Ontario Liberals Redefine Hypocrisy In Opening Of Smoking Lounges

Mulder

The Ontario Liberal government has decided that government owned casinos are no longer considered public places because the Niagara Falls Casino and the Windsor Casino will be opening smoking zones.

Today, Ontario Health Minister Jim Watson defended the announcement by saying that the ban on restaurants and bars is different because they serve food but that the primary reason for a casino is not to serve food.

This plan comes on the heels of the drop in business at the Windsor casino after the Detroit casino opened up a smoking area.

In related news, Legion’s are still smoke free zones which means the Provincial Liberals, headed by Dalton McShifty, are giving more rights to gamblers than to veterans who fought to create a free Canada.

I guess the dollar is almighty to the Ontario Liberal government and public businesses just don’t get a level playing field.

OfficiallyScrewed … again.

China's Coal Powered Plants Wet Blanket For Kyoto

Mulder

562

Remember that number.

It is the number of coal fired plants that China plans to open in the next few years. Add in the USA and India (all three exempt or not signatories to Kyoto) and the number of plants goes up to 850.

…the implications of this planned coal-fired plant construction in China, India and the U.S. It estimated these 850 plants will put five times more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than Kyoto is designed to remove, even if every other country, including Canada, miraculously hits its Kyoto target.

Pause for a second and reread that statement. Five Times what Kyoto would remove if every nation hits its target. Wow.

Lorrie Goldstein is taking on the Kyoto challenge and doing a great job. In this article he outlines how the biggest polluters are not included in Kyoto.

Something that I would like to add is that the Kyoto Protocol considers Saudi Arabia a “developing country” too which means the Saudis are not being penalized for pumping petroleum into the world while nations like Canada are.

For more, I urge people to read Lorrie Goldstein regularly. He is doing a good job trying to educate Torontonians on the myths surrounding Kyoto.

The problem with Kyoto

Debunking Hot Hysteria

More Kyoto Crimes

Well worth the time to read them.

Liberals Better Think Twice About A Spring Election

Mulder

The results of a CFRA poll indicate that the Liberals should be thinking twice about taking down the government this spring.

There is renewed speculation about a spring federal election. Please rate the performance of the Harper minority government.
Excellent 34.4%
Very Good 43.6%
Adequate 13.7%
Very Poor 8.05%
Other 5.55%
Total Votes: 1801

This may not be a scientific poll as it was conducted online, but when 91.7% of the 1800 or so respondents believe the government is doing Adequate or better and a whopping 78% feel they are doing Very Good or Excellent, then the opposition parties need to pay attention.

If you take out the Other results, the weighted value of the Adequate or better answers go up to 97% and the Very Good or Excellent total is a commanding 82.6%. These are quite dramatic results and make me very proud to be one of those who think the Harper government is doing an Excellent job.

The environment may be a key issue to the press, but to citizens it is not as important as good government, good leadership and an accountable team that will not squander our tax dollars and this poll shows it.

Obesity Doesn't Care If You Can Play Mozart

Mulder

From this article:

An online petition to the Government of Canada, signed by more than 35,000 people, says the credit is unfair and places a higher value on fitness than on music or visual and dramatic arts.

The Canadian Conference of the Arts urged the government to include a variety of arts activities, including music, theatre and visual arts, in the tax credit.

I don’t think these art critics get the intent of the tax credit, but this raises quite an interesting conundrum.

The arts tend to be championed by the left. Tax cuts tend to be championed by the right.

Hmmmmm…..

H/T to Clear Conservative Thought

Ask For Bacon, Or You Only Get A Cheeseburger

Mulder

My wife teases me a lot with the phrase “You think you can change anything with a bit of money.” because if I can’t find something specifically the way I like it, I wonder how much money it would take to customize to my needs.

I know this makes me sound like some overpaid ass, but in reality, it comes from the fact that I work in the fast paced high tech industry and if a customer comes to me asking for something out of the ordinary, I never say no unless it is completely impossible. The conversation usually ends up with an explanation of the time and effort involved to make it happen and the opportunity cost is assessed and a surcharge is brought in, because my industry understands customization.

It was this same philosophy that created the “Add Bacon 50 cents” option on cash registers. It was people like me who grew up with banquet burgers asking Wendy’s and McDonalds for bacon on our cheeseburgers and offering to pay more for it that revolutionized restaurant cash register operation and, more importantly, gave us more options as consumers.

Life truly is better.

Where am I going with this? Well Yahoo news has an article about how a BC clinic is charging customers $30 for appointments and the NDP (go figure) is bitching about how this is a violation of the Canada Health Act and that the clinic needs to be stopped.

I thought this was the usual private clinic argument until I read this:

“Without the benefits offered under the plan, beginning March 1, 2007, there will be a $30 reservation fee in order to schedule an appointment to see one of the doctors at a specific time,” the letter states.

Drop-in patients or patients without scheduled appointments will not be charged the appointment fee.

*emphasis mine

So the patients are not being charged if they are willing to accept regularly scheduled appointments or drop in and wait for a gap in the doctor’s time. The ONLY people getting charged are those who ask for a specific time. i.e. that person out there with a busy schedule because they are being productive to society and not willing to stop being productive without a bit of guarantee that when they arrive they will be seen right away so they can go back to being productive to society. Hell, I bet if I had this service my boss would be glad to pay it to get me back on the job quickly and efficiently.

The kicker is that the patient is NOT paying for healthcare at all. The price for the treatment is the same if you wait or if you take the appointment they give you or if they charge you to be flexible to your time requirement. The patient is paying for expediency. They are paying for time saved. They are paying for a customized treatment “time”.

i.e. They are paying for a bacon cheeseburger.

Hypothetically, Decima Research Is A Biased Pollster

Mulder

Showing their true Liberal colours, Decima Research ran a poll which presented people with a HYPOTHETICAL situation as follows:

Decima Research asked people to choose between two hypothetical election promises – a $1,000 Conservative tax break for every household and a $1,000 Liberal break limited to households that took pro-environment action.

Fifty-one per cent of respondents said they would prefer the Liberal promise versus 28 per cent who preferred the Conservative pledge, say the survey results provided to The Canadian Press. Twenty-one per cent were unsure.

So the campaign promises were hypothetical, yet Decima chose the Liberals and the Conservatives and portrayed the Liberals as environmentally friendly. Why would they not choose the Green Party and the Liberals in this scenario with the Green Party being the one with the pro-environment tax break condition?

To make things worse, even if the two options were apolitical, the pro-environment tax break combination is far more appealing to anyone, not just those interested in the environment making it the easy choice for most. In fact, I am surprised that the results were not much higher for the pro-environment choice which means that half of respondents either did not like the plan or were not willing to answer. This is actually quite dramatic when you think about it.

How about we try this one. Choose between these two hypothetical campaign promises. a) The Liberal plan to offer a $1000 tax break per household or b) the Conservative plan to offer a $1000 tax break to households that take a pro-safety stance by joining their neighbourhood watch?

I think we know which option would win out there.

“I think what we’re seeing here is a signal that’s really about what kind of policies people want,” Decima CEO Bruce Anderson said in an interview.

“While they appreciate the idea of tax cuts they also appreciate that policy should be increasingly directed towards achieving environmental improvement. That’s what that 51 per cent are telling us they think.”

I think Bruce Anderson needs to revisit his polling skills if he thinks this poll was by any means fair or determinate of people’s feelings about the situation.

Aside from the claims Decima Research makes, I can safely say that this poll does give one clear indication. And that would be that Decima Research is clearly a biased pollster.

H/T to Political Staples

Student Crucified Over Crucifix In British School

Mulder

This one earns the Officially Screwed label. A school in Britain has banned a girl from wearing her crucifix and chain.

A school provoked fury last night by ordering a devout Catholic schoolgirl to remove her cross necklace because it posed a health and safety risk.

Teachers demanded Samantha Devine remove her chain and tiny crucifix despite allowing Muslim and Sikh pupils to wear symbols of their religion.

Her family have vowed to fight the decision “all the way” claiming it discriminates against Christians.

I think that this school has one hell of a fight on it’s hands. But mark my words, I have a feeling that the student will lose and that the price will be that other religious wear must also be foregone. i.e. no more Kirpans, no more turbans, no more headgarb for Muslim females, no more yamakas, etc.

I am reminded of my years in highschool where I too was asked to remove my chain and crucifix. For me it only happened when I played in highschool basketball games and practice. I was asked once to remove it during a highschool soccer game but wore it for the majority of games and practices. (without incident I might add).

I understood the safety aspect in a sport or when in shop class, but I see no problem with a student wearing a chain with a crucifix in regular class. Although I am still not sure about Kirpans.

h/t to Backseat Blogger

Iraqi Economy Booming More Than The Car Bombs

Mulder

Let’s cut to the chase. Iraq, despite the security issues, is starting to thrive. The International edition of Newsweek reported in their December 25th, 2006 to January 1st, 2007 issue:

  • 2 years ago, Iraqi cell phones numbered 1.4 Million. Today there are 7.1 Million.
  • 3 years ago, Iraq had 8,000 registered companies. Today there are 34,000.
  • GDP in Iraq grew 17% in 2005 and projections are for 13% in 2006.
  • Income tax has gone from 45% under Saddam to 15% and Iraqi’s are spending.

To quote some of the article:

Consider some less formal indicators. Perhaps the most pervasive is the horrendous Iraqi traffic jams. Roadside bombs account for fewer backups than the sheer number of secondhand cars that have crowded onto the nation’s roads—five times as many in Baghdad as before the war. Cheap Chinese goods overflow from shop shelves, and store owners report quick turnover. Real-estate prices have risen several hundred percent, suggesting that Iraqis are more optimistic about the future than most Americans are.

That last sentence is quite telling. And all this from Newsweek, which is typically considered a left leaning publication.

So Iraq is thriving. What does this mean? It means that despite what Americans think about the war, the nation is going through some major pains while it grows.

The withdrawal of a certain great power could drastically reduce the foreign money flow, and knock the crippled economy flat.

Could George Bush be right? Could Iraq be a thriving western style nation under the right conditions? We may never find out with the Democrats taking control of both houses. The biggest complaint by the Democrats is that American soldiers are dying.

Some statistics. The number of casualties in 45 months since the war began is 3017. That comes out to just over 800 a year. In the four calendar years from 2001 to 2004 inclusive the average number of road deaths in the USA was over 42,000 a year. But do the car crash safety ratings get the air time that the war in Iraq gets? Not even close. Iraq is in the news every newscast, every day, every week. In my opinion, the war fatigue just caught up with Americans and we can thank the MSM for continuing to report every single death in Iraq numerous times and rarely, if ever, reporting statistics about how the nation has changed and is thriving under new government.

God help the Iraqi people once the Americans leave.