Thursday's Vehicle - !956 Mercury

Canada's shame

A great read

We’ll pay for Harper’s ‘hit and run’ diplomacy

Sergio Marchi is the principal of the Marchi Group, a Global Strategies Consultancy based in Geneva.

If a different government emerges after next year’s election, a long list of priorities await it. One of them will be to review and ultimately reset our foreign policy.

During the Stephen Harper years, our trajectory has not only deviated from our traditional and once respected role, but Canada’s leadership on the world stage has been significantly diminished.

Previous Conservative and Liberal governments followed a shared foreign policy approach. Recall Brian Mulroney’s leadership on the issues of South African apartheid, free trade with the United States, and the environment. That common ground was founded on four pillars: A fundamental belief in multilateralism; a vigorous engagement with friends and foes alike; a partnership with civil society; and thinking big.'

The current government has pivoted away from all of these, particularly the second point, which was clearly evident in the Prime Minister’s weekend Globe and Mail op-ed on Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine.

I agree with the thrust of the Prime Minister’s article. Mr. Putin has behaved like a belligerent, dangerous bully. Beyond victimizing Ukraine, he has also managed to challenge the political will and unity of Europe and United States.

However, Mr. Harper ignored his – and by extension, our country’s – greatest handicap when it comes to Mr. Putin. Namely, that he has not built a personal rapport with his Russian counterpart and thus has no ability to influence his thinking and actions.

Read more http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/well-pay-for-harpers-hit-and-run-diplomacy/article19818379/

The 100 Rupee Smile

Gowtham Shola is a street magician living in India. He went around asking the poor and homeless for a rupee.
After each individual had handed him a rupee coin, he said: "I'm going to take this." Then he did this.

 

Thanks Maria

Pictures of Montreal

There are some nice pictures of old Montreal places on the a recent Montreal city weblog post. 

(http://w5.montreal.com/mtlweblog/)

We actually used to have a lot of really great architecture. We’ve torn down a heck of a lot of our architectural gems, unfortunately coinciding with the period of modernisation that made brutalism the flavour du jour. To give only one example, we lost a huge swath of the business district to the Ville-Marie tunnel. Then there’s all the parking lots.

Short list:

Royal Insurance Company Building (now Pointe-à-Callière Museum)
wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/I20720.JPG

Montreal Hunt Club
wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/II142815.JPG

Queen’s Hotel
wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V2701-A.JPG
wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V2703.JPG
wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V2702.JPG

Balmoral Hotel
wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V1884.JPG
wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V1890.JPG

some indoor views of the Windsor Hotel :(

wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V744.JPG
wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V761.JPG
wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V15374.JPG
wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V2519.JPG
wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V785.JPG
wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V2223.JPG
wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V738.JPG
wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V15806.JPG
wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V2224.JPG
wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V15807.JPG
wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V15809.jpg
wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V1588.JPG

Hotel Winsdor (both churches are gone too)
wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/01452022.jpg

Bonaventure Train Station
wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/74080000.JPG

Main Post Office
wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V842.JPG

Drummond House
wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V2458.JPG

McIntyre House
wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/00092005.jpg

Strathcona’s House
wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V4267.JPG

+ 1 million mansions, mostly where our downtown area stands today
wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V2576_A.JPG

Thanks Ivan

I no longer donate to any charity as a result of Harpers intrusion and attempts to track what I do in private

Conservatives consider mandatory donor lists for Canadian charities

OTTAWA—Canadian charities would have to turn over lists of their donors’ identities to the Canada Revenue Agency under a proposal being floated by the Conservative government.
 

The move is touted as a way to prevent tax-receipt fraud, but some charities are wary of the administrative burden — and the potential close surveillance of groups that criticize government policies.
 

Revenue Minister Kerry-Lynne Findlay made the suggestion behind closed doors this spring to charities officials in Ottawa as the government seeks ways to tighten regulation of Canada’s charitable sector.
 

Findlay asked officials of the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Canadian Cancer Society and others for their input, as well as their reaction to a proposal to standardize the format, size and colour of official income-tax receipts for charitable donations.
 

The consultation took place before a March 26 media event at which Findlay and Kevin Sorenson, minister of state for finance, boasted about the government’s achievements in reducing red tape for charities.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/07/23/conservatives_consider_mandatory_donor_lists_for_canadian_charities.html

 

Wednesdy;s Vehicle - 1954 Henry J

Tuesday's Vehicle - 1961 Dodge Dart 413

Screw the pukes

Rogers, Telus Launch Charter Challenge To Police Mass Spying Request

TORONTO — An Ontario judge has agreed to hear a Charter of Rights challenge brought by Telus and Rogers after they were asked by police in April to release cellphone information of about 40,000 to 50,000 customers as part of an investigation.

Justice John Sproat says that the case has highlighted important issues about privacy and law enforcement that should be challenged in open court, even though Peel regional police tried to withdraw the requests.

"The privacy rights of the tens of thousands of cell phone users is of obvious importance,'' Sproat wrote in a ruling dated July 16 and released on Friday.

"Counsel for Rogers-Telus will be able to identify and argue Charter issues that might not otherwise be evident.''

Mobile phones need to make wireless connections with antennas that are often mounted on towers. A record is kept each time a phone attempts or completes a phone call, text message or email that identifies which tower made the connection. Sometimes a call will be transferred from tower to tower, providing information about the phone's movements.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/07/26/rogers-telus-charter-challenge_n_5623345.html

 

The dishonourable Mr. Harper tries to honour himself

Feminist Therese Casgrain disappears from public history under Harper

OTTAWA -- The Harper government has spent millions to commemorate the War of 1812 and other episodes from Canadian history, but has also erased at least one inspiring piece of the past.

Therese Casgrain, a feminist icon and Quebec heroine who died in 1981, has been quietly removed from a national honour, to be replaced by an volunteer award bearing the prime minister's banner.

The Therese Casgrain Volunteer Award was first awarded in 1982 by the Liberal government of Pierre Trudeau.

It honoured Canadian activists such as June Callwood until it was eliminated -- unannounced --by the Harper government in 2010.

An image of Casgrain and her namesake volunteer-award medal also disappeared from Canada's $50 bank note in 2012, replaced by the image of an icebreaker on a new currency series.

An image of the so-called Famous Five women was removed from the same bank note.
"It was a very difficult thing for the family to see the award disappear all of a sudden," Michele Nadeau, Casgrain's granddaughter, said in an interview. "It was a great disappointment."

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, which had administered the Casgrain award, was instructed in 2010 to create a Prime Minister's Volunteer Award in its place, to be handed out in a ceremony each year presided over by Stephen Harper.


Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/feminist-therese-casgrain-disappears-from-public-history-under-harper-1.1934198#ixzz38h60FrhI 

Monday's Vehicle - 1961 Chrysler 300 G

Killing the recovery

Oliver rejects economic stimulus advice

In yet another example of the Harper government’s unsettling tendency to make snap decisions based on dogma rather than consultation and calm deliberation, Finance Minister Joe Oliver has quickly dispensed with advice to put job creation ahead of eliminating the deficit.

The recommendation to grow jobs is in a C.D. Howe Institute report, released Wednesday, by William Scarth, an economics professor at Hamilton’s McMaster University, a consultant to Finance Canada, the Economic Council of Canada and Statistics Canada and a senior economics policy fellow with the Reserve Bank of Australia.

In his report, Mr. Scarth argues that given Canada’s, and indeed the world’s, low interest rates and weak economic performances, more government spending is an effective way to stimulate the economy.

Pointing out that monetary policy in Canada and the U.S. cannot reasonably lower interest rates much more, Mr. Scarth advises the Harper government to wait another three years to eliminate the deficit.

Keeping the deficit at 0.5 per cent of GDP, instead of eliminating it, would create some 75,000 new jobs.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/editorials/1225112-editorial-oliver-rejects-economic-stimulus-advice

Well duuuhhhh!

Chief justice cleared in spat with Stephen Harper government

 The International Commission of Jurists slammed the Prime Minister for remarks that were critical of Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin.

"An international legal body has cleared Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin in her efforts to communicate with Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government over a judicial appointment to her court last year, and slammed the prime minister for remarks it says hurt her moral ...authority, integrity and public confidence in the judiciary.

 The Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists, in a letter to a group of Canadian lawyers and legal academics who asked it to investigate, said it concluded that McLachlin’s move to flag a potential legal problem was “not inappropriate.”

On the contrary, Harper’s and his officials’ remarks were the problem, it said."

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/07/25/chief_justice_cleared_in_spat_with_stephen_harper_government.html

 

These pigs feed at the taxpayers trough

Conservative Party staffers counter-protest at Gaza solidarity rally in Ottawa

Over 1,500 people protested in solidarity with Gaza at Prime Minister Harper's office in Ottawa on Tuesday, before marching through the city. While marching past the Prime Minister's Office, a small group of counter-protesters were waving Israeli flags and shouting at the protesters. The protest remained peaceful, but media is now reporting that the group of counter-protesters were, in fact, made up largely of Conservative Party staffers.

Several questions need to be asked: Were these staffers from the Conservative Party trying to provoke the Gaza solidarity rally, and if so, why? Were they there of their own accord or were they sent there by the Conservative Party? Is our government so desperate in its defence of the Israeli government's indefensible war crimes that it is now resorting to trolling protests that support peace? It appears that the Prime Minister has a lot of explaining to do.

http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/ijv/2014/07/conservative-party-staffers-counter-protest-gaza-solidarity-rally-ottaw-0

Chinese Torture - a good lesson to be gained here.

A young man was wandering, lost, in a forest when he came upon a small house. Knocking on the door he was greeted by an ancient Chinese man with a long, gray beard. “I’m lost,” said the man. “Can you put me up for the night?”

 

“Certainly,” the Chinese man said, “but on one condition. If you so much as lay a finger on my daughter I will inflict upon you the three worst Chinese tortures known to man.” “OK,” said the man, thinking that the daughter must be pretty old as well, and entered the house. Before dinner the daughter came down the stairs. She was young, beautiful and had a fantastic figure. She was obviously attracted to the young man as she couldn't keep her eyes off him during the meal. 

 

Remembering the old man’s warning he ignored her and went up to bed alone. But during the night he could bear it no longer and snuck into her room for a night of passion. He was careful to keep everything quiet so the old man wouldn’t hear and, near dawn, he crept back to his room, exhausted but happy.

 

He woke to feel a pressure on his chest. Opening his eyes he saw a large rock on his chest with a note on it that read, “Chinese Torture 1: Large rock on chest.” “Well, that’s pretty crappy,” he thought. “If that’s the best the old man can do then I don’t have much to worry about.” He picked the boulder up, walked over to the window and threw the boulder out. As he did so he noticed another note on it that read “Chinese Torture 2: Rock tied to left testicle.” In a panic he glanced down and saw the line that was already getting close to taut. Figuring that a few broken bones was better than castration, he jumped out of the window after the boulder. As he plummeted downward he saw a large sign on the ground that read, “Chinese Torture 3: Right testicle tied to bedpost.”

 

Thanks Heidi

Luis Suarez

 Breaking news :

    Food critic Luis Suarez confirms Italians taste better than Serbians

    Luis Suarez is to be handed a 2 year punishment by Fifa....
    He must spend another 2 years living in Liverpool...!!

    Luis Suarez is said to be worth over £100m.....
    Well that's the estimate from the tooth fairy....!!

     So, Luis Suarez has been banned from all football related activities
for 4 months....
    The poor man is gonna starve to death. ..!!

Thanks Heidi

Scottish Compassion

A man was sitting on a blanket at the beach.

He had no arms and no legs.

Three women, from England , Wales , and Scotland , were walking past and felt sorry for the

poor man.

 

The English woman said "Have you ever had a hug?" The man said "No," so she gave him a hug and walked on.

 

The Welsh woman said, "Have you ever had a kiss?" The man said, "No," so she gave him a kiss and walked on.

 

The Scottish woman came to him and said, "'ave ya ever ever been screwed  laddie. The man broke into a big smile and said, "No". She said, "Aye, well ya will be when the tide comes in."

Thanks Richard

From now on...

Thanks Richard

Sunday's Vehicle - 1966 Renault Dauphine Commercial

 

Heartless on the Hill

Mr. Harper, Call Off CRA's Attack Dogs and Start Treating Taxpayers With Care

An Open Letter to Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada

 

Dear Stephen,

Please cast your mind back to the summer of 2001. You were the president of the National Citizens' Coalition. I was a lawyer in private practice. The two of us, together with the head of a Canadian think tank, had a conference call. We discussed the idea of setting up a charitable organization that would bring court challenges against laws and government actions that violated citizens' rights.
We all thought something needed to be done. Individual Canadians were being trampled by an ever-growing state.

Maybe the courts could help, we thought. You yourself were fresh from a courtroom victory (Harper v. Canada (Attorney General), 2001 ABQB 558 -- later, unfortunately, overturned) in which the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench struck down federal election spending limits as violations of freedom of expression and freedom of association.

No specific action was decided upon in that conference call, but here we are 13 years later. You are now the Prime Minister of Canada. I am now the litigation director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF). The CCF is a registered charity that brings court challenges against laws and government actions that violate citizens' rights -- exactly the sort of institution we talked about thirteen years ago.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/karen-selick/canada-revenue-agency_b_5610774.html

I'm sure you're too busy to pay much attention to what the CCF has been doing, so let me tell you about a recent victory we achieved. We assisted a taxpayer named Irvin Leroux in getting a decision from the BC Supreme Court, holding that Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) owed him a duty of care and breached its duty towards him. This was a precedent-setting ruling: never before had the CRA been told by any court that it had a duty towards individual taxpayers to treat them with care, and not to be negligent towards them. The horror stories I've heard over the past four years, as we've shepherded Mr. Leroux's case through the courts, have convinced me that the CRA treats enormous numbers of taxpayers in a cavalier, irresponsible, bullying manner that brings shame upon the agency and everyone who is supposedly overseeing it.

Saturday's Vehicle - 1965 Oldsmobile Starfire

Logic is dead in Harper's Canada

Canada Revenue Agency says 'preventing poverty' not allowed as goal for charity

OTTAWA - The Canada Revenue Agency has told a well-known charity that it can no longer try to prevent poverty around the world, it can only alleviate poverty — because preventing poverty might benefit people who are not already poor.

The bizarre bureaucratic brawl over a mission statement is yet more evidence of deteriorating relations between the Harper government and some parts of Canada's charitable sector.

The lexical scuffle began when Oxfam Canada filed papers with Industry Canada to renew its non-profit status, as required by Oct. 17 this year under a law passed in 2011.

Ottawa-based Oxfam initially submitted wording that its purpose as a charity is "to prevent and relieve poverty, vulnerability and suffering by improving the conditions of individuals whose lives, livelihood, security or well-being are at risk."

The international development group, founded in 1963, spends about $32 million each year on humanitarian relief and aid in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America, with a special emphasis on women's rights.

But the submission to Industry Canada also needed the approval of the charities directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency, and that's where the trouble began.

Agency officials informed Oxfam that "preventing poverty" was not an acceptable goal.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/canada-revenue-agency-says-preventing-poverty-not-allowed-as-goal-for-charity-268516442.html

I didn't start it

Hi Folks  ................  Some of you will recognize the fellow in the PINK shirt, that’s Justin Trudeau (Pierre’s little boy) who is presently the leader of the Federal Liberal Party in Ottawa and could very well be the leader of Canada after the next federal election  .............   As it says below  “LORD, HELP US ALL!!”

 

Take a good look and try to remember the character’s behind the masks because chances are they will be part of Young Justin’s future cabinet!!

 

It’s time for a cabin in the bush!!!   -   Win

 

Better to have it out in the open, rather than the guy we have now with the popsicle stick up his arse that doesn't show.

Ivan

 

 

The man who would lead Queens

 

 

The man who would be Queen

 

We have a choice.....

 

Thanks Ralph, Win and Ivan

Message from the wife

Got home real late last night after a full day of golfing

and hanging out with the guys, my wife left a message in the kitchen

I think she wants me to eat more fruit,
Bless her heart!

Thanks Heidi

How to Open a Can without Can Opener - Zombie Survival Tips #20

Thanks Kerry

PUNS FOR EDUCATED MINDS

 

1. The fattest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference.

He acquired his size from too much pi.
 
2. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.

3. She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still.

4. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class,
because it was a weapon of math disruption.

5. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationary. 

6.  A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering. 

 

7. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in
Linoleum Blownapart.

8. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.

9. A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police
are looking into it.

10. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

11. Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

12. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One
hat said to the other: 'You stay here; I'll go on a head.'

13. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it
hit me.

14. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said:
'Keep off the Grass.'
 
15. The midget fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a
small medium at large.

16. The soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is
now a seasoned veteran.

17. A backward poet writes inverse.

18. In a democracy it's your vote that counts. In
feudalism it's your count that votes.

19. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of
religion.

20. If you jumped off the bridge in Paris, you'd be in
Seine.

21. A vulture boards an airplane, carrying two dead raccoons.  The stewardess looks at him and says, "I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger."

22. Two fish swim into a concrete wall. One turns to the
other and says 'Dam!'

23. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit
a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once
again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.

24. Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says, 'I've lost my
electron.' The other says 'Are you sure?' The
first replies, 'Yes, I'm positive.'

25. Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain
during a root canal? His goal: transcend dental medication.

Thanks Ralph

Dakuwaqa's Garden - Underwater footage from Fiji & Tonga

Thanks Kerry

Friday's Vehicle - 1958 Oldsmobile 98

Attacking charities

Internal CRA documents, obtained under access-to-information by Sen. Percy Downe, reveal that an infusion of $30 million by Ottawa in 2005 to counter “aggressive international tax planning” resulted in the collection of an extra $2.5 billion over four years.

By contrast, putting extra resources into auditing charities will almost certainly produce no additional revenue.

Why is Harper punishing charities while letting tax cheats off the hook?

http://www.ipolitics.ca/2014/07/23/is-harper-using-the-tax-system-to-purge-his-enemies-list/

Mother Nature & Golf

         

 

Towards the end of the golf course, Tom hit his ball into

the woods and found it in a patch of pretty yellow

buttercups. Trying to get his ball back in play, he ended

up thrashing just about every buttercup in the patch...

All of a sudden .. . ..POOF!!

 

In a flash and puff of smoke, a little old woman appeared.

She said, “I’m Mother Nature!”

“Do you know how long it took me to make those buttercups?

Just for doing what you have done, you won’t have any butter

for your popcorn for the rest of your life; better still, you won’t

have any butter for your toast for the rest of your life. As a

matter of fact, you’ll never have any butter for anything the

rest of your life!!!”

 

Then POOF! . . . she was gone!

 

After Tom recovered from the shock, he hollered for his friend,

“Fred, where are you?”

 

Fred yells back, “I’m over here in the pussy willows.”

 

Tom shouts back, ‘DON’T SWING, Fred;

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON’T SWING!!!”

 

Thanks Ralph