O Inglorious Justin: Bad Bit In New Budget!!!

The Liberals are killing the public transit tax credit. #Budget2017 pic.twitter.com/83OcClkwFU

— Andrew Scheer (@andrewscheer) March 22, 2017

This one is a personal kick in the nads for both the wife and I, as we prefer to take the buses in and out of Scarborough on work-days rather than upgrade our car insurance.  If the Star is right, then going on with the status quo will cost me an extra $264 a year.  I have always kept the car for weekend shopping and the odd vacation, but that might literally have to change if this measure goes through. So maybe one more car on the road 7 days a week, and Mother Gaia has to go fuck herself.   Not very green, Justin.

Also, not very terribly gender-based, as women make up 57% of the TTC's ridership. The nannies that get bused in and out of  rich-folks neighborhoods will be crying tonight.  But I guess they're the wrong type of women, or at least not the type this budget is concerned with.

 I know almost nothing else about what's in it, but that one measure left a bad smell in this TTCentric, greeny-weeny household.

Who's the new guy for the NDP again?

Life In Scarborough: The Washing Machines Of Scarborough

I've timed it on several occasions, and when I set my washing machine to Express Wash, it tells me the wash will take 30 minutes.  But it doesn't, it takes 37 minutes.  Everything is fine until the last minute of the cycle, which takes 7 minutes.  This seems dangerously misleading on the part of the manufacturer.  You could be washing interview gear in there.  You could lose a shot at a good job if you showed up 7 minutes late. And then your marriage could fall apart, and you could wind up addicted and homeless, sleeping in that porta-potty they left unlocked down by where they're renovating the Guildwood Inn.

This isn't about me, by the way.  I'm good. There are larger issues at stake. How could something like this happen in 2017?  Russian hackers hacking the Internet Of Washing Machines? Something must be done.

Your Daily Nazi: Nazi Salutes At Rebel Media Event Attended By CPC Leadership Candidates

.@ezralevant says @HilaryBeaumont is lying about seeing a Nazi salute in the crowd, but, ummmm... (c/o @sdbcraig) pic.twitter.com/RMgHDlbI0J

— Beisan Zubi (@beisan) February 16, 2017

PS.  Anyone with more crowd shots, please post somewhere.

Off To A Good Start: Analysis Of Trump/Trudeau First Meeting

I don't know who suggested Trudeau host a "chicks in biz" lunch with The Donald and daughter Ivanka, who cares about that kind of shit, but it was a brilliant move and it worked.  Look at the pic below.  Ivanka's got that....

...I'd fuck him right now look.  She'll be for Canada going forward.  Count on it.  And she's not the only one.  Our guy was a hit down South.  All the women love him.  For example, Alyssa Milano:

Dear lord, Trudeau is so hot.

— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) February 13, 2017

and:
 

Me watching Trudeau translate himself into French. pic.twitter.com/yazecf1Nvj

— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) February 13, 2017

Not only that, Justin fought Trump to a draw in the obligatory power handshake contest:

And later offered his hand voluntarily like the prettiest girl at the ball who kisses you out of pity.

As a result, The Donald has said he doesn't intend to fuck over Canada in a trade war, just the Mexicans.  Sorry, little swarthy brothers, national interests are national interests!  See you on the other side.

Bottom line, our PM did the nation proud today.  Or at least kept us safe.

O Glorious Justin: This Is A Thing Cleverly Done

So you diss Fox News over their reporting re the mosque shootings in Quebec.  Cdn media reports on that.  Then U.S. outlets have to report on it too.  Then Fox News has to respond.  And THEN you know The Donald has read it.  And maybe he responds, or not.  But its a neat way of delivering your broader message to the one person you really want to reach.  Smooth, like the Brits do.  And its the same way his staff signal disagreement with his policies.  They leak to Fox.

A Question For All CPC Candidates: Where Are They With Respect To Russky Interference?

It's a question  I've asked Nick Kouvalis, Svengali for  Kellie Leitch:

@Bigcitylib2 Kellie has been clear. Putin is not to be trusted. He is the enemy.

— Nick Kouvalis (@NickKouvalis) January 21, 2017

Again, all CPC candidates should have to answer this question.  After its success in the recent U.S. election, Putin's troll army has turned its attention elsewhere.  They're going after Merkel now, for example.  It is way within the realm of possibility that they should be looking to find a fellow traveler from within CPC ranks to up-end Canuck politics.  Every CPC candidate should  publicly renounce such efforts in advance.

Is Russia Re-Purposing Pro-Trump Troll Twitter Accounts To Attack Angela Merkel?

An interesting tweet, this:

Fascinating to see Kremlin trolls starting up the Merkel operation in real time today. Mostly repurposed pro-Trump accounts. pic.twitter.com/mlqQxFmf1k

— Angela Merkel (@Queen_Europe) December 20, 2016

Yeah, its a parody site .  But there's an interesting point made here.  Assume you have, like Russia does, a troll army that acts in the Russian national interest by, for example,  getting clowns like Donald Trump elected.  Suppose that assignment is over (successfully concluded), and the next one is to disrupt the German election and get Angela Merkel booted in favor of some far right alternative. What's the quickest way?  Well, you just use the 1,000's of twitter accounts you've already created to redirect their bile at the German Chancellor.  Better than starting from scratch.  But though these accounts are hard to distinguish from the genuinely useful idiots, if people are paying attention, they will see.  And that gives the game away.  So a sloppy bit of dark ops on the part of the Russkies, perhaps.

Kellie Leitch Fundraises Off Me

This appeared on CPC leadership candidate Kellie Leitch's Facebook page today.

She's got the twitter address wrong, but yeah she's talking about me, as Nick Kouvalis helpfully clarified:

@FraserFraserdw they all know it's @Bigcitylib2 that we're talking about. They don't like us. @EvanLSolomon

— Nick Kouvalis (@NickKouvalis) November 30, 2016

Firstly, I'd like to thank Ms. Leitch and Mr. Kouvalis.  I don't think anyone's ever called me "elite" before, not even my mom, or my wife, though I may ask her to start.  As for being a "prominent" Liberal, I'll include that in my Senate application form.  Speaking of which, where on the Senate website is there a floor-plan, so you can choose your seat?  Or do they leave that for a later date?

On Those Pipeline Decisions

Here is one of what will be many stories.

So, start with some facts and probabilities.

Northern Gateway is dead.  That's a piece of good news.  Line 3 nobody heard of until today, so who knows?   Also, who knows about Keystone.  That decision is not really in Canadian hands.

Energy East looks less likely to me.  The Trudeau gov. will take a big political hit for this in B.C. They won't risk the equivalent in Que. where they have more seats in the HOC.   Also, "the market" never cared much for Energy East; there's more money to be made if oil flows West to China than East to who knows where?

Now there's a pretty solid case to be made for the govs' position.  Put simply; Alberta deserves a pipe-line. I'm lazy right now so  I'll just quote stuff I wrote earlier on this, ironically enough about Energy East:

You have to think of this as the first step in a process.  Carbon is priced in Phase 1, and then in phases 2, 3, 4, and so on, that price is gradually ratcheted up.  Alberta has been told that, if it cleans up its act and gets with Phase 1, it will be given a chance to send its oil to the larger world market, where it might fetch a better price.  And so, at some political cost to the ruling government and economic cost to the province itself, it has attempted to do right.

So how do you then get a buy-in on phase 2, 3 and etc. if this good behaviour is not rewarded somehow?  If  no action the province takes will be rewarded why bother doing anything in future? So do we achieve our ultimate goal (hitting our announced carbon reduction targets) more quickly through cooperating or trying to steam-roll a whole industry out of business?

There's a matter of intellectual consistency at issue here.  If you are arguing that taking appropriate measures to obtain "social license" will get the province a pipeline or two, but really mean no way no how, than you are being  dishonest.   Why would a future Kenney government keep a Notley carbon tax if they could plausibly argue that it had brought them no credit?

That said,  BCers are going to go ape-shit.  When most people think of "Western Alienation" they think of whining Albertans.  But we BC natives range from artists to tech capitalists to first nation's warriors who can move unseen like a shadow in the night to hippies who've learned how to levitate by taking magic mushrooms to fishermen to whatever Van Der Zalm was.  And ranged against them is a bunch of ill-favoured, uncouth tar miners from Lethbridge.  If this becomes a political war, anti-pipeline forces will win in BC (opinion always tilts anti-pipeline when things heat up) and BC will win in the nation as a whole, and if Feds and Alberta try to NEP B.C., B.C. will tear this country a new one, sleep with its women, and leave for someplace better.  Yes, this could escalate into a National Unity issue.

And there's also the issue of the planet itself.  With respect to CO2 emissions, killing or even stalling pipelines is a bit like staunching the bleeding a little.  So I personally believe none of these pipelines go through.  But I'm willing to have the battles won at a more local level, and cut the feds some slack.

Small Mercies? Is Trump Softening Stance On Climate Change/Paris Agreement?

There are signs.  Climate change denier Myron Ebell may not get top spot at the EPA:

Myron Ebell, a prominent climate change skeptic who runs the Competitive Enterprise Institute libertarian think tank, has been leading Trump's EPA transition team, but sources said he is not likely to become the administrator.

Furthermore, the bottom couple of paragraphs from a recent article in  Utility Dive, quoting a "Trump Insider", suggest that Trump may have advanced a bit beyond crude climate change denial.  He won't lead an attack on renewables, and further:

There will be “enormous casualties among climate change activities,” the Trump insider said. But, he added, “Trump doesn’t want to turn his back on climate change.”

...which sounds bad, but better than claiming its all a Chinese hoax.  Interestingly enough, the first version of  piece is quite a bit more hard-line:

Trump's back-tracked on  a few issues over the past couple of days.  Maybe this is what we are seeing  here.   On this one it makes sense for him to retreat towards something like the G.W. Bush position.  That is, accept the underlying science and remain onside with the Paris Climate Agreement in theory  (I am hearing stories that his opposition to that may not be set in stone), but in practice do nothing.    Why choose active belligerence when inaction is enough?  Which is bad news, but not as bad as if he were to actively attempt to kneecap the renewables sector.

Life In Scarborough: Wisdom From Out In Scarborough

Was sitting in my favorite working man's pub out in Scarborough today, and heard something which I thought was quite deep.  One of the fellows at the bar said: "If you can't laid in Cuba, you can't get laid anywhere."  Which is a fact that many other people have told me is so.

Perhaps today more than ever we should acknowledge the inherent wisdom of the white working class.

Before You Cancel That Telus Contract!

because the company favors a price on carbon, read Rebel Media's (that's Ezra Levant's latest venture, if you haven't been paying attention) fight back letter!

Note the fifth and seventh paragraph.  While Holly the Rebel wants you to dump Telus now, she herself only plans to cancel someday, maybe, if the cards fall right.  That's about the lamest form of rebellion I've ever seen.  

PS.  They address me as Heywood J. because I am in the Rebel database as Heywood J. Blome.  Its an old joke.  I get a ton of email from these folks.

Bill Whatcott's Back

Last I heard, he had moved to the Phillipines because they hate the gays more.  But he's back in Toronto, his old stomping grounds, at least temporarily:

The class action lawsuit is a interesting idea.  You don't debate guys like Whatcott.  You figure out ways to take away their money.

If his name is unfamiliar, start here.

H/T@journo_dale.

Important News From Turkey!

I just googled it and turkeys don't actually come from Turkey. So no matter what happens, the 1st World should be OK for thanksgiving.

— Bigcitylib (@Bigcitylib2) July 15, 2016

Tim Tebow Says He Ain't Speaking At RNC National Convention

There is a list, and he's on it.  But then there's his Facebook message saying its all a rumor.  But that's a semi-official looking list.  Did the Trump gang stick Tebow on it without telling?  And if Tebow shouldn't have been there, how many other entries are false?

A Brief Note On Dope Regs: Make 'em Now Or Make 'em Never

 As you may know, I spent the last week and change  out on the Left Coast.  Probably the most interesting part was hanging with friends last Saturday at a beach BBQ, discussing the state of medical marijuana.  Half the table owned "green cards" or "compassion club" membership cards, and more than half of those were retired.  Trying to sound knowledgeable, I told them I knew a gal back in Ontario with chronic pain, who got a couple of vials of oil per month from the program.  And she'd told me the price of street weed, which she'd used previously to alleviate pain, had plunged during the last year. They cackled at my simplicity and one little old lady said: "We know that, sonny."

So there you have it.  The elderlies have gone rogue.  So if the Trudeau government plans to get ahead of the issue, they should act soon.  Otherwise Canada will turn into B.C.  Questionably legal pot shops on every corner.  Downtown T.O. smelling sickly sweet with the herb, just like Vancouver.

Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that, other than its pretty clear organized crime has a toe in the business. There's an incentive: open a dispensary and you have a legal reason to be driving around with 30 kilos of weed in your trunk.  And some dispensary owners have responded to $250-a-day municipal fines for being open illegally...by paying $250 a day.  This is suspicious behavior, in my opinion, and not something you would expect from a young hippy couple with shop-keeping ambitions.

And not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that either.  I'm sure there are many west coast bikers who, as they get older, would like to transition into selling a legal product.  Even tough guys dream of an easier life.  But if the federal government wants to shape the market rather than take what is there now,  they should move with more haste than they're currently displaying.   Some leeway seems to have already disappeared.  A too restrictive regime at this point will not supplant the status quo; it will be undermined by it.  Unless Justin Trudeau wants to start busting Vietnam vets, and maybe even his own mother.

What I'm Up To

Wife and I are out on the West Coast for a wedding and some vacationing, which for us has come to be associated with visiting the many, many wineries on Vancouver Island.  This

...is a shot from outside of one of our favorites, de Vine Vineyards on top of Devine Hill.  And this 

...is just a random bunch of wildflowers outside of Sydney By The Sea, an old retirement town that's repurposed itself as a tourist trap.  Note how healthy these flowers look.  The same flowers in T.O. would be gagging on car exhaust and industrial pollutants.

Your Ward News: A Letter The G&M Didn't Print

They got an even shorter version, but so stubbornly persist in their wrongness and hatred of elegant prose that they wouldn't even print that one.  Anyway, I didn't want all my work to go for nothing, so here it is:

Marcus Gee's Free Speech Views Are Painfully Naive

Gee suggests that Toronto citizens respond to Yourward News by  debunking its chief author, James Sears.  But Sears brags about the many women he has "pinned down against their will", and talks up Hitler and Jesus in the same breath.  That rape is bad, and Hitler not like Jesus; these seem self-evident truths and I would personally shun anyone who felt they were at issue.  An attempt to convince them towards sanity would likely prove futile.  It might also result in online death-threats from Neo-Nazis and members of the "seduction community", as some have already discovered.

And I'm not sure  Mr. Gee has read what he is defending.  He supports prohibiting material which incites violence, but  apparently missed  Sears' pro-rape musings and his talk of "eradicating FemiMarxists".  I don't begrudge Mr. Gee his ignorance, but he might show some empathy for the posties who must deliver this vile product, or the locals who receive it on their doorstep.  They can't avoid it so easily.

Marcus Gee's painfully naive piece can be found here.

Cheri Di Novo Is Fucking Nuts

That is all.

Other than maybe this, for now.  THERE IS MORE!

Life In Scarborough: Anti-Union Sentiments Overheard Being Expressed In Scarborough Pub!

I hear a guy at the bar today, talking.  He says:  "Hey, you know what a union is, don't ya?  It's a bunch of drunk guys fallin' off a roof."

The guy's in construction.  He's management.