The Knotical Times

Politics Explained

2007-07-11T11:17:00.000-02:30

The Internet explains Government:

FEUDALISM: You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk.

PURE SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else's cows. You have to take care of all of the cows. The government gives you as much milk as you need.

BUREAUCRATIC SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and put them in a barn with everyone else's cows. They are cared for by ex-chicken farmers. You have to take care of the chickens the government took from the chicken farmers. The government gives you as much milk and eggs as the regulations say you need.

FASCISM: You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them and sells you the milk.

PURE COMMUNISM: You have two cows. Your neighbors help you take care of them, and you all share the milk.

RUSSIAN COMMUNISM: You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but the government takes all the milk.

CAMBODIAN COMMUNISM: You have two cows. The government takes both of them and shoots you.

DICTATORSHIP: You have two cows. The government takes both and drafts you.

PURE DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors decide who gets the milk.

REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors pick someone to tell you who gets the milk.

BUREAUCRACY: You have two cows. At first the government regulates what you can feed them and when you can milk them. Then it pays you not to milk them. Then it takes both, shoots one, milks the other and pours the milk down the drain. Then it requires you to fill out forms accounting for the missing cows.

PURE ANARCHY: You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair price or your neighbors try to take the cows and kill you.

LIBERTARIAN/ANARCHO-CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.

SURREALISM: You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

(Original source unknown . . . this version expanded and Illuminated by SJ.)

Bouquets and Baud Bricks

2007-07-06T15:38:00.000-02:30

Back for a spell.

I have been away from the blogosphere for a while, but have had a chance to catch up on some of my regular E-scribblers these past few days.

Geoff Meeker has moved his blog offerings from "Meeker on Media" to The Telegram web site.

Same great content, and no less 'meek'; but it appears to be hosted on a 8086 box through a 300 baud modem.

Geoff, check out the bottleneck before faithful readers get frustrated.

If readers have patience; I recommend Geoff's "Definately no complements" from June 13, 2007. Take a 'spell' and read it.

St. John's gets jurisdiction of Mount Pearl.

2007-05-18T11:25:00.000-02:30

A delightful irony.

"Commissioner John Roil found that any change to the cities' boundary is not justified, setting back Mount Pearl's aspirations to claim what is expected to be developed as a large subdivision."

The beautiful irony in this ruling is the fact that the former farm of Sir James Pearl, named 'Mount Pearl', for which the 'little city' is named lies within the boundary of the area awarded to the city of St. John's. Mount Pearl's 'little' mayor, Steve Kent, was disappointed, while Andy Wells was ecstatic with the ruling.

I would like to see a real municipal amalgamation; this would include all of the area between a line line drawn at Cape St. Francis, and another line drawn between Harbour Main, Conception Bay and Tors Cove on the Southern Shore. The isolated residents on Bell Island should then be 'financially motivated' to move to North America's 'newest' city, St. John's.

Too many Dannys

2007-04-30T10:36:00.000-02:30

The Liberals need another coup.

Today's Telegram has a depressing article on the state of politics in this province. Terry Roberts writes about the Liberal response to the budget, and their state of election preparedness. In my humble opinion, the party 'turfed' the wrong leader. They should, instead, have elected a party president with a grasp on reality.

[{"The Opposition Liberals must be in crisis mode. Right?

Not at all, says Danny Dumaresque.

The Liberal party president, who has faced a few challenges himself in recent months, is not ready to concede anything to the PCs.

In fact, Dumaresque resurrects images of the 1989 election turnaround when asked if his party has any hopes of snatching power from what appears to be a Williams juggernaut.

Back then, the Liberals, under Clyde Wells, began the campaign 26 points behind then-premier Tom Rideout in public opinion polls.

But 21 days later, the Liberals were in power, and remained there until they were turfed from office in 2003." }]

Apparently, Dumaresque is having visions, or delusions of grandeur. Does Dumaresque even in his deepest hallucinations think that there is anything close to Clyde Wells on the Liberal team? Surely not the lack lustre Gerry Reid, condemned to a job he didn't want, and in which he doesn't perform very well. Lloyd Bentsen, RIP.

[{He promised a "new" Liberal party with new faces, energy and policies.

"That's what people are asking for. They're fed up with the rhetoric of Mr. Williams," Dumaresque said.}]

God help and protect us from Danny Dumaresque, the 'master of rhetoric'.

Unless Lorraine Michael can attract strong candidates to the provincial New Democratic Party, this province is heading toward a McKenna-like sweep, and that would be the worst possible result of the upcoming election.

Stephen Hawking and Tim Horton's

2007-04-27T19:10:00.000-02:30

Health care workers to earn near minimum wage ;0(

Free of his wheelchair and tethered only to heart rate and blood pressure monitors, astrophysicist Stephen Hawking yesterday fulfilled a dream of floating weightless on a zero-gravity jet, a step he hopes leads to further space adventures.

[{"It was amazing," Hawking said after the flight, which took off from the space shuttle's runway at the Kennedy Space Center.

The modified jet, named G-Force One but nicknamed the vomit comet, carried Hawking, his four doctors and two nurses, and dozens of other passengers up to 7,200 metres over the Atlantic off the coast of Florida.}]

The minimum wage in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2002 was $6 per hour. That wage was increased by 25 cents to $6.25 effective June 1, 2005, to $6.50 effective January 1, 2006, to $6.75 effective June 1, 2006 and to $7 effective January 1, 2007.

According to Statistics Canada, approximately 8.5 per cent of paid employees in Newfoundland and Labrador (16,100 people) received minimum wage in 2003.

In yesterday's provincial budget, the minimum wage was further increased. "Over the next year, we will also increase the province’s minimum wage to $8.00 an hour in two increments: by 50 cents an hour on October 1 and by another 50 cents an hour on April 1 of next year. With the implementation of these increases, Newfoundland and Labrador will be on par with Atlantic Canada and other Canadian jurisdictions with respect to the minimum wage. Our government also recognizes the need to plan for future increases in a predictable and incremental manner and provide stakeholders with the time necessary to prepare. That is why our government will undertake consultations with stakeholders to review the minimum wage in the province and to have it concluded early in 2008."

I applaud the government on increasing the minimun wage by 33 1/% from June 2005 to April 2008. However, the inherent problem in doing so is that other individuals who earn wages slightly above the minimum wage take a virtual economic, and truly psychological hit.

Home care workers in this province are currently engaged in a certification process. Indeed some are already represented by NAPE. These union workers are earning $8.04 an hour.

The union or the province should have used the ratio, or differential of their pay to the current minimum wage to set a fair wage for these workers, who are so vital to our society. Such a formula would see the home care workers' wages rise to a rate between $9.05 and $9.25 an hour.

It's totally 'W R O N G' that the home care workers are earning the equivalent wage to the high school student serving double-doubles at Tim Horton's.

A home care worker tending to the needs of a person suffering from the same affliction as Dr. Hawking, "(ALS) [They who are unable to move or speak* because of a disease called Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis]" would be earning $8.04. That same patient in an institute such as Escasoni would have an attendant earning ~$24.00 per hour looking after their needs. The capital cost of maintaining an institute such as Escasoni must be in the nature of hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

Apropos the above, would you be content with a Tim Horton's teenager earning minimun wage looking after your aged parent???

Budget provides Income Tax cut.

2007-04-26T15:32:00.000-02:30

"Beware of Greeks bearing gifts!"

For the first time since the 'wondrous' days of Brian Tobin, we see a personal income tax cut as a result of a provincial budget.

[{"Newfoundland and Labrador is planning to finish the next fiscal year with a record surplus, the government said as it tabled the budget on Thursday.

Finance Minister Tom Marshall, who delivered the budget speech, projected a surplus of $261 million."

"Our government is transforming Newfoundland and Labrador from the province with the highest personal income tax rates in Atlantic Canada to the province with the lowest personal income tax rates in Atlantic Canada."

Personal income tax brackets will drop effective July 1, with the lowest bracket dropping to 8.7 per cent from 10.57 per cent.

The highest bracket will drop to 16.5 per cent from 18.02 per cent.

Other tax measures include: Eliminating the personal income surtax, applied largely to middle- and high-income earners, effective July 1.

Indexing of the personal income system to inflation to protect taxpayers from "bracket creep" that happens when workers gradually move into higher brackets. That change is also effective July 1. emphasis added- ed.}]

On the surface this all seems like a positive step. However, when the 'Tobin regime' cut income taxes from 69% of federal rates to 66%, they also initiated a "tax on income" to align the provincial system with the federal method, and that of other provinces.

I like numbers, and have been processing Income Tax returns for more years than I care to admit. My first programming task after buying my first computer in 1981 was to code a program to calculate and print my annual Income Tax. But I digress . . .

I have tracked my 'own personal tax rates' by spreadsheet for the past 16 years. I have had a nice mid to upper class income, so these figures are a good sample of how much our governments get us to invest in their programs. In the period mentioned, my 'bottom line' federal tax on income has moved from 18% to 11%. Provincial tax on income for the same period has moved from 11% to 9%. BUT, my provincial tax as a percentage of my federal tax has moved from 59% to 82%.

Tobin and company made a pretty clever move in giving us a one year tax cut and then changing the way taxes were assessed. Bottom line was we got a severe tax increase compared to what we had been paying. Federal taxes have been dropping consistently these past 20 years, while provincial income taxes have been increasing.

I wonder what this tax cut will look like five years down the road.

BTW: You can now get a Death Certificate for free ;o)

The latest polls

2007-04-25T19:16:00.000-02:30

Newfoundland cartoonist John Meaney does a very nice job on protraying politicians, and life in general.

John captures day to day news events with his crisp and 'sharp' toons. His site is updated on a regular basis, and well worth visiting.

Today's offering at his site is dedicated to the late Boris Yeltsin, it's a real 'Meaney'.

"Home never changes but we do."

2007-04-25T16:21:00.000-02:30

Another perspective on leaving Newfoundland.

Ken Regular, former NTV journalist writes an interesting letter as a post to Greg Locke. Greg has recently packed up his camera and his considerable talent and headed west.

I have voiced similar comments regarding the exodus of NLers to the mainland of Canada. It is heart rending to see older people pull up roots, take their families, and leave the province. However, many who leave do so with the intent of broadening their horizons, and having done so put down new roots. Many who have left NL in the past years have settled as permanent residents of Ontario and Alberta and have no intention of returning to this province. Seven of my siblings fall into this category and are well settled, and very happily so for the past 20 years, in Ontario and parts west. They have their homes and a goood quality of life, and are quite content keep this province as a warm spot in their hearts, and a place to spend their vacations.

The lowering of our population can be seen as a benefit in the sense that their is more per capita funds to be spent on services for those left in the province. As well many NLers are working outside the province but spending their income within the province. This has always been a mode of employment and a way of life in NL.

It wouldn't surprise me that many of the bean counters on Confederation hill feel the same way. Parzival Copes may be gone, but I doubt that he is totally forgotten. Back in the days of Joey Smallwood, Copes suggested that Newfoundland and Labrador had too many people relative to its economic base, an implicit support for policies that encouraged people to move out of the province. The economist suggested that resettlement from isolated fishing outports was just a first step in a process leading ultimately to out-migration. He went on to suggest that the province would be better seved with a population of approximately 400,000.

Not surprisingly, his thesis was met with outrage at the time. I must admit, I get a similiar reaction when I offer my opinion, as stated above.

Paise and faint praise

2007-04-24T11:36:00.000-02:30

Newfoundland Premier finds pal in Husky CEO

The National Post presents a different view of Danny Williams than the mainland MSM has offered these past few weeks since the budget was tabled by the federal Minister of Finance.

[{Raise the subject of Danny Williams, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, with an oilman and you're likely to get a muscular, "Let's not go there" reaction -- an allusion to both the region and the topic.

And then there is John Lau, the tight-fisted president and CEO of Husky Energy Inc., the Calgary-based integrated oil and gas giant controlled by Asia's richest man, Li Ka-shing. Mr. Lau is on such good terms with Mr. Williams, the oil executive holds up the alliance as a competitive advantage for his company in the East Coast offshore versus the rest of the oil industry.

At Husky's annual meeting last week, for example, the Hong Kong-born accountant gushed that the premier has been "very helpful" to Husky and that his company, in return, is eager to "work with the government and share the upside."}]

Meanwhile, Ed Hollett at The Sir Robert Bond Papers continues to Damn Danny with faint praise. Hollett headlines his blog today with the National Post article and adds several other "political" pieces. Ed reinforces his admiration of all things 'Danny' by calling VOCM's Open Line program. He protests that his blog is not "very critical" of the premier, and refers guest host Linda Swain to today's National Post article. He also explains that he felt a duty last week to point out that the budget implementation process 'was' in contravention of Article 60 of the Atlantic Accord and this could indeed affect the spirit and intent of the Accords.

Is the Globe and Mail a gossip sheet?

2007-04-24T10:08:00.000-02:30

'Your biggest problem is Rideau Hall,' top bureaucrat warned Harper

Michael Valpy writes an assessment of the Governor General that is anything but complimentary. Does he have a hidden agenda, or is this an attempt at a future scoop? Valpy name-drops without provenance or named sources.

Regardless of one's view of this particular office; it would seem that the current GG would be given the benefit of the doubt in her current circumstance. If Valpy has a story, he should write it with the proper attributes. Otherwise this piece is just cheap gossip, and a swipe at someone who cannot or will not respond.

The comments section following the article speaks for itself. If one reads the Globe online, they will recognize the most of these comments are from the 'regular crowd' that hover around the Globes commentary section like gulls following a fishing vessel that is retrieving it catch.

Former provincial deputy minister concerned about Atlantic Accord

2007-04-23T10:21:00.000-02:30

The Telegram's Rob Antle highlights some of the concerns raised by prominent local bloggers Ed Hollett and Simon Lono last week, when they uncharacteristically took Williams' side and agreed that the The Accord’s implementation legislation may be compromised by the effects of the 2007 federal budget. I include Antle's article below, because the Telegram's website doesn't retain a large archive.

Federal changes spark worries about Accord
Clause and effect
ROB ANTLE
The Telegram

A member of the provincial negotiating team for the original 1985 Atlantic Accord is sounding alarm bells about the impact of new federal legislation on the crucially important agreement.

“I’m very concerned about what this means for the future of the Atlantic Accord,” said Ron Penney, a former provincial deputy minister who now serves as the top bureaucrat for the City of St. John’s.

Federal budget implementation legislation introduced last month would unilaterally change parts of the 1985 and 2005 accords dealing with offset payments.

Penney said a clause the province had inserted in the 1985 deal means that should not happen.

Section 60 of the original Accord memorandum of agreement says neither side can change the deal “except by mutual consent.” The Accord’s implementation legislation echoes that.

If the province signs on to the new equalization system, the feds say it automatically accepts changes to the Accord.

“Once you open up this door, we’re going down a very slippery slope,” Penney said.

While recent public attention on the Accord has focused on equalization and clawbacks, the agreement is much larger than that.

The 1985 Accord enshrines the right of the province to jointly manage the offshore oil resource, and allows Newfoundland and Labrador to impose its own royalty regime as if the resource was on land.

“If they’re going to unilaterally change a provision of the Atlantic Accord with respect to the equalization phase-out, then what’s to prevent the federal government from changing other fundamental provisions of the Atlantic Accord?” Penney said.

Federal Finance Department officials could not be reached for comment before deadline Friday.

Premier Danny Williams was in Labrador for a funding announcement, and was also unavailable.

Ironically, it was local Web bloggers largely critical of Williams — Ed Hollett and Simon Lono — who appeared to first raise questions about the legality of the federal move.

Damning Danny with faint praise

2007-04-19T19:41:00.000-02:30

Is Danny Right??

I was really surprised today to notice Simon Lono at Offal News actually suggest that Danny Williams may actually be right in the current equalization spat.

Simon, like his cohort, Ed Hollett at The Sir Robert Bond Papers is also a former high level Liberal staffer, and they both publish well read local blogs. Neither of these bloggers is naturally inclined to saying positive things about Danny Williams, yet today they both say "Danny is right".

Seeing both of these decidedly reluctant offering suggesting that the Feds are playing loose with the facts and the Atlantic Accord, makes me believe that there is credence to what the Premier and Finance Minister Marshall are claiming.

Consider also the contributions by Dr. Wade Locke which go to great lengths to indicate that the Federal bureaucrats are not beyond 'deflecting attention' from the real issue. This is the same Wade Locke who vowed last week to say nothing else on the issue.

Very interesting, indeed.

Freedom of the press - Blessing or curse?

2007-04-19T11:33:00.000-02:30

While I, like everyone else, am appalled by the mass shooting of students at Virginia Tech; I think that I am even more disgusted with the gusto of the American media to highlight the PR campaign that was part of Cho Seung-Hui's plan.

There is no doubt that this individual was mentally deranged, and that with the proper intervention, and with contiuing treatment and monitoring, this massacare could have been avoided. Unfortunately, the very freedom that protected Cho's privacy, also allowed him to wallow in the illness that caused this incident.

The American press choose to demonize this person, while at the same time catering to his delusional sickness that led to the killing, and his need to publicize it. How long before another demented person decides to copycat this monstrous act?

I applaud CBC, who have decided that while they will report the story and the usual follow-ups, they won't broadcast the photos, video, and audio from Cho's manifest.

CTV decided to adopt the American mode, and have linked to the entire NBC archive.

The Globe and Mail details the manifest, shows one 'classic bad guy pose' photo, and quotes CNN. Ah well.

CDS starts Military Families Fund

2007-04-17T15:34:00.000-02:30

“When our families call out for help, we must be able to answer that call immediately and substantially,” said Gen. Hillier. “Our families have been here for us through our enrollment, our training, our deployments, and our homecomings. The military life places significant demands on our loved ones. They did not volunteer for service – but serve they do, and with great distinction. It is our turn to be there for our families.”

CDS Interview on Canada AM

The Canadian Forces Personnel Support Agency (CFPSA) – the morale and welfare arm of the CF that provides programs and services for the well-being of the CF community – will administer the CDS Military Families Fund.

DND News Release <-||-> CTV News Item

Cheques or money orders should be made out to CFCF - CDS Military Families Fund. The mailing address is as follows:

CDS Military Families Fund
c/o Canadian Forces Personnel Support Agency
4210 Labelle Street ,
Ottawa, ON, K1A 0K2

Please do not send cash.

Rogers' Customers shortchanged??

2007-04-17T11:27:00.000-02:30

"Rogers Must Come Clean on Traffic Shaping

With well over a million subscribers, Rogers is universally recognized as one of Canada's leading Internet service providers. The company offers several tiers of services, including the "Extreme" package that boasts of "blistering speed for sharing large files and much more." The package offers fast downloads, somewhat slower uploads, and a monthly cap of 100 gigabytes of data transfers.

Despite the promises of fast speeds and large file sharing capabilities, there are growing concerns among many consumers that the service delivers far less than advertised. Rogers actively engages in "traffic shaping", a process that limits the amount of bandwidth available for certain applications. Although this was initially limited to peer-to-peer file sharing applications, there is mounting speculation that the practice may be affecting basic functionality such as email and the use of virtual private networks.

For the past 18 months, Rogers traffic shaping has been an open secret. While Rogers at first denied the practice, it effectively acknowledged it in late 2005, arguing that peer-to-peer file sharing was using a disproportionate percentage of network resources and that the traffic shaping was needed to maintain the functionality of core services such as email and web browsing."

Michael Geist - Toronto Star

Dion confirms his 'greenness'

2007-04-12T23:16:00.000-02:30

Fairly newly minted Federal Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion began the transition to green in January.

"Dion, who attended a luncheon in his Montreal riding and got a standing ovation from 400 guests - was under the gun for a Journal de Montreal report about “grumblings around Dion” and his poor showing in recent opinion surveys. The story quoted unnamed sources as saying Liberals were eager for an early election defeat so Dion could be dumped."

Tomorrow he will complete the transition, and fully adopt his new Green colour.

"Mr. Dion, who shares Ms. May's environmental idealism, is expected to make the announcement today. In return, sources say Ms. May will promise not to run a Green candidate against the Liberal leader and will essentially endorse Mr. Dion for prime minister. The extraordinary back-scratching between two supposedly rival leaders is unheard of in Canadian politics and could generate a backlash within both parties."

Elizabeth May, Green Party leader apparently saw it all coming.

"For Ms. May, the strategy could shorten her lengthy odds of winning the Greens' first seat in the House of Commons. But she still faces an uphill battle. She has chosen to run in Central Nova, a long-time Conservative stronghold currently held by Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay. To beat Mr. MacKay, Ms. May would have to pick up all the votes that went to the third-place Liberals in 2006 and half the second-place NDP's votes."

Bye bye Belinda

2007-04-12T17:18:00.000-02:30

I thought that Liam O'Brien at Responsible Government League was particularly venomous and not a little partisan in his post following Belinda Stronach's announcement that she would not 'offer herself' in the next federal election. Liam was taken to the woodshed by Bond Papers but still persisted in "protesting too much" about what he 'really' meant. But I digress . . .

Later, I read the comments in response to Andrew Coyne's post on BS's announced departure. It had similiar responses to those that followed every other blog/article that I have read on this topic.

It's little wonder that women in particular, and others in general are hesitant to leap into public service as elected politicians.

Interrogating Gannets - High tech birds

2007-04-12T12:38:00.000-02:30

I found this article to be very interesting.

Flying With Gannets: "For 25 years, Dr. Bill Montevecchi intently watched marine birds head out to sea and wondered exactly where they went and how they spent their time during the day."

Now he knows the answer – and a lot more. During a field trip to Funk Island in July-August, 2003 , the Memorial University professor and Dr. Stefan Garthe from the University of Kiel, Germany, attached miniature Global Positioning System (GPS) devices to gannets. The result: an unprecedented “bird's eye” view of ocean life.

You can see the 'tracks' of these free-ranging gannets as they were foraging from Funk Island, a granite outcrop 60 km northeast of Newfoundland in the cold arctic waters of the Labrador Current.

On the same page, there is a multimedia link that shows the technique used by these scientists in tagging Northern Gannets with GPS loggers during a field trip at Cape St. Marys. The audio is in German but the commentary by Montevecchi is also audible.

It takes a few minutes for the video by MARE TV of Germany(40 MB) to load, but it's well worth the wait.

My last hockey game of the year.

2007-04-10T18:59:00.000-02:30

Tonight I will watch two of the best teams in North America play for the World Championship.

Canada goes for gold at women's hockey worlds..

Canada and the U.S. will square off tonight at 8:30 PM EDT on TSN.

That other variety of World Championship Hockey (the NHL second season) will go unwatched as it has for the past 20 years.

Update: Canada Golden!

Congratulations to a G R E A T hockey team.

Sign on:

2007-04-10T16:32:00.000-02:30

I have been thinking about beginning a Blog for a while.

Well, here goes . . .

I will use this Blog to comment on whatever I find interesting, disturbing, or just worthy of commentary.

The challenge of course will be to make the commentary worthy of the topic, and the reader.