Iggy

I really enjoyed this post by Rob so CHECK IT OUT

(re: Michael Ignatieff's multiple personality disorder)

And THIS ONE by Andrew Keyes

(re: libs boohooing over 'Con attack ads' that they give themselves excuses to use when it suits them)



Yes I am being a lazy blogger lately. My brain can only take so much information at once these days. I am starting back to work Monday after spending some cherished time at home with my littlest one and have had to de-zone myself for awhile. I'm also feeling very at odds with what is happening in my city and province lately and I can't decide if I should thumb my nose at them all and go move to an acreage and live off the land as much as possible so they can't get as much of my hard earned money, or what. At least some house prices are finally coming down, the one down the street has dropped 30 grand since February. But that's the only plus I've seen around here in ages.

THINGS LIKE THIS make me go totally brain dead, malfunction alarms sound, and then I just want to stand in the corner and scream. Maybe my next home will need to have a sound-proof room with velcro walls so I can throw myself at them while wearing my straight-jacket. That sounds like a plan!

Glenn Beck on The View

Poor Glenn (click to see his rather interesting time on The View May 20),,, but now at least I fully understand Family Guy's interpretation of the show:

Let the Fun Begin

Washington Post - Trade Wars Brewing...

excerpt: ""No one appears to be more concerned than America's largest trading partner -- Canada.

Initial concern north of the border over the buy American provisions died down after a clause, supported by the administration, was inserted in the bill clearly stating that the measure would not supersede existing U.S. trade obligations. During his Feb. 19 trip to Ottawa, Obama additionally pledged to avoid protectionism.

As passed, the act keeps that pledge, White House spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said. "The president is committed to creating jobs in America and committed to global engagement with our trading partners and does not see any contradiction between those two goals," she said.

But in recent weeks as federal authorities drafted broad guidelines for implementing the law and hundreds of states and towns have begun preparing for stimulus-related projects, Canadian companies have been surprised to discover that while some federal contracts are still open to Canadian materials and equipment because of trade treaties, most of those issued by state and local governments are not.""

""

As a result, John Hayward, president of Hayward Gordon, a Canadian manufacturer of pumps used in water works projects, says U.S. towns, including Peru, Ind., have told him that they can no longer buy his Canadian-made products.

"We're not China. We're not even Mexico. We have the same relative cost of labor as you do," he said. "If we have a better price, you should buy from us. That's what competition is supposed to be about."

To stay in business, Hayward is considering moving some manufacturing operations to the United States, potentially creating jobs here. That, Peru Mayor Jim Walker notes, is what the stimulus was supposed to be about.

"You're trying to get America turned around, trying to put Americans back to work," Walker said. "And if American taxpayers are paying for this, well then, Americans deserve the benefits.""

__________

On a totally different note, I want to say that today is May 20 and it is snowing. I woke up to a WIND CHILL factor of -2C. I can't help but wonder sometimes if we SHOULD be trying to warm the planet with our putrid emissions. Maybe that will put off the impending ice age for a little while. Good - no?

More Warming Theories Thrown Into Question??

links via Mike Church

""As shocking as this news is to oceanographers it is even worse for climate modelers—it means that all the current climate prediction models are significantly wrong.""
""A new report by Amy Bower of Wood’s Hole and Susan Lozier of Duke University et al., to be published in a forthcoming issue of Nature, has rocked the climate community's complacency.""
-Conveyor Belt Model Broken

Or check out Sun Heats Earth by Hans Schreuder, Analytical Chemist from Darsham, England (pdf file) [ Here is another link that's not pdf]

My question is, with more and more of these types of articles and reports coming every day, why are countries deciding to force their citizens to conform to unproven and disproven theories?

Oh and yet another of our energy efficient bulbs blew today, in just under a year. All 3 lights in the bathroom burnt out within the past couple of months so it is now happily lit by the old style bulbs again. I spoke to my mother-in-law on Saturday, who bought her home less than 2 years ago and put those new bulbs in EVERY socket. She has NONE left now aside from a few desk lamps that she does not use very often. The rest have all burnt out and been replaced by the old bulbs. In case anyone is interested, like in the past suggesting I purchased cheap-o versions, this was a General Electric 10W Helical, made in China btw.

Contacting Your MLAs

If you are in the Cypress-Medicine Hat district, here is the contact info for your local MLA Len Mitzel:

Legislature Offices

Legislature Office
#503 Legislature Building
10800 97 Avenue
Edmonton, AB
Canada T5K 2B6
Phone: (780) 415-9590
Fax: (780) 422-0351

Constituency Offices

Constituency Office
Trans Canada Place
#5 1299, Trans Canada Way
Medicine Hat, AB
Canada T1B 1H9
Phone: (403) 528-2191
Toll-Free: 1-866-339-2191
Fax: (403) 528-2278
cypress.medicinehat@assembly.ab.ca

Here is the contact information for Medicine Hat MLA Rob Renner:

Legislature Offices

Legislature Office
#425 Legislature Building
10800 - 97 Avenue
Edmonton, AB
Canada T5K 2B6
Phone: (780) 427-2391
Fax: (780) 422-6259

Constituency Offices

Constituency Office
620 - 3rd Street SE
Medicine Hat, AB
Canada T1A 0H5
Phone: (403) 527-5622
Fax: (403) 527-5112
medicine.hat@assembly.ab.ca

*** For other regions, simply go to THIS SITE and look up your local MLA.

More Surprises for Alberta Health Care?

It should NOT be a surprise. It should just bewilder you. I ask - WHY did the province cut premiums? Think of it this way, if 2 million Albertans were paying $44 a month for their health care premiums, that would be putting $88 MILLION dollars into our system every single month. Heck, if only 1 million Albertans were actually paying up, that would still be 44 million a MONTH to use. But instead, we find leaked documents talking of the closure of more and more services. We should be SCREAMING about this!!!!!!!!!

Medicine Hat News article Friday May 15 2009

""A leaked Alberta Health Services document recommending downgrades and closures of a number of health facilities in the former David Thompson health region put rural centres in southern Alberta on edge Thursday.""

""The Medical Staff Newsletter, dated March 31, 2009, outlined a proposal for 10 central Alberta hospitals be downgraded to “urgent care centres” and another five health facilities to be closed.""

""Hanna’s mayor, Mary Collins, learned through the media that her hospital is listed as one of the facilities recommended to be downgraded....That news follows a visit last week from an AHS representative who announced use of their dialysis machine would be discontinued May 25. Patients have been told they will have to travel an hour to and from Drumheller.""...""“All we know is it’s going and they are going to send our patients via taxi from Hanna to Drumheller if they have no one to drive them.”""

""Hospitals in Rimbey, Ponoka, Lacombe, Innisfail, Castor, Coronation, Consort, Sundre and Three Hills were also recommended to become urgent care centres. Health centres in Trochu and Castor were marked for closure. Long-term care centres in Bentley, Trochu and Breton were marked for closure.""

""The FOM also claims it has reason to believe AHS will be announcing significant budget cuts in July.""
____________
It should be noted that AHS has not approved these measures, but it has not said they won't approve any of them either. Why are we just sitting here saying nothing? Would $44-88 MILLION dollars a month in premiums have helped save these centers? I want to know why it was cut, and then followed by severe cuts to health care services. So far my questions have gone unanswered but perhaps if more people join in and phone, email, mail their concerns and outrage, things will change. It's worth a shot, don't you think? I live in a city but I grew up in Rural areas and can only imagine what it will be like for them. The premiums should not have been cut if Alberta was not in good standing for supporting it's current health care services.

But you know why they did it? So we can't complain. How can you complain about something if you get it for free anyway? I truly believe that is why they did this and it is very upsetting. This should not be happening in the so-called Conservative province of Alberta.

Left's Love Affair With Obama Fizzling?

I was listening to a bit of Sirius Left today, the Lynn Samuels show. It's no secret she is not impressed with Obama but she also pointed the way to more Left wingers who are not impressed either. Perhaps for different reasons than the Right - but since I heard her agreeing that some of Obama's ideas are Fascist (such as Nationalizing banks), some of the reasons are the same. She spoke of an article called Buying Brand Obama, by Chris Hedges, so I looked it up and it's pretty interesting.

READ it here. She said that the author is as hard left as you are going to get. But here are some excerpts from his article:

""Barack Obama is a brand. And the Obama brand is designed to make us feel good about our government while corporate overlords loot the Treasury, our elected officials continue to have their palms greased by armies of corporate lobbyists, our corporate media diverts us with gossip and trivia and our imperial wars expand in the Middle East.""

""Obama is about being happy consumers. We are entertained. We feel hopeful. We like our president. We believe he is like us. But like all branded products spun out from the manipulative world of corporate advertising, we are being duped into doing and supporting a lot of things that are not in our interest.""

""What, for all our faith and hope, has the Obama brand given us? His administration has spent, lent or guaranteed $12.8 trillion in taxpayer dollars to Wall Street and insolvent banks in a doomed effort to reinflate the bubble economy, a tactic that at best forestalls catastrophe and will leave us broke in a time of profound crisis.""

""Brand Obama offers us an image that appears radically individualistic and new. It inoculates us from seeing that the old engines of corporate power and the vast military-industrial complex continue to plunder the country.""

""Obama, who has become a global celebrity, was molded easily into a brand. He had almost no experience, other than two years in the Senate, lacked any moral core and could be painted as all things to all people. His brief Senate voting record was a miserable surrender to corporate interests.""
_____________________
And just for fun, here is another article that may be of interest:

Pelosi the Enabler -by Robert Scheer

Musical Interlude (sort of)

Lyrics to "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll" by Judas Priest. I thought it was rather pertinent.

You can look to the left and
Look to the right
But you will live in danger tonite
When the enemy comes he will
Never be heard
He'll blow your mind and not say a word
Blinding lights--flashing colors
Sleepless nights
If the man with the power
Can't keep it under control

Some heads are gonna roll
Some heads are gonna roll
Some heads are gonna roll
Some heads are gonna roll

The power-mad freaks who are
Ruling the earth
Will show how little they think you're worth
With animal lust they'll
Devour your life
And slice your word to bits like a knife
One last day burning hell fire
You're blown away
If the man with the power
Can't keep it under control

Some heads are gonna roll
Some heads are gonna roll
Some heads are gonna roll
Some heads are gonna roll

Know what it's like
When you're taken for granted
There goes your life
It's so underhanded
If the man with the power
Can't keep it under control

Some heads are gonna roll
Some heads are gonna roll
Some heads are gonna roll
Some heads are gonna roll

-1984 Defender Of The Faith album -

Oh and P.S.....

Our third 'energy efficient' bulb blew tonight. Third one in a year... as in, we just installed them a little over a year ago when we moved into our new house. And yes, all from different sockets in different areas of the house, not one faulty one so don't get any bright ideas ;)

These bulbs were $5-6 each and three have gone so far. So much for saving us a lot of money on our bills - the electricity cost went up a bit anyway, and we were out $20 or so for those bulbs alone, and will now wait for the rest to pop in due time I'm sure. But I am not buying anymore. I am going back to the plain old regular bulbs that cost me $2 for a box of 4. Maybe I'll even buy 100 watt instead of the 40s and 60s I have bought for the past decade or so.

How much did we actually save by using those things anyway? Oh yeah, that's right, it didn't save us a penny and in fact cost us far more than regular bulbs would have. I fell off that bandwagon I'm afraid.I found this propaganda on the web... I call BULLSH*T. I had one regular bulb in the stairwell of my old house for FOUR YEARS and it was still glowing when I moved out. And just so you know, none of the regular bulbs we put in the new house over the past year have burnt out - aside from an outside bulb that actually got busted in a wind storm. NONE.
So what is the diagram above trying to say, exactly? One of those costs the same as 9 regular bulbs but won't last as long? Yeah, I think that must be what it's trying to say.

tsk tsk Wanda Sykes

Media Bias? I would say so, but more than just the media. Wanda Sykes (who???) made some rather off-color and down-right hateful comments during the supposed "Correspondent's Association" Dinner at the White House last night. By the way, why is it called a Correspondent's Dinner when it was chalk-full of celebrities?? Even Don Lemon of CNN made a comment about that, which surprised me. But anyway, who the hell is Wanda Sykes? I actually liked the woman until I saw these clips. In fact, at the exact same time this gala was occurring, I was watching her on Monster In Law with Jane Fonda and J-Lo... I even commented that she 'made that movie' with her wise cracks. I laughed at almost everything she did and said the entire movie. Now.... I feel let down for some reason. She commented, among other things, that maybe Rush Limbaugh's kidneys should fail (after alluding that he was the 20th hijacker of 9/11, and making reference to his past addiction to prescription medication which has indeed led to his kidney problems). Anyway - this was not just poking fun at the President's dog, or even Bush's 'failed policies',,, it was a hateful remark directed at one individual who was not there to defend himself, and pretty much bold-face stating she hopes he dies. Wow.

Now - where are the media watch dogs for this? Others have made far less serious remarks and been dragged through the mud (Don Imus calling female basketball players 'nappy-headed hos' for example). Is it less serious? Certainly it was racially oriented but then again, one of my friends calls her son's hair 'nappy-headed' all the time. So maybe it was because he called them ho's? Hmmm... well anyway he did not wish them death and kidney failure or suggest they were terrorists did he? But there is Wanda, up on the stage saying this about Limbaugh and people were laughing it up. Why is it okay for her, a black lesbian comedian actress to say things like that, but not for an old crusty white guy radio host? I'm just wondering because I can't figure it out myself. Sykes even made a rather racial comment to the President himself, suggesting that he will be called the First Black President as long as he does well, but will be called "that half-white guy" if he doesn't. Can a white person get away with saying things like that? Why not? Some end up fired. But this woman gets applause and media coverage. To give a tiny wee bit of credit, Obama did look rather uncomfortable during some of her remarks, but he still smiled, laughed, and clapped along with everyone else.

And again, I will repeat CNN Anchor Don Lemon's words "Why were so many celebrities at a CORRESPONDENT's dinner anyway?".

GE - A Corporate Sponsor

Andrew Wilkow's first Op-Ed (with Nick Rizzuto - his producer). Wilkow has a 3 hour show daily on Sirius Patriot 144/XM 166. I have been tuned in since last summer, and have heard him discuss this before. Now it is in print in the Washington Times.

ARTICLE LINK

Excerpts:

""For all of the carping liberals did for eight years about corporate cronyism in George W. Bush's White House, they seem to turn a blind eye to the same behavior in President Obama's. With plans in place for a major overhaul in the health-care industry, General Electric is positioning itself to become a major beneficiary of these health care reforms. ""

""To this end, GE has appointed Mr. Obama's former nominee for secretary of health and human services, Tom Daschle, to the board of advisers for Healthymagination, an initiative launched by General Electric in partnership along with Intel, which will invest $6 billion over the next six years on "health care innovation that will help deliver better care to more people at lower cost." ""

""In 2008, Mr. Daschle wrote the book "Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis" in which he explains his radical solutions to the problems in American health care. In the book, Mr. Daschle calls for a British-style Federal Council on health care. ""

""Under the cloak of corporate responsibility, General Electric seeks to benefit to the tune of billions from the passage of Mr. Obama's health care reform. On its corporate Web site, Healthymagination admits it will use every tool at its disposal to achieve its goals, including NBC Universal, the parent company of MSNBC which offers nearly uncritical coverage of Mr. Obama and his policies. ""

""Healthymagination states its target dates for the completion of its various initiatives as 2015, well into a second Obama term. This means GE will have a deep financial interest in Mr. Obama's re-election; a fact that will no doubt be reflected in its media divisions. It will certainly be interesting to see if the left-wing watchdogs howl, or if they will conclude this is an acceptable level of collusion between the White House and a multinational conglomerate. ""

Just for Fun.......

I dabble in digital scrapbooking and came across a 'challenge' for displaying Stupid Statements made by Famous People. Politicians give all sorts of fodder for this topic so I decided to 'scrap' my two favorite Libs.... Former Canadian PM Jean Cretien and former US President Bill Clinton.© Kez Creates 2009

© Kez Creates 2009

Finally!

We finally got our hands on a copy of Liberty and Tyranny by Mark Levin. My littlest one has started reading it already ;)And since certain people have been quoting or relating to Abraham Lincoln a lot over the past several months, here is a quote from Abe himself, which appears on the back of Levin's book:

"We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor; while with others, the same word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and the product of other men's labor. Here are two, not only different, but incompatible things, called by the same name - liberty. And it follows that each of the things is, by the respective parties, called by two different and incompatible names - liberty and tyranny."
Abraham Lincoln, 1864

____

My note: To me, those words show the difference between Freedom/Liberty and the generalized words of Karl Marx in the Communist Manifesto: "From each according to his means, To each according to his needs". I have heard countless people lately say they AGREE with that statement, and then in the same breath say they do not support socialism or communism.

Rescuing Credit

I have been hearing a lot about bailing out people who are deep in credit debt and I always had an issue with that. In my mind, you signed up, you bought the goods USING the card (or line of credit, etc) so why is everyone else supposed to help you out now? I don't understand that.... I was listening to Andrew Wilkow's show on Sirius this morning and he pointed out that people aren't just signing a dotted line once (credit application, for example), they are doing it TWICE because when they walk in a store with their card and swipe it to buy a 52" plasma TV, they also have to sign the store's little slip that says 'the above signed agrees to pay the listed amount for this purchase', or whatever such wording appears on the paper. It's so true. YOU decided to get a card, YOU decided to make purchases with it, YOU get the bill. Not me. YOU. Not your fellow taxpayers - YOU. I did not whip my card out of my purse beside you and say 'Here, let me get that for you' and sign my name to the slip - YOU did. Why is that so hard to understand?

After you got your very first bill and saw the amount of interest tacked on, if you didn't like it, why did you use the card again... and again... and again? If you saw that $50 of your bill was interest and you only put a minimum of $50 payment on it, why are you wondering why the total doesn't seem to change, and then use the card AGAIN? Why did you put your groceries on it after realizing you didn't have enough money in the bank after paying for your inflated mortgage, brand new truck, leather furniture and hot tub? Why am I supposed to help you now? I live a very frugal life, do not own any new furniture other than what's in the baby room. My truck is a '94 and was paid off years ago. I rent instead of owning my home. I don't have a hot tub or a pool. I can't think of a single luxury payment that I make each month other than cable tv and my internet (less than $100 total)... so why on earth should you cry out to me to help pay your own debt that you signed YOUR name to? Sure, I'm in Canada and that is going on in the US, but would it be a surprise to happen up here? We aren't far behind. I know people with tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt let alone other financing issues they face. What if someone wanted to bail them out up here? I think I would rather quit work and live in a card board box than hand my tax dollars over to people who made dangerous choices. I chose NOT to live like that, I chose NOT to max out my cards and get another to pay the first ones off. I chose NOT to engage in this activity - so why the hell would I want to help out the neighbour while they sit in a home full of new items while I sit in one with second hand items? I chose a responsible frugal lifestyle so I did NOT owe multitudes in debt, so that I could sleep at night with no real money worries, and I do not appreciate listening to others who are begging and pleading to be rescued from their own choices.

PS - I am just adding that I realize there are some people who were in dire straits due to job loss, medical bills, etc that put their food and essentials on credit cards. But do you really think that all or most of the credit problems right now are because of that? Or do you think it's rather in the middle with people trying to live beyond their means, to Keep Up With The Jones', to have everything they want NOW instead of saving up, and putting Want before Need? From what I have personally seen going on around me, it is more of than than the other. I certainly do not put down people who have real, valid needs and tried to keep a roof over their heads and food in their childrens' mouths and got the short end of the stick in life. But those are the FEW that need help, the rest do not deserve a dime of my own money. They really don't and that's just a harsh fact.

Natural Gas,,, etc

I just saw this on Al Fin's blog..... fingers crossed for Alberta lol

What to Wear....?

Hmmm what should I wear while volunteering at the Food Bank?
I suppose I should dress nice and casual so I can relate to the people.
I'll just wear these sneakers for a bit of Punch.... they're cute, right?

Do you think anyone will notice they cost $540? More than many of the people I am feeding make in a month?



I don't need to list who's feet are in this photo, you can figure it out yourself like a treasure hunt. It's just a thought put out there.. to remind others that things are not always as they seem.... and yes, this photo was taken at a Food Bank, on a VIP volunteer.

Pay Back Your Credits , US

So I got this link from Yahoo News this morning and it didn`t surprise me in the least. Ever since all this talk was coming out about the Obama administration peddling tax credits for working americans, the people I listen to on Talk Radio (Sirius Patriot) were warning others that it will come back at you at tax time next year. I've heard this news for MONTHS. They had various lawyers, accountants, and economists on their programs discussing the holes in the project before it was even passed. So - this 'booboo' was KNOWN by the administration. They had to have known if hundreds, thousands, and even millions of listeners knew this months ago. I hear a lot of left wingers belittling conservative radio hosts, saying they are fear mongers, talking out of their arses, not talking facts --- well so far all I have heard since I became a listener last fall is fact after fact after fact. Sure, there is a lot of stuff thrown in for entertainment value, no different than Keith Oberman, Jon Stewart, Alex Bennett (Sirius Left host) - but I also listen to up to 12 hours of very interesting facts and figures every single day. And what Yahoo News reported this morning is a fact I learned way back in Jan/Feb, if not before that. Right from when these ideas were first released and curious people started looking into it.

I recently saw some US friends talking about their tax credit in a forum and just sat back and watched it.... They were discussing how they are barely noticing this extra $10 or so on their cheques and some aren't noticing it at all. Some are getting $50 extra each month, but now I wonder how much they will end up paying back next spring (or losing from their overall return credit). Is it worth it? An extra pittance on your cheque now, and possible loss of more in the spring? Getting $20 a week now, but having to pay back a couple hundred or more at once in a year? But it should not have been a surprise. I spoke of this myself a few months ago and no one would listen to what I had learned so I decided right then and there not to say another damn word. They can find it on my blog if they discover it, but I give up in the forums. I get passed off as an Obama-hater and they don't take into account anything I put out there. It's frustrating but I can only say now "Don't say you weren't warned".