This post is going to be chock full of taboo's......

Ixnay on the eligionray.....

I know, I know.....Some Canadians look at the kind of stuff I write and say.....They are religious? So what? It is not polite to talk about that!

I think we learned that from our Mother's. Polite conversation does not include the following: Religion, Politics, sex, or bodily functions. And I think that is what the Harper Conservatives are partly counting on.....Our politeness.

How can you identify a Canadian? When you bump into them they say, "sorry"!

As I have said so many times....
I will always defend anyone's right to religion......As long as that includes my right to be free from religion.

Interesting how that works hey? We have a pretty diverse country as far as religion goes, and personal freedom of religion is a guaranteed right in the Charter. As it should be.

But we are not just talking about religion here, no.

Glaringly faith based/ideological/corporate friendly proclamations come from the PMO and the Harper Conservative MP's on a daily basis that belie fact, and they tend to look more like science fiction or an ancient myth....It is embarrassing internationally, and harmful in the long run. 

But pale! That's just hyperbole! Nothing is going on. We have a Parliament to stop anything we do not like! The Harper Conservatives have a minority government, and they are really really hampered! 

Riiiight. That same minority Government that just cancelled Parliament to avoid International laws about torture? That same minority government that has been repeatedly removing all the watchdogs and dissenters from their posts by hook or by crook?? Hmmm. Yes, we are keeping them in check very effectively.

Ya.....And I have a bridge for sale in Pixieland.

Crime all the time, a voter favourite! Convince people they are in danger even though every single credible statistic shows that crime has been decreasing for 30 years...Convince them that failed policy that has been live and in use for 20 years in the US is the way to go! (there is a study that also shows that more cops may be injured and killed as a result)  People eat this stuff up.  It feeds on those who have been a victim of crime too, which is rather sad and jaded and opportunistic. It makes some money for whichever Tory faithful that get the private prison contracts.

Would you buy a ford Pinto with the exploding gas tank feature even after knowing about it?? Apparently many Canadians are willing to line up for this one. The three strikes Pinto model! It will hurt you, it will hurt other families, it will cost a LOT of money, It will fail....You will feel safe at night because....You just do! It has that new car smell......PLASTIC!

Climate change information and science, keep the debate alive using big oil funded think tank"studies" written by non scientists. Really, this one always boggles my mind. Stack the deck in Government agencies with these same big oil funded "experts" and no one bats an eye....This is like hiring a fox to secure the henhouse, but hey! It does help the Oil patch stay in business. And that is supposedly good for business. It is deadly for some people, unless of course you can tuck that information away by intimidation using government agencies or by declaring First Nations as a "threat"......Oh, and BTW it was over 1600 ducks, not 500 that were killed in the toxic lakes of ooze a while back. The real numbers came out "quietly" later on. Makes one wonder what else they are holding back?

Medical facts, harm reduction programs.....NONE of the Harper Conservative positions or rhetoric on any of these topics has any basis in reality.The war on drugs is a failure. But there is more here to this than meets the eye.The master hath spoken.

Criminalizing Canadians, through draconian copyright laws written by US corporations, FOR US corporations.  Check out this latest idea....It is a secret.....SHHHHH. More three strikes stuff. But no actual proof will be needed to remove someones Internet. Guilty!!!

Of course, the Harper Conservatives have been mucking about with spying on Canadians for some time now, they also insist that they have to see us naked before we get on a plane. Perverts. These scanners will be abused, and there is no evidence that they do anything except degrade and shame us. BTW, this decision was made whilst Parliament was shuttered, no conversation. Handy that!

Reproductive rights......We know that studies show that access to birth control and information helps the most with teenage pregnancy and abortion rates, and maternal health...This is proven. So why has the Harper Conservative minority government stripped down agencies that accomplish those goals? To ensure that they don't give women access to these things. Why on earth would anyone do that you ask? Well, because they want to control women? And conform to their own religious beleifs. Simple, and one doesn't even need a playbook to figure it out.

Appointing Hard core-anti women-anti gay- religious right persons, even to the PMO. 

Science has been subverted in order to appoint someone who will "advise" on public policy with regards to science. But Harper didn't go with an actual scientist for that, no.....He appointed an Evangelist minister who belongs to his church. The same church that thinks the following: 

The denomination also stresses that Jesus Christ's return to Earth is imminent, says the evangelical specialist, who was raised in the Alliance Church.

Alliance Church doctrine, like those of other evangelical denominations, strongly oppose homosexual relationships, describing them as the "basest form of sinful conduct."

The Alliance Church is also tough on divorce and holds that Christians who have been adulterous do not have a right to remarry.

The denomination's leaders, in addition, oppose abortion, stem-cell research, euthanasia, the use of marijuana and ordained female clergy.

(Add to that, strongly against female reproductive rights.) 

Preston Manning is also a climate change denier. So now the information that the Government uses is filtered through a religious litmus test, and then through a screen of Lazy Fairy (Laissez faire) dust, big-oil- Fraser- Institute screen. That does little for the problems that Canada and the rest of the world are facing. It will however keep corporate Canada happy. 

So again, I have no problem if they want to believe that flat earth regressive stuff in their own personal lives. But it isn't the basis for rational and safe public policy, now is it?  And that is what is going on, incrementally.
Stephen Harper used to say that a minority government has to work for all. Now? Not so much. He is perfectly happy to cater to the 33% who want his kind of country and leave the rest of us unrepresented. 

Oh, and do meet the Science minister. He's also a creationist. Under his watch, scientific research has been cut, and schools of theology get new media centres.

I can show you what I say is true, I have done this using corporate media sources and scientific studies even! Which you will find if you clicked any of those links in the above paragraphs.

Polite? I am sooooo Done with that. I am a straight talker and a realist. I have no time for wonky type weasel words and politically correct tripe. Y'all can go read some of the partisan blogs.....Or the corporate media; Opinion that has first been run by the editorial board which gets its instructions from the board and stakeholders, then the marketing dept to ensure that the advertisers will be ok with it, and then through legal to make sure it offends no one. Totally unbiased straight talk. Yup.

Which of course is not to say that the Corp media always doesn't report. But always understand that some of the language may have been well filtered or "crafted", and that the placement in the paper may have been for another purpose.  The shiny things go on the front, and the stuff that they really aren't so interested in distracting us with goes on page 53.

Antonia Z is a breath of fresh air.  She also gets labelled as a Harper Basher and a liberal. But as we know, reality does have a liberal (small "l") bias. Read her column about the Harper Conservatives shameful attitude towards Canadian women.

Her links, and facts are all supported. All of them.

Why are some so willing to keep believing the rhetoric, over the facts?

...Path of least resistance..Like water and electricity, people will often take the easy way out. Even as they fall over the waterfall without a barrel and crush themselves on the rocks.

In Canada? We shall hoist ourselves on the petard of politeness.

Updated. I had missed a couple links. :) Was not apparent immed, link heavy post.