talent of the Canadian Cowgirls will shine through. Here is a YouTube video of the Canadian Cowgirls performing in light last year at the Royal. Watch this Cowgirl do the stand up for 9 seconds

I also hope that it will generate interest in attending the Royal Fair where Canada’s farmers bring the best of the country to the city.

Enjoy.

BTW Wally has asked that we all visit this link in honour of Remembrance Day

Another guest Post - keep 'em coming!

William Hayes
Another Good Tax
Stephen Harper has said "There's no such thing as a good tax." As a stunning counter-example, I offer the notion of the Tobin tax, which has been newly proposed by British PM Gordon Brown, as reported both on this blog here and in this story from the Guardian.For more on the progressive notion that there are good taxes, see the editorial Can we have an adult conversation about taxes prepared by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

Revisiting the "Canadian Champion of leafleteers"

I bet when Rick Norlock leaves his position as MP, the legacy item will be his propensity for partisan politics and the obscene amout of our money he has spent on useless pieces of paper, spread from one end of the Country to the other.

Now the reaction. In a press release issued today the local NDP nominee takes him to task. To see it full size click on the image.

Funnily enough although a prominent local Lib has commented on the original post, nobody from the Rudd campaign has said anything. I suppose the "Wright" machine only wins nominations and doesn't do riding politics.

We have a candidate

George Smitherman, he of great promise but little results, has decided to run for the vacant position of mayor of Toronto. Personally I hope he doesn't succeed. His legislative record is one of blown opportunities and bloated budgets. Not a team player, he now announces and expects to be crowned. My money is on John Tory, a much more pleasant person and one with a record of results.

Why would they do this?

Council normally releases all agendas prior to the weekend of the Monday night meeting. In that agenda are the details of the items to be discussed, complete with background reports. The intent of early releases is to give the Councillors time to study the items over the weekend and then make informed decsions on the Monday night.

So why do we have an item that will need background information in a report that is not in the package but will be released at the meeting. Are the contents of that item confidential, does the information need to be worked on over the weekend or are the contents of the report explosive if released two days before the meeting? Oh you ask what is the subject of this speculation? Why a report on "Victoria Park and Beach operations". Why hasn't this report been released to the public before the meeting and that would allow members of the public input into the meeting if they wanted it. Does the CAO think that by scheduling a public meeting, in the resolution, that that action obviates the need for public scrutiny prior to the meeting? What is in the report that neccessitates such a late release, and does this late release contravene the spirit and intent of the rules and procedures of Council concerning public information?

In another related matter, if you intend to go to Council on Monday don't go anywhere near the Old Bailey courtroom, the great experiment in "new democracy has fizzled out. The Mayor has decided despite spending $42,000 on the move that it doesn't work. Perhaps a public accounting of all the staff time and the cost of the facilities left behind as well as the cost of the transfer back to the old chambers might be in order! BTW thanks to a sharp citizen who put me on to this.

Llike a Chinese water torture

I am sure that many of you are like me, in one respect, that after a while of civic engagement you turn off for many reasons. Mostly because of the feeling of utter usefullness. How many times do your friends say to you "Why do you bother?" I am referring to the mess we have on Parliament Hill with the ruling party acting like Mussolini and the Opposition acting like the Keystone Kops and poor old Joe Q Public just wishing that common sense would prevail the odd time.
However, the Natural Ruling Party, the Libs do have a point when they say - "Never mind a burning issue let's just get rid of Harper because of.....insert a litany here....." But the stories this week do tend to justify an examination of the Governmemt's record.

• More money put into Con ridings than oppo ridings another story here this topic is a number crunchers dream but the evidence does support the contention that Blue ridings got more money than the rest.
• The killing of the Gun Registry while "Sluggo" Van Loan sits on a report that proves the efficiency of the list and how many times the police have used it in the last year. Statistics that would have swayed the debate. For a disgusting example of a Pol not answering questions in a press scrum click here
• The antics of a Con candidate in BC, obviously under orders from Head Office, who refuses to meet with the Press and does not attend All Candidates meetings. For a reference click here and here
• The evidence here of many millions wasted on MP's mailouts

The interesting part of the last link and story is that tucked away in the middle is the startling news that our very own NQW MP Rick Norlock spent the most of all, amongst MP's. He is the Canadian Champion of mailouts. Our esteemed MP "Rick Norlock, Conservative MP for the Ontario riding of Northumberland-Quinte West, topped the list with $87,749 in printing costs -- 103% more than he spent in 2006/07. ".....Ottawa SUN.

Good Graphic here by SunMedia

Found in my email this morning

An unsolicited email hit my inbox and at first it seems just like another Company offering web services: content management and Search engine optimization., etc. The usual stuff. Intrigued I read down to see who is offering the service -- Yep you guessed it, someone from India.

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Now I cancel my TO Star subscription

In this story we have a report that the Toronto Star is going to outsource 100 jobs to India - goodbye TO Star, and I can save money.

Another guest's opinion - Are the Times A Changing?

from Deb O'Connor

"Sitting here listening to Bob Dylan singing his timeless old classic, performed by the master fairly recently, my handsome spouse decided that Bob was injecting a note of cynicism into his vocals, suggesting that maybe the times weren't changing, or at least not quickly enough or in the right direction.

From my vantage point of three score years, I got to thinking about the song and how passionately I believed in its truth back in my youth, confident that Dylan was right, and waves of new thinking and understanding were about to sweep away the old ideas and prejudices. A new tolerant world would emerge, where humans looked after each other and together solved the problems facing us.

So what happened? Change has certainly overwhelmed us since then, but much of it has only hurt our common humanity more. To make it worse, the dire predictions of ecological ruin are coming true in our own lifetimes.

But the Powers that Be thought we had all the time in the world to make things right: technology would fix our mistakes and after all, poverty would always be with us, so why bother trying to cure that.

There's an old saying that might apply here: Too soon old, too late smart. Yep, that's us alright. We know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

I suspect my spouse is right and old Bob is as discouraged as I am about now.