Sunday, December 21, 2008

Daily Digest December 20-21, 2008


The DAILY DIGEST: INFORMATION and OPINION from ST. JOHN'S to VICTORIA.
ARCHIVED at http://cdndailydigest.blogspot.com/

EDITORIAL PAGEs

ST.JOHN'S TELEGRAM -
The opposite of autonomy
http://www.thetelegram.com/index.cfm?sid=203116&sc=80

CAPE BRETON POST -
Wind-hydro plan feeling the chill
http://www.capebretonpost.com/index.cfm?sid=202962&sc=151

HALIFAX CHRONICLE HERALD -
Economic update shows N.S. holding its own
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Editorial/1096879.html

When a riot is just a riot
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Opinion/1097099.html

Bush ducks for the exit
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Opinion/1097153.html

MONTREAL GAZETTE - 
Quebec solves half its demographic problem
http://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/editorials/Quebec+solves+half+demographic+problem/1101316/story.html

Detroit bailout will provide only temporary relief
http://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/editorials/Detroit+bailout+will+provide+only+temporary+relief/1098289/story.html

OTTAWA CITIZEN -
Realism, and optimism
It's third and one, you're on the 54 yard line. The team is down six points, so it needs
a converted touchdown to win and this will be the team's last drive of the game. http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/editorials/Realism+optimism/1098473/story.html

TORONTO STAR -
Reasons to reflect on Senate choices
http://www.thestar.com/comment

Advisory panel leans one way
http://www.thestar.com/Opinion/article/556663

Treating combat stress
http://www.thestar.com/Opinion/article/556661

Getting around the bank bottleneck
http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/556756

 West urges Harper to act quickly 
http://www.thestar.com/Opinion/article/556758

NATIONAL POST -
 A man of his word
http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/story.html?id=1097865

George W. Bush's final fight
http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/story.html?id=1097866

HAMILTON SPECTATOR -
Right moves for bad times 
http://www.thespec.com/Opinions/article/484865

K-W RECORD -
Harper rightly tries to make amends  
http://news.therecord.com/Opinions/article/461486

WINDSOR STAR -
Bush's plan
http://www.windsorstar.com/opinion/editorials/Bush+plan/1099252/story.html

Work ethic
http://www.windsorstar.com/opinion/editorials/Work+ethic/1094175/story.html

SUDBURY STAR -
Boost spending on education
http://www.thesudburystar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1356185

Flaherty now a liability
http://www.thesudburystar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1356181

WINNIPEG FREE PRESS -
Barack Obama's threat to Canada is seduction
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/westview/barack_obamas_threat_to_canada_is_seduction.html

When everyone knows you're poor
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/westview/when_everyone_knows_youre_poor.html

Selling public housing will make situation worse
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/westview/selling_public_housing_will_make_situation_worse.html

Stimulus you can believe in
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/westview/stimulus_you_can_believe_in.html

SASKATOON STARPHOENIX -
Budget officer must be made independent
http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/forum/story.html?id=c9c43f1a-0be8-47cf-a572-f7ba9cb953c4

REGINA LEADER-POST -
Huge deficit of good sense from Harper and Flaherty
http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/viewpoints/story.html?id=11bee272-278c-4408-9941-670840e88abf

CALGARY HERALD -
Rep-by-pop is a principle that must be applied equally
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/theeditorialpage/story.html?id=712dad06-f05e-440c-a02c-cc151711e304

CALGARY SUN -
Auto industry needs more than bailout
http://calsun.canoe.ca/Comment/POV/2008/12/20/7812811-sun.html

EDMONTON JOURNAL -
Cutting through plastic packaging
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/opinion/Cutting+through+plastic+packaging/1101737/story.html

Flaherty in a pear tree
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/opinion/Flaherty+pear+tree/1099702/story.html

RED DEER ADVOCATE -
Pardon me, but I want a gun 
http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradvocate/opinion/Pardon_me_but_I_want_a_gun.html

VANCOUVER SUN -
A flip-flop for Harper: Facts force a change
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/editorial/story.html?id=68b1c513-4316-4a2b-b5ee-6adb50e7b670

VANCOUVER PROVINCE -
Spend smart to save forest jobs
http://www.theprovince.com/opinion/editorials/Spend+smart+save+forest+jobs/1093862/story.html

VICTORIA TIMES-COLONIST -
Cutting the GST mortgaged future
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/comment/story.html?id=e471c3d2-baea-45c5-b157-d856586cf635


ISSUES

AFGHANISTAN -
Afghanistan could see 30,000 new US troops
http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/World/2008/12/20/7815191.html

The surge won't be the same in Afghanistan
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/20/afghanistan-usforeignpolicy

Taleban 'threaten UK values like the Nazis'
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5372585.ece

Defence chiefs plan to deploy 3,000 more troops in Helmand
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article5375669.ece

Ambush raises unsettling questions in Afghanistan
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/21/asia/21ambush.php

Taliban's Mullah Omar Proposes Replacing NATO Troops with Muslim Troops to "End Crisis"
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-12/20/content_10530769.htm


ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
Seniors get worst of both worlds
http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=25c4aa68-f625-4dbe-b591-066b43a9a244

Auto package won't save Canadian jobs: Hargrove
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20081221/hargrove_bailout_081221/20081221?hub=TopStories


FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Past haunts the present in troubled subcontinent
Afghanistan's problems first spilled into Pakistan and now on into India
http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/556757


HEALTH CARE RELATED
Canada's 9-1-1 emergency
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081219.wgt91120/BNStory/Technology/home
MIGRATION
Third-quarter population jump biggest since 1990: Statistics Canada
http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/story.html?id=1097862


POLITICS IN THE PROVINCES
High-risk delusions in Newfoundland
http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=91ee95bc-4b50-4c1e-ab47-f98ab618c761


FEDERAL POLITICS
2008: The year on the Hill
http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/canada/2008/12/21/7819056-sun.html

No confidence? Then there should be no appointments
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/editorial/story.html?id=d84bc837-ac71-4c70-bbf9-c56b1b0aab56

 Parliament must focus on economy, Harper tells CTV MORE...
It won't be easy for Harper to change MORE...
This Christmas won't likely be Harper's merriest.. MORE...
Huge deficit of good sense from Harper and Flaherty. MORE...
A flip-flop for Harper: Facts force a change. MORE...
Canadians can handle the truth MORE...
Conservatives spin, spin, spin through crisis MORE...
From Scrooge to spendthrift in a giant leap. MORE...
Where's the Air Farce when we need it? MORE...
$35B buys a lot of stimulating stuff MORE...
Grit miracle: Iggy to fish in Tory water. MORE...
What makes Canada special. MORE...
Big questions, windy answers. MORE...
Welcome to the Fidel plan. MORE...
Auto industry needs more than bailout. MORE...
Stephen, meet Geoffrey. MORE...
Advisory panel leans one way MORE...
The West is being pushed out into the cold, again. MORE...

PROGRAMMES
Ottawa and three provinces put billions into ABCP rescue
http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/story.html?id=1097907

Auto aid not a 'blank cheque,' says Harper
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=1100168
PRESSURE POINTS
Gloomy economy fails to curb Green enthusiasm
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081221.wgreen21/BNStory/National/home


OPINION AND INFORMATION
Astrological similarities of Ignatieff & Harper
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/7082

A Keynes insight into free markets
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/556911

America needs period of pain
Recessions vital part of capitalist system
http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/eric_margolis/2008/12/21/7817551-sun.html

Just let us spend it
Best economic stimulus would be to cut taxes
http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/columnists/tom_brodbeck/2008/12/21/7819046-sun.html

What makes Canada special Ignatieff
http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/story.html?id=1097931

The Iggy Book Club II: The Rights Revolution
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2008/12/20/the-iggy-book-club-ii-the-rights-revolution.aspx

Big questions, windy answers
http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/story.html?id=1097932

Best of the blogosphere (right-wing version)
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2008/12/20/michael-taube-best-of-the-blogosphere-right-wing-version.aspx

The year we went kablooey
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081219.wcowent20/BNStory/specialComment/home

Harper's Economic Plan: Attack Workers' Wages
http://www.jameslaxer.com/2008/12/harpers-economic-plan-attack-workers.html


INFOS 
Automobile: le plan Harper bien accueilli
http://lapresseaffaires.cyberpresse.ca/article/20081221/LAINFORMER/812210528/5891/LAINFORMER01

L'opposition contre l'abolition du Sénat
http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/Politique/2008/12/21/001-ottawa-senat.shtml

Harper abolirait le Sénat si ses réformes ne passent pas
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/politique-canadienne/200812/20/01-812174-harper-abolirait-le-senat-si-ses-reformes-ne-passent-pas.php

Layton doute de la sincérité de Harper
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/politique-canadienne/200812/20/01-812101-layton-doute-de-la-sincerite-de-harper.php

Harper délie les cordons de la bourse
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/politique-canadienne/200812/19/01-812046-harper-delie-les-cordons-de-la-bourse.php

Crise à Ottawa: Harper nie toute responsabilité
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/politique-canadienne/200812/19/01-811960-crise-a-ottawa-harper-nie-toute-responsabilite.php

100 jours de sursis pour les géants de l'auto
http://www.ledevoir.com/2008/12/20/224298.html

L'opposition est seule responsable de la crise parlementaire, dit Harper
http://www.ledevoir.com/2008/12/20/224284.html

Harper renie son idéologie
http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/Politique/2008/12/20/001-harper-avoue-deficit.shtml

Ottawa et des provinces s'entendent
http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/Economie-Affaires/2008/12/20/001-pcaa-entente-gouv.shtml


BELOW(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)30)(30)(30)(30)(30)

A Keynes insight into free markets
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/556911

I have been and am Keynsian in my approach. Government stimulate when it is needed but with the other half being employed as well, government paying back what has been spent in periods of prosperity.

We are coming off of a lengthy period of prosperity in which spending has continued to increase year after year.  Of course the oh so overused word by those doing the spending is "investment" . The term applied whether there is any long lasting return or not.

Best read up on Keynesian Economics its going to be much discussed.

On the positive side Caspar and Lorena sent a card herewith passed on to all.
http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=1652328915228&source=jl999

         Joe

«¤»¥«¤»«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»

Thumbs up and down
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081220.COLETTS20-5/TPStory/Opinion/letters

LARRY KAZDAN

December 20, 2008

Vancouver -- It is clear from its composition that corporate interests are represented on this new economic council. But who will truly represent the rest of us - seniors, women, children, workers, the poor, the disabled and the unemployed? Maybe if the majority is to be represented, we need to form a coalition.

===================================
From: "James W. Byron"
Subject: RE: Potpourri

Hamilton Centre Conservatives will be sponsoring a Sir John A MacDonald event on January the 8th, 2009 featuring columnist & historian Richard Gwyn. Tickets are $75 per person with a "Seniors" rate of $40. Anyone interested can contact James Byron.  Telephone - (905) 578-2758 or email at jbyron@cogeco.ca

Piper & colour party, champagne toast and birthday cake. Cash Bar (we're Conservatives after all)

===================================
From: "Jacob Rempel"
Subject: And a Merry Christmas to you too, Joe.

CHRISTMAS
A special time for making lasting
memories while celebrating
the birth of Jesus Christ.
Merry Christmas
December 25th, 2008 
__________________________________
And a Merry Christmas to you too, Joe.

Not to worry, Joe, about government budgeting -- transparent, accountable, or otherwise. Mr. Flaherty is consulting with an advisory council whose board members are eleven of the best eminent persons (serving heroically for less than minimum wage at a dollar a year (each) (as their patriotic duty), not to mention Liberals McCallum, Brison and Ignatieff, who will ask for no bonus pay at all for their advice).With all that almost free best corporate and political counsel, Mr. Flaherty will no doubt  save a lot of money by cutting the budget officer's budget, so that the embattled budget officer can rest easy, knowing that native residential schools, corporate bailouts and asset sales will all happen profitably, ensuring that the deficit will not be much more than Flaherty's estimate at 30 billion dollars, estimated before all this free advice.
 
Canada is in good, competent hands, and we'll even save Afghanistan.

===================================
From: "The Natroses"
Subject: Re: Potpourri

Hi Joe,
Responding to the latest cuts of the Conservatives.
There has been cuts across the board in various departments. There has been little items in the news, here and there, and if asked by a reporter - the usual response is housecleaning or something like that, which would not raise alarm bells among us. The first to go are at the low end, the people who actually do the work. The last item that I read are cuts to staff in the food safety agency. If you take a look at the unemployment stats, after taking out the employees who work for private concerns; the next biggest grouping are the federal employees. The government had no choice but to extend the 30 days to a year, because they do not have enough low-level employees to do the work. If you check provinces, and NL is famous for this one - reports are hard to come by, especially for requests for information. The news media have a little war going on with the provincial government, and have presented quite a few articles in the newspaper, over the last two months. The delays are caused by too many chiefs and not enough bottle washers.
Many of the cuts happen shortly after the last election, and I assume Harper has to find money to pay for its extended and bloated cabinet on the backs of the recently unemployed bottle washers.
In 2009, the economic stimulus that is being wash over the Canadian economy, will be questionable if towns, municipalities, provincial governments and private concerns can't get hold of the money because of the red tape from the federal government, and all the hoops and walls that they are require to jump over or go under. So, I have some predictions based on what I know and what I have read.
1. Unemployment cheques have risen to 75 % of take home pay, but delays are apparent to,  and as much as 4 weeks or more. Unemployed people have a very hard time reaching the local office, for inquires on their unemployment claims.
2. The greater bulk of the stimulus package is still sitting in the federal coffers, Funding has been held to needed projects, because the paper work has not been completed by the municipalities in its correct form. Other reasons for holding it, are projects are not at federal standards and regulations.
3. Canadians find accessing federal services and getting timely help, is impossible. Typical response from the federal government may take up to two weeks, compared to 2008 where response time was within 48 hours.
4. Increase hiring in federal agencies where Canadians owe money to the federal government. Federal government's response time are much quicker to go after monies that are due. Charging compound interest as soon as the debt is discovered, and no matter how small the amount is. A number of Canadians have received bills for over $1000 or more, on overpayments on unemployment cheques, income tax refunds, and tax credits. The majority of overpayments, dating back to 10 years or more on very small amounts of $50 or less.
5. The federal government booklets, information packets which were free, now will cost Canadians money. The information booklet for income tax, will no longer be available for the general public for free. If a Canadian requests one, it will be a cost of $5.00 plus postage and handling fee of $2.00. It will be available for free, on the federal government's Internet site.

When Premier Williams came to power, the above things happen to create more revenue avenues. The provincial government even went after unpaid school taxes dating back well over 20 years. Most of the original unpaid school taxes where well below the $100 mark, and the new bills were well over the $2000 mark, after the compound interest was added.  When Harris was in power,  provincial information that was normally free, now had charges/fees attached. As far as I know, the charges still exist. Freedom of information requests either at the federal or provincial levels, are much slower now. In NL, it takes over a year, and much of it is now black out.
Transparency and accountability for governments are code words for less accountability and transparency to the people of Canada. Watch out for ordinary Canadians doing more than their fair share in the economic crisis, while the federal and provincial governments do the dance of smoke and mirrors, creating an illusion of transparency and accountability.
From the Natroses

===================================
From: Lorimer Rutty
Subject: the first or final wedge?

Joe
What are you trying to prove?

From: "Rene Moreau"
Subject: Re: Daily Digest December 16, 2008

Commentaire mis en ligne le 18 décembre 2008
                 .                .                 .
Ils dit, quant quel qu'un les appelles qu'il sont pas joindre. Ce
n'est pas vrai.

Rene Moreau (416-489-8347)

=====
. . . some of the French-language articles I translate.

Rene write the letter to the originating paper. He sent
it to me and I posted it as is my custom.

I seldom try and prove anything being of an age that
this I believe:

But it's all right now
I learned my lesson well
You see you can't please ev'ryone so
You got to please yourself

        Joe

=====
From: Lorimer Rutty
Subject: Weltschmerz

Joe

French is merely English spelled poorly; if the facts do not conform 
to the theory, they must be disposed of.

Here endeth the first and final lesson.

Lorimer

=====
. . . Ich verstehe nicht.

Weltschmerz (from the German, meaning world-pain or world-weariness) is a term coined by the German author Jean Paul and denotes the kind of feeling experienced by someone who understands that physical reality can never satisfy the demands of the mind. This kind of pessimistic world view was widespread among several romantic authors such as Lord Byron, Giacomo Leopardi, François-René de Chateaubriand, Alfred de Musset, Nikolaus Lenau, and Heinrich Heine. It is also used to denote the feeling of sadness when thinking about the evils of the world­compare empathy, theodicy.

The modern meaning of Weltschmerz in the German language is the psychological pain caused by sadness that can occur when realizing that someone's own weaknesses are caused by the inappropriateness and cruelty of the world and (physical and social) circumstances. Weltschmerz in this meaning can cause depression, resignation and escapism, and can become a mental problem (compare to Hikikomori). The modern meaning should also be compared with the concept of anomie, or a kind of alienation, that Émile Durkheim wrote about in his sociological treatise Suicide . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weltschmerz

===================================
From: "Rebecca Gingrich"
Subject: GW/Wall Street?

Wall Street sets the Stage for the Next Big Heist
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=HUG20081220&articleId=11455

Subject: [On-Guard] We ain't seen nothing yet!
http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/

===================================
From: "Suan H.Booiman"
Subject: good list

Suzuki???? What has he ever done than telling others
how to fix the environment, he never did get his hands dirty,
other than accepting money for his speeches.
 
The Senate needs a shot of star power – and here's the list ===================================
From: Stephen Berg
Subject: RE: Potpourri

Merry Christmas to you and yours, too, Joe, and have a fruitful and happy New Year!

Stephen

=====
The same thoughts to you, Stephen, and all reading this.
===================================
From: "Efstratios Psarianos"

BELOW(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)30)(30)(30)(30)(30)
Canada and three provinces to backstop ABCP plan
The Canadian government and three provinces agreed on Friday to help fund a $32 billion restructuring plan for the frozen market for nonbank asset backed commercial paper,
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/081219/canada/canada_us_abcp

All I know about this is there were arguments that some not sue others among those involved and that as of now it seems an unknown amount of the $32 billion will be coming from the public purse. Anyone know what's up here as far as our risk to bail out the financiers?

From what I've read on the Internet so far, I have no idea what this 'restructuring' plan is.
 
So far, major players have signed on to the Montreal Accord, in which all signees have agreed that they won't pull the trigger on their ABCP-issuing counterparties while the Accord still stands. In other words, the signees have agreed to:
 
   - not to trade any ABCPs that they hold; that is, the signees have agreed to sit on them as long as the Accord holds;
 
   - sit on their ABCPs instead of demanding to be paid back when they mature (an ABCP is like a bond ... the issuer takes money from the buyer, promises to pay it back on a given date, and pays interest at given intervals);
 
   - not activate any default clauses that have been written into the ABCP agreement; in other words, the buyers have promised not to demand cash (for example, by cancelling the ABCP agreement and forcing the issuer to pay back all of the cash he borrowed) if an issuer doesn't pay the interest that's due or otherwise doesn't respect the terms of the agreement;
 
   - not activate any security clauses that would force an issuer to put up more collateral to make the ABCP 'secure'.
 
The whole idea behind all of the conditions above is to set up a gentlemans' agreement (!!!) that the big holders of ABCPs NOT demand money from the issuers of ABCPs, since doing so may make the issuers insolvent and trigger an economic meltdown. Yes, you read it ... a GENTLEMANS' AGREEMENT, is what's propping up an important part of the Canadian economy!
 
The idea behind 'restructuring' is to convert ABCPs to longer-term debt. ABCP issuers, instead of having to pay back the face value of the ABCPs they've issued when the latter mature would instead have them converted to loans granted to them by the ABCPs' buyers. Conversely, the buyers would convert the short-term ABCPs that they own into loans whose principal and interest must be paid to them over time instead of in the next month, year, or whatever.
 
In this manner, the issuers would be better able to pay their debts over time instead of getting stripped of cash right away and having no way to get their hands on more. ('Sorry, Tony, but there's no cash in the treasury right now. I'll pay your salary next month when the tenants in our apartment building will have paid their rents. And those contractors who are building our new apartment block .. they'll have to wait, too.')
 «¤»¥«¤»«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»

Subject: Re: Daily Digest December 16, 2008

Commentaire mis en ligne le 18 décembre 2008

C'est tres important de savoir que le Conference Board de Canada est
vraiment en Canada au Toronto avec un bureau la. Mais la bureau
central est au Third Avenue, New York, New York, les Etats Unis! Les
idees qui vient de la sont un manier de pressez (lobbying?)nos
citoyennes et nos gouvernment pour les corporations Americans!
Pour ca, ils ont recu le nom d'un institution charitable, sous le nom
AERIC, en Canada!
C'est fous, n'est-ce pas?
Ils dit, quant quel qu'un les appelles qu'il sont pas joindre. Ce
n'est pas vrai.

Rene Moreau (416-489-8347)
Hein, quoi? Rene's saying the Conference Board of Canada's head office is in New York, not Toronto?
 
Stratos
===================================
From: "Orville Heschuk"
Subject:  Coalition is dictated to by the Bloc - believe it

Her Excellency the Right Honourable  Michaelle Jean
Governor General of Canada
 
Ignatieff and Layton, in a manifestation of deceit, tell Canadians that the Bloc is a non-player in the coalition, and won't be dictating the direction that the coalition governs, nor will the Bloc  continue to promote Quebec secession - pure rubbish and hogwash.
The Bloc laid down the terms and foundation right from the start, in the wording of the Liberal/NDP/Bloc coalition agreement, which is the agreement the entire Liberal caucus signed onto, including their new illustrious leader Ignatieff - and a position Ignatieff has reaffirmed several times recently - that he is prepared to lead a coalition government if given the opportunity.
 
Here is the very first sentence of the Coalition agreement - it should alarm us -
"The new government is supported by parties that share a commitment to fiscal responsibility, a progressive agenda and a belief in the role of government to act as a partner with Canadians and Quebecers" .
 
When did Quebeckers, become something different than Canadians, or is this the price of getting Duccepe into the coalition, that the coalition and Canadians recognize from day one, that Quebec is separate from Canada, and not only to be referred to as such, but in fact to be treated as such.

Did Ignatieff and Layton agree that they will promote the recognition of Quebec as being separate from Canada - if they didn't why distinguish the separation in the first line of the coalition agreement?
Canadians are not to be played as fools by Ignatieff and Layton, who are prepared to sacrifice the unity of Canada, in their naked lust for power.

Duceppe has never deceived Canadians, as he has said on  numerous occasions, he has no interest in what is good for Canada, and everybody, including all members of the media, has heard that, and in fact after signing this coalition agreement, Duceppe told the media, in regard to the Bloc, "I think every gain we are making here is good for Quebec and what is good for Quebec is good for sovereignty".  Did any members of the media warn Canadians that the Bloc was only in the coalition to serve their own selfish interests, and that the Coalition was a threat to the unity of Canada? Fortunately, any Canadians that can count, did not have  to rely on the media to tell them, that with their 49 MP's the Bloc was the lynch pin of this coalition, they have an effective veto, and they knew it, and the Bloc would exercise this new found power, to call the shots,  and to advance their cause which is Quebec secession from Canada, which is not in the best interests of Canada.  Maybe Canadians needed to explain that to the members of the media.

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From: Tom Brewer

Have you noticed? The vast number of "nay-sayers" to a coalition government seem to come from Alberta! Kind of FUNNY when you consider Alberta has not had anything but RED NECK Conservatives since ahhh way back when.

Red neck Bushites, in my opinion. The mere mention of increasing royalty payments on resources and the red-necks have heart attacks and breathing problems. I assume it is all right to pad the oil companies pockets but make the lowly people pay, right?

Breathing problems… heck can't be in dear old Alberta… they do everything right!

Ohh… this little economic stress thing might just kick the hell out of what has made Alberta stick it's nose up to the rest of us. I do not wish them ill however they too will suffer given the problems we are beset with.

My prayers to Canada's never do wrong mindset!

Brewt
 
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From: Caspar Davis
Subject: Re: Daily Digest December 19, 2008

I cannot allow to go unchallenged that which Stratos wrote:

From: "Efstratios Psarianos"

)(30)(30)(30)(30)30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)30)(30)(30)(30)(30)
From: "The Natroses"
Subject: Re: Daily Digest December 17, 2008
Hi Joe,
"These trade deals are the "economic constitutions" responsible for creating today's global economic crisis. Why? Because they hollow out economies and abolish stable employment and lifestyles for people around the planet."
Frances Russell is a Winnipeg-based freelance journalist and author.
Weeeeeell ... there are other ways to see this, too. The idea behind globalization is that national and regional economies become supra-national ones that have a bigger scale. For example, if we consider only Canada, the nature is no longer which province can compete with which other at various levels .. it's about every province competing with every province and State in North America. 'Local' economies that are uncompetitive yet still competing in one sector get 'disrupted' by having the good-ole-days la-la-la way of doing things becoming unsustainable (i.e., a money drain = destroyer of wealth (!!!)) and thus have to change in some way to become competitive. There are many ways to become competitive, such as focussing on industries other than established ones, better marketing of local products, changes to now-inappropriate regulations, government programs for access to credit, etc. But avoiding 'disruption' just for the sajk eof doing so is a long-term losing proposition. (Take for example a disease we all know: treatment consists of short-term surgery, mid-term chemotherapy, and long-term (or sooner, if untreated) death. The surgery and the chemo are 'disruptive' and painful ... but necessary).
 

One problem is that "competition" is often used to direct us onto the road to the bottom - to lower wages and lower environmental and social standards. So called "free trade" agreements are usually much more about protecting corporations (and the super rich who own almost all of them despite the propaganda about pension funds and RRSP's) from the legitimate interests of people, as embodied in the legislation of duly elected legislatures - interests such as the right to clean water (Metalclad), to ban dangerous chemicals (Ethyl), to protect water resource (Sun Belt) etc. etc. - than they are about free trade.

Corporate globalization is merely the latest stage in a battle going back more than two centuries. In 1816, Thomas Jefferson wrote, "I hope we shall... crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country."

In 1864, Abraham Lincoln added, "We may congratulate ourselves that this cruel war is nearing its end. It has cost a vast amount of treasure and blood.... It has indeed been a trying hour for the Republic; but I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. As a result of the war corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war."

In fact, the corporations won a major victory in 1886 when they were granted - ostensibly by the US Supreme Court, but actually by the law clerk who wrote the headnote (i.e. the case summary), who had formerly been a railroad president - the status of "persons" entitled to protections that had been intended to protect freed slaves after the Civil War (see e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Clara_County_vs._Southern_Pacific_Railroad )

That victory tipped the scales decisively in favor of corporations against the rights of actual people and governments, but did not satisfy the corporate investors, who have pushed on to NAFTA and will surely not rest content until they have absolute control.

Cities, states and provinces often "compete" by offering tax breaks as well as other lowered standards, which leads to reducing the fairest and best tax there is, the land value tax - i.e. the property tax on land (not buildings), which is actually a user fee to anyone who uses land to the exclusion of others' use of it - a further instance of the race to the bottom. Almost all extreme wealth comes from appropriating land or other natural resources for the private benefit.

Capital always talks about "creating jobs" but they usually devote most of their energy to preventing workers from getting a fair share of the wealth they create, and in fact large corporations have been shedding jobs as fast as they could for at least 30 years. Even arch-capitalist Henry Ford realized that he couldn't sell cars unless he (and others) paid workers enough that those who did the work would be able to buy them

This is also occurring in other resources - non or renewable resources. I have seen the same things occurring in the fishery industry, where the big guys are eating the little fish processors/harvesters for breakfast. Ditto for industries in mining and forestry products.
The thing is, though, that the little fish may have had options to save themselves, that is to make themselves competitive and profitable. One way would be through better marketing for example: instead of just packing fish, or whatever, they could have added more value by stewing or spicing it and then canning it, for example. That way they'd be making 'gourmet fish meals' instead of fish-in-a-can.
 
Mind you that might no be the easiest thing to do. But that's where suitable government support, such as access to government-backed credit for worthwhile projects comes in. But if despite that a fish processor can't or won't compete, there's most often no point in propping ot up long term. The same goes for other companies, in varying ways.
 
The above assumes that all this is taking palce in 'normal' economic times. All bets are off when we skid into depression and such.

In fact it was the federal government in collusion with corporate fishers and loggers that destroyed the little guys by taking away their quotas and giving them to the factory fishers and clear cutters who fished to the edge of extinction, pulped the old growth forests, and exported the raw logs to "more competitive" i.e. often more exploitive jurisdictions, without making any effort to create industries that would make good, profitable use of the superb and endangered wood.

As always, if someone should have the fortitude to fight back - the big guys go running to government and the courts that govern so-called free trade disputes, crying foul!  The latest, being Abitibi-Botwater, who brought the mill in Grand-Falls Windsor, long before the free trade agreement was put in place. They brought the mill, knowing that they had free use of our water and forests, in exchange for operation of the paper mill. The agreement took place 100 years ago, when Newfoundland was its own nation, and not as an British colony as has been stated in the newspaper.
It is time for governments to wake up or we will have another economic crisis in another 30 years, caused again by the greed of the big guys.
As long as we keep in mind that the greed of the big guys is a reflexion of the greed of us little guys. For most things, we prefer to pay lower rather than higher prices for what we buy. Higher-priced stuff has to justify its price: whether through feeling of 'brand awareness' (e.g., everyone wanting to wear so-and-so jeans because they're 'cool' no matter how they look; or wearing so-and-so perfume because it's the beeest, daaaaahlink ... don't laugh, this is a big thing! on a purtely functional basis, perfume is nothing more than deodorant, after all), psychological-value-added (fancy fish in cans), etc.

The greedy always say that they are just like everyone else, and it is now true that 30 years of propaganda glorifying greed and selfishness have made a serious dent in people's natural sociability and fairness (e.g. the creation of Self Magazine and its ilk, M. Thatcher's pontification that "There is no such thing as society" and above all the constant repetition that "There is no alternative" to the supremacy of greed). For a while there, Greed became the establishment religion. But it is nowhere near as ingrained in human nature as the greedy would have us believe. Like other vices, it can always be played to, and that is what the advertisers and PR people are best at - playing to the basest instincts at the expense of our nobler qualities. It is very effective in the short term but almost always comes a cropper eventually.

A corollary of all this is the constant chorus from the right for lower taxes. This is of course a scarcely-veiled ploy to starve and ultimately extinguish government. They have been lowering taxes for at least 30 years, leading to a severe reduction in public services, deterioration (in Canada) of the health care system, and erosion of the public infrastructure. The greatest single blow to infrastructure was of course the demolition of almost all of North America's trolley cars by Esso (as it then was) and GM in the 1940's and '50's.

North American "competitiveness" has seldom been about excellence. Most often it has been about reducing regulation, diminishing the share of the people who actually do the work, and maximizing the excess wealth of the top 10%, and even more the top 1%, whose share has ballooned in the last three decades while everyone else has fallen further and further behind the eight ball.

Caspar Davis
Victoria

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A Keynes insight into free markets
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/556911
Seminal economist's interventionist views fell from grace in the hyperinflation 1970s. They're back

Ann Perry
BUSINESS REPORTER

"When the facts change, I change my mind," John Maynard Keynes once famously quipped. Perhaps that helps account for the resurrection of the long-dead British economist's theories, which fell out of fashion in the 1970s but have recently regained favour among policy-makers grappling with the deepening global economic crisis.

Even staunch free-market, small-government advocates are turning to Keynesian economics – which has come to stand for government spending as a means to stabilize the economy – to get themselves out of the current jam.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has become an unlikely convert, as exemplified last week when he abandoned his widely questioned forecast for a small surplus next year, and suggested a planned stimulus package could drive the federal deficit to as much as $30 billion.

"I think Harper has had a Keynesian moment," said Joe Martin, director of business history at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, adding that his "calculus" was likely "both political and sound public policy."

Harper isn't alone.

Governments around the world are readying massive stimulus packages aimed at jump-starting flagging economies as central banks run out of room to cut interest rates.

The International Monetary Fund has prodded them along with its proposal for global fiscal stimulus of 2 per cent of gross domestic product.

On Friday, U.S. President George W. Bush swallowed his hard-line free-market impulses and extended a $17.4 billion (U.S.) lifeline to ailing automakers.

Under ordinary economic circumstances, Bush said, "I would not favour intervening to prevent the automakers from going out of business. But these are not ordinary times."

The same could be said of the Great Depression of the 1930s in which Keynes forged his seminal theories. Until then, most economists had believed that the economy was essentially self-regulating, and that drops in demand would drive wages and prices lower, which in turn would revive demand and employment.

But the protracted Depression changed all that. Indeed, one of the reasons Keynes came to the fore was a widespread feeling "that capitalism had failed," said Martin.

Keynes was a Cambridge-educated economist who had originally focused much of his work on monetary policy – actions by central banks to control the money supply. He gained world prominence with his 1936 book, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. But even before its publication, "he was arguing that recovery from the Depression could be speeded up by fiscal policy, in particular by government increasing its spending," said Queen's University economics professor Gregor Smith.

Keynes, who died in 1946, said market forces don't necessarily come into equilibrium on their own. In such circumstances, governments should increase spending to boost demand and help return the economy to full employment.

That idea spread around the world in subsequent decades, said Smith, "and it came to be widely believed that one of the roles of government was to prevent business cycles and stabilize the economy as a whole, and that the government could do that in part by following what's sometimes called a counter-cyclical fiscal policy where they would spend more in recessions and less in booms."

But somewhere along the way, Keynes fell out of favour. "Saying what Keynes really said is rather like interpreting the Bible," said Thomas Velk, director of the North American studies program at McGill University in Montreal and a self-described anti-Keynesian. "There are as many interpretations as there are pastors looking at it."

Those who invoked Keynes's name in the decades after World War II "were to my way of thinking big-government types who advocated a quasi-socialist collection of strategies," Velk said, adding that "the big-government strategy proved to be a failure over the long run."

Indeed, Keynesianism largely lost its lustre in the 1970s, when skyrocketing interest rates, inflation and a deep recession provoked a reaction against his theories from those who posited that government was the problem, not the solution. Enter Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, and a return to free-market economics that persisted until the current crisis.

But Hugh Mackenzie, an economic consultant and a research associate at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, argued Keynes's theories were "misrepresented and distorted" to mean governments didn't need to worry about deficits.

Keynes, he said, would have pointed out that persistent deficits lead to inflation "because the economy will eventually start humming along at full capacity and you're still dumping stimulus into the system because you're spending more than you're raising. So the other half of the Keynesian equation wasn't applied."

Now, many economists and politicians are dusting off Keynes's theories.

"A year ago, it was still fashionable for people to say, when governments intervene in the economy, they only ever cause trouble and the best thing for government to do is stay out," said Mackenzie. "And suddenly we've rediscovered the idea that even at this macro level that governments have good things to do, and in fact in some circumstances are the only institution that can really do anything. And that's certainly where we find ourselves now."

But Rotman's Martin argued there is "no comparison" between the current crisis and the 1930s, and said the danger is that massive stimulus could set off another cycle of spiralling government deficits and debt. "There is no doubt that the government of Canada has to do some fiscal stimulus for political reasons," he warned. "But it had sure better be careful."

COMMENT
People misunderstand his theories from a macro level. The free market left to itslef will always choose profit over social welfare. Government intervention is necessary to maintain balance and some form of social morality. So let's stop taking broad positions to the left or right. Look at what the free market thinkers have gotten us to today. Thanks Ronnie and Marg for setting in motion a playing field where CEO's can make 2000 times the salary of their average worker where they once (not that long ago) made 20 times. The problem is general greed from all of us and Gordon Gekko type CEO personalities. We all need a dose of social morality instead of living on Prozac and Effexor. We create a world of insecurity and fix it with drugs. And of course we blame everyone but ourselves for getting us here.
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