Monday, December 22, 2008

Daily Digest December 22, 2008


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

EDITORIAL PAGEs

HALIFAX CHRONICLE HERALD -
'Buildup of toxic pressures' threatens jail system
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Editorial/1097226.html

OTTAWA CITIZEN -
Unpleasant calculations
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/editorials/Unpleasant+calculations/1103405/story.html

KINGSTON WHIG STANDARD-
 A matter of confidence
Stephen Harper has lost the trust of the opposition parties
http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1358155

 A matter of confidence
Stephen Harper has lost the trust of the opposition parties
http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1358155

BELLEVILLE INTELLIGENCER -
A bunch of have beens
http://www.intelligencer.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1357979

TORONTO STAR -
Auto bailout had to happen
http://www.thestar.com/Opinion/article/557099

Public speaks, will Ottawa listen?

Social programs pack powerful economic punch
http://www.thestar.com/Opinion/article/556714

Ontario's Peter Pan theory of poverty ... 
http://www.thestar.com/Opinion/article/556709

GLOBE & MAIL -
A still better stimulus
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081221.weEI22/BNStory/politics/home

From paper to transit
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081221.weTransit22/BNStory/politics/home

The G-G needs to break her queenly silence
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081219.wcomartin22/BNStory/politics/home

NATIONAL POST -
Saving Afghanistan
http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/story.html?id=1103263

HAMILTON SPECTATOR -
C. diff requires more action
http://www.thespec.com/Opinions/article/485633

ST, CATHARINES STANDARD -
There are many reasons why Canada fights in Afghanistan
http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1358582

WINDSOR STAR -
Senators
http://www.windsorstar.com/opinion/editorials/Senators/1104087/story.html

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

SUDBURY STAR -
We'll see how smart Ignatieff, Harper are
http://www.thesudburystar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1358636

THUNDER BAY CHRONICLE JOURNAL -
The Great Recession: The call to global transformation
http://www.chroniclejournal.com/stories.php?id=154543

WINNIPEG FREE PRESS -
Don't waste the economic crisis
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/westview/dont_waste_the_economic_crisis.html

Milquetoast coalition
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/westview/milquetoast_coalition.html

WINNIPEG SUN -
The perils of coalition for Ignatieff
http://www.winnipegsun.com/comment/editorial/2008/12/22/7823626-sun.html

SASKATOON STARPHOENIX -
Getting beyond protectionism vital to Canada
http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/forum/story.html?id=f7e7ae33-e5a0-4288-b9c2-27a91ee5ddd0

REGINA LEADER-POST -
Bad reaction: our irrational fear of the threat posed by peanut allergies
http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/viewpoints/story.html?id=7684282d-fea7-4eac-9b12-30b04515ce46

CALGARY HERALD -
Politicians need loud wake-up call
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/theeditorialpage/story.html?id=09eaff2d-eb23-42be-836b-40a5ef2903c9

Tortured logic, twisted judgment
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/theeditorialpage/story.html?id=4fea5304-7f8b-4e81-a920-0a1b173738eb

EDMONTON JOURNAL -
Time for Ignatieff to rethink his support for a U.S. empire
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/opinion/Time+Ignatieff+rethink+support+empire/1103675/story.html

LETHBRIDGE HERALD -
Soldiers deserve better
http://www.lethbridgeherald.com/content/view/17978/56/

RED DEER ADVOCATE -
Big brains, not big names
http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradvocate/opinion/Big_brains_not_big_names.html

What's conservative in America today?
http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradvocate/opinion/Whats_conservative_in_America_today.html

VANCOUVER SUN -
Planning is critical to building an oil pipeline through pristine wilderness
Planning is critical to building an oil pipeline through pristine wilderness

VANCOUVER PROVINCE -
Think of the animals
http://www.theprovince.com/opinion/editorials/Think+animals/1103877/story.html

VICTORIA TIMES-COLONIST -
In-car breathalyzers a welcome step
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/comment/story.html?id=0729f68d-f3fd-4c59-b5af-fd2576d7203a

At least Danny Williams is acting for his citizens
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/comment/story.html?id=18fae16a-71de-443c-9f63-52dbef18cc78


ISSUES

AFGHANISTAN -
Afghan leader presses US military on strategy
http://www.coalingarecord.com/articles/2008/12/22/ap/international/d957vnv80.txt

Afghan convoy attacks may be retaliation - officials
http://in.reuters.com/article/southAsiaNews/idINIndia-37147920081222

Afghanistan: no British pullout under US orders
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=262309&version=1&template_id=46&parent_id=26


CANUSA/USACAN
Ottawa's political uncertainty a serious barrier to engaging Obama administration
http://www.hilltimes.com/html/cover_index.php?display=story&full_path=/2008/december/22/engaging_obama_admin/&c=1

Canada 'not onboard' with U.S. plan to arm Afghan militias
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081221.wafghantribes1221/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

OPINION: Renegotiating NAFTA — an uphill but winnable fight
http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/14185/


ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
It's crunch time, Canada
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081219.wcobanks22/BNStory/specialComment/home

Auto adviser bails out of job
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/557246 Compromise may be only choice: CAW head
http://business.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081222.wautos22/BNStory/Business/home?cid=al_gam_mostview

$4B auto aid package not enough, experts say
http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=1103266


POLITICS IN THE PROVINCES
Williams versus Big Paper: Why Ottawa is wary
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Opinion/1097325.html


FEDERAL POLITICS
Prime minister fills 18 vacant Senate seats
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20081222/senate_appointments_081222/20081222?hub=TopStories Legal fees mount in Tory case against Elections Canada
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20081221/tories_elections_canada_081221/20081221?hub=QPeriod
Harper looks outside for help again
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/557228

PM's backers insist Senate reform not dead, despite coming appointments
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/081221/national/senate_appointments

Harper forgoes hearing, names new judge to top court
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jLeU3de1UZ2-oVg_H1BGBe0Pdsyw

Harper's Senate appointments 'obscene': NDP MP
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=1105978

Ignatieff shakes up OLO, lays off 11 senior Dion political aides
http://www.hilltimes.com/html/cover_index.php?display=story&full_path=/2008/december/22/hillclimbers/&c=1

Harper riles opposition again with Senate move
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/081222/canada/canada_us_politics_senate


PROGRAMMES
Reaction mixed to weekend government auto loan announcement
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2008/12/21/7821701-cp.html

Public service renewal need 'intensifies' in tough financial times
http://www.hilltimes.com/html/cover_index.php?display=story&full_path=/2008/december/22/public_service_renewal/&c=1
Ottawa brokers last-minute deal to free up short-term debt
http://business.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081222.wrabcp22/BNStory/Business/home

Audit blasts $583M Arctic cleanup cost, lax controls
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/081221/national/cold_war_cleanup

Feds undersold women's prison in Kingston
http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2008/12/22/7824016-sun.html

Federal privacy watchdog weighs in
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Business/Columnists/Canton_David

Cabinet should shoot down MacKay's aircraft proposal
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Opinion/1097271.html


PRESSURE POINTS
Completely inadequate IPCC models produce the ultimate deception about man made global warming
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/7116


OPINION AND INFORMATION
Turner sounds depression alarm
http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2008/12/21/7817671-sun.html

Senators served us well, made changes for the better
http://www.calgaryherald.com/columnists/Senators+served+well+made+changes+better/1101197/story.html

The Top 100 Most Influential People in Government and Politics in Ottawa
http://www.hilltimes.com/html/cover_index.php?display=story&full_path=/2008/december/22/full_100_influential_people_2009/&c=1

Three wishes for a better Canada
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081222.RAGENDAMORGAN22/TPStory/TPBusiness/

Bailouts, Bonuses and Fat-Cat Economic Advisors
http://www.jameslaxer.com/2008/12/bailouts-bonuses-and-fat-cat-economic.html


INFOS 
Harper nomme 18 nouveaux sénateurs
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/politique-canadienne/200812/22/01-812558-harper-nomme-18-nouveaux-senateurs.php

Harper nomme un juge à la Cour suprême
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/politique-canadienne/200812/22/01-812595-harper-nomme-un-juge-a-la-cour-supreme.php

À la veille de 2009, l'équilibre des forces est bouleversé
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/politique-canadienne/200812/22/01-812548-a-la-veille-de-2009-lequilibre-des-forces-est-bouleverse.php

L'aide au secteur automobile suscite des réactions partagées
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/politique-canadienne/200812/21/01-812363-laide-au-secteur-automobile-suscite-des-reactions-partagees.php

Automobile: le plan Harper a des trous
http://www.ledevoir.com/2008/12/22/224446.html

Terrorisme, mode d'emploi
http://www.ledevoir.com/2008/12/22/224444.html

Élections Canada contre le PCC - Les frais judiciaires atteignent 500 000 $
http://www.ledevoir.com/2008/12/22/224435.html

L'Ontario et le Québec seront les provinces les plus touchées par la récession
http://info.branchez-vous.com/Nationales/081222/N122254AU.html

Peter MacKay n'aime pas l'idée d'armer des combattants des zones tribales
http://info.branchez-vous.com/Nationales/081221/N1221117AU.html


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)

From: Ron Thornton
Subject: Re: Daily Digest December 20-21, 2008

Hi Joe:

We don't always agree, but it seems when it comes to economics we do. 
When times are good, the government should allow the markets to do their thing and try to stay out of things. When times are bad is when governments should use those sheltered shekels for the benefit of us all. Of course, you have had to be saving during the good times to spend the cash during the bad. It is interesting that folks who, on their own, couldn't make the big coin tend to spend yours and mine like drunken sailors or accountants once they get in charge of the public purse. I'm not sure of the technical term for such folks, though incompetent bastards seems to do the trick. Interestingly enough, they come in all political stripes.

I noticed that the CAW were a bit upset that the welfare package for the auto industry did not call for continued production levels as had been the case earlier. Might I suggest that if the cars ain't selling, they shouldn't be built. Not a great idea for a socialist, but not bad considering it is now my money we are tossing at this folks. Oh, and no more free Viagra on my dime, if you please, unless one is working on building a new line of Woodies.

I see that Tom Brewer notices that a bunch of Alberta rednecks form a vast number of those against a coalition government. That may be true, though he is incorrect to assume George W. Bush is not recognized as being a few bricks short of a load, even in those parts. However, if he would like to spell out exactly what he figures Albertans supposedly love about George W., just let those good folks know and I'm sure they'll let you know if you are correct.

As for oil companies, well, Tom and I might actually be on the same page. The price per barrel has tumbled from $140 to $35, and I am interested to know how that affects the black gold producers' bottom line. I'm guessing the prices were grossly inflated for some time now, and we might soon discover by how much in the near future. I don't know where Tom is from or what it is about Alberta that ticks him off, but at least it is one of two or three provinces that are considered as "haves" while the rest are left having their hands out.

Just in case I don't get a chance to drop you another line before hand, I hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas, Joe. I truly appreciate you and this forum.

Ron Thornton

===================================
From: "The Natroses"
Subject: Re: Daily Digest December 20-21, 2008

Just had to response, in the dead of night because I promise my daughter no more posting until Christmas is over. To Mr. Casper Davis, I often wonder why the trolley cars disappear. I heard all kinds of stories, where I was raised. People use to come from all over Niagara Peninsula on trolley cars to spend a day in Niagara-on-the-Lake. It was the hot spot of the Peninsula, during the summer, in that time era.
As for small fish processors, and the small independent fishermen, Casper it would be great if they were allow to ship there goods outside of the province. Only in NL, people are faced with regulations coming from all levels of government. A small fish processor took it to court a while back, and lost. He found a market in Ontario, and was going to ship out frozen fish fillets. People in the other provinces, like Ontario will only see the big fish processors labels, and the other processed fish, the majority are coming from the other side of the world.where standards and wages are much much lower.
For the life of me, I cannot understand why people would buy any food products made in some far off country. Its not good for the Canadian economy or American one. Another good reason, the food cannot be as fresh as the food made in North America.
By the way, look up the life story of William Ford Coaker of Newfoundland. Back in his hey day, he was staunch advocate for workers to have a bigger share in the fishery. Back in those days, the fish merchants shared very little with the lowly worker. Maybe things have not change as much as people think it has. Or as the old saying goes, the more things change, the more it stays the same. Coaker is a very interesting man, and comparisons can be made to Premier Williams and what he has or will be doing in the near future. Certain media people, will say something different just like they did in Coaker's day. Eh? 
From the Natroses

===================================
From: "Jacob Rempel"
Subject: economics gurus

Joe,
I suppose all this Maynard Keynes recovery is great for restoring the economy to normal
by spending billions. We also need to demonize Milton Friedman like we demonized Keynes.
 
Another economist we should also be reading again is John Kenneth Galbraith, who was Keynesian, but also makes the argument that government is quite properly responsible for many public services, that public amenities are very helpful in the pursuit of happiness, more helpful than masses of manufactured goods which are being made in response to manufactured desires.
Galbraith's book THE AFFLUENT SOCIETY was new in 1958, when my Progressive Conservative professor Charles LIghtbody and my CCFer English professor Don Cherry(no kidding) both promoted Galbraith's book to their students. Galbraith also wrote an important book called THE INDUSTRIAL STATE.  He was an advisor to FDR and to JFK, who later made him ambassador to India.
I know Liberals were also reading him.


·  John Kenneth Galbraith: His Life, His Politics, His Economics

16 Jun 2006 ... John Kenneth Galbraith: His Life, His Politics, His Economics, a Biography by Richard Parker.
www.johnkennethgalbraith .com/ - 10k - Cached - Similar pages


·  John Kenneth Galbraith

The Canadian-born, Berkeley-trained John Kenneth Galbraith has been considered by many as the "Last American Institutionalist". As a result, Galbraith has ...
cepa.newschool.edu/het/profiles/galbraith.htm - 9k - Cached - Similar pages


·  Books by John Kenneth Galbraith

The Affluent Society - 1958 - 386 pages
The Great Crash - 1955 - 230 pages
A Tenured Professor - 2001 - 212 pages
books.google.ca - More book results »


·  John Kenneth Galbraith Quotes

62 quotes and quotations by John Kenneth Galbraith.
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·  John Kenneth Galbraith , 97, Dies; Economist Held a Mirror to ...

30 Apr 2006 ... Mr. Galbraith, an iconoclastic economist, teacher and diplomat, was one of the most widely read authors in the history of economics.
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·  The New Industrial State - Google Books Result

by John Kenneth Galbraith, James K. Galbraith - 2007 - Business & Economics - 518 pages
With searing wit and incisive commentary, John Kenneth Galbraith redefined America's perception of itself in The New Industrial State, one of his landmark...
books.google.ca/books?isbn=0691131414...


·  Biographies: The Economists: John Kenneth Galbraith (1908- ).

Galbraith was a pop star. His theories have never found any acceptance in the academic world. He promoted the collectivist religion which believed that ...
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·  John Kenneth Galbraith : The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics ...

From the 1950s through the 1970s, John Kenneth Galbraith was one of the most widely read economists in the United States. One reason is that he wrote so ...
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·  John Kenneth Galbraith Quotes - The Quotations Page

John Kenneth Galbraith; Meetings are indispensable when you don't want to ... John Kenneth Galbraith; The only function of economic forecasting is to make ...
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===================================
From: "Rebecca Gingrich"
Subject: equalization payments

Ontario's tumble into 'have-not' status triggers a debate over equalization
payments By PAUL RUTHERFORD AND LORRIE GOLDSTEIN
http://www.torontosun.com/comment/2008/12/22/7823916-sun.html
Monday, December 22, 2008
TorontoA few clouds-12°Tomorrow »Light snow-4°/ -12°Change city
Comment
A bunch of have beens

===================================
From: "Robert Ede"
Subject: Fwd: J.M Keynes excerpt from "Concluding Notes" to his "General Theory"

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there anything of which one can say, "Look! This is something new"? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.
Ecclesiastes 1: 9&10
N.I.V.
 
THE GENERAL THEORY OF EMPLOYMENT, INTEREST AND MONEY

The General Theory by John Maynard Keynes (1936)
_____________________________________________________________

[p.372]
 Chapter 24
   from the last paragraph of
CONCLUDING NOTES ON THE SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY TOWARDS WHICH THE GENERAL THEORY MIGHT LEAD
italics, red and underline added
V

Is the fulfilment of these ideas a visionary hope? Have they insufficient roots in the motives which govern the evolution of political society? Are the interests which they will thwart stronger and more obvious than those which they will serve?

I do not attempt an answer in this place. It would need a volume of a different character from this one to indicate even in outline the practical measures in which they might be gradually clothed. But if the ideas are correct¾an hypothesis on which the author himself must necessarily base what he writes¾it would be a mistake, I predict, to dispute their potency over a period of time.

At the present moment (ed. 1936) people are unusually expectant of a more fundamental diagnosis; more particularly ready to receive it; eager to try it out, if it should be even plausible.But apart from this contemporary mood, the ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood.

Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist. Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back.

I am sure that the power of vested interests is vastly exaggerated compared with the gradual encroachment of ideas. Not, indeed, immediately, but after a certain interval; for in the field of economic and political philosophy there are not many who are [p.384] influenced by new theories after they are twenty-five or thirty years of age, so that the ideas which civil servants and politicians and even agitators apply to current events are not likely to be the newest. But, soon or late, it is ideas, not vested interests, which are dangerous for good or evil.
_____________________________________________________________

THE END

===================================
From: Zeb Landon
Subject: 'Electing Bloc MP may have cost town $2-million subsidy' Globe and  Mail, Dec.22'08

Joe,
As I sample comments on various media sites, I came across this on today's Globe.
A lot of the 150 reader comments were on the level of Lib vs Con, Quebec vs RoC, etc. 
Appended after is the comment chipped in from Norfolk County's Strickle Board,
with a concept that would go far to stave off much bickering.

Z.
======================

Electing Bloc MP may have cost town $2-million subsidy
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081221.wgrant22/BNStory/politics/home

===================================

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