Communists Are Not Progressive

Well, Progressive Blogger blogroll member WMTC has finally come out of the closet as a communist. So we should kick her off the Progressive Blogger blogroll, right?

Yes, absolutely. Because Marxism, Communism, Socialist Anarchy, etc,  is not progressive. It is mass murder. Endless line ups and society telling you what to do and where to do it, all the time. Not my cup of tea. And I don't want to be associated with it.

Buh bye. Find your own blogroll. Progressive Bloggers is for people who believe in social democracy. 

Is it OK to Rough Up An Immigrant for a Good Car Chase Scene?

Yes, obviously a good car chase trumps the time of a few immigrants.
That being said, I used to live in Montreal where period films were
often filmed. Many of these films I knew I wouldn't be interested in.
So I can relate to LGirl's annoyance.

Still, when you live in a city, you should realise that it is a shared
space. Waiting a few minutes won't kill you. Movies require city
permits to mitigate annoyance, but democratically elected city
councils know there will be some.

You be the judge. I think the officer was trying to save LGirl* from
the impending car chase scene, not hurt her. Obey the rules and nobody
gets hurt.

http://wmtc.blogspot.com/2010/09/in-which-i-learn-lasting-effects-of-g20.html

We put up with New Yorkers because they live in a great city. But take
the New Yorker out of New York, and all you are left with is a New
Yorker. :)

They wouldn't have filmed so many Police Academies without the rule
obeying citizens of Mississauga/Toronto. Just saying.

*A few years ago, LGirl immigrated from New York City to Mississauga.

Via iPad

Canada Does not Need Immigrants

This post is in direct response to WMTC 's post:

"Canada cannot survive without immigrants. The country's non-immigrant population growth is less than zero."

What is wrong with Canada having less people? Very few people immigrate here in the Maritimes, and people aren't exactly dying in the streets. Homes are more affordable, commutes are relatively short and you don't have to hold your nose on public transportation. In short, it is better here. Better. Not worse. Better.

Canada's population has skyrocketted over the last century. Yet what do we have to show for it? Technical innovations means we need fewer people to exploit our natural resources, not more. If potential citizens can't pass the citizenship test, buh bye. Better yet, they should pass the test before they immigrate to Canada.

Fact: Immigrants depress wages.

Fact: Immigrants use up valuable land.

Fact: Lower population is good for the environment.

I'm all for win-win immigration. But what I see is win-loose. Bring back the immigrant head tax!

WMTC , Twitter Version

I just discover the Snipping Tool in Windows Vista. Now that I no longer have to press "print screen" and paste and edit contents in the "Paint" program (I feel sorry for you Windows XP users), I have gone a bit snipping crazy.

My first project is a twitter version of my favourite blog: We Moved to Canada, aka wmtc. Because, lets face it, life in Canada is too enjoyable to spend it reading a blog from an American in Mississauga.

Americans Finally Realise Toronto Sucks

***Disclaimer, I am writing this with a massive fever. I could boil
water. Next year I'm getting the flue shot.***

My favorite blogger to tease, http://www.wmtc.ca , has finally
realised that her city of adoption, Mississauga / Toronto, totally
sucks. Finally!

She came to this conclusion after visiting California. However, as
much as I dislike Toronto, it is way better than L.A. You know that
movie Roadrunner? That future Lost Angels would be better than the
horrible city L.A. is.

The rest of California is pretty ossom. However, one shouldn't compare
the best of California with the worst of Ontario. That is just silly.

I've often mused that, in January, everybody who wants to come to
Canada should be let in, as long as they have a return ticket for the
end of March. The idea would be that anybody who still wants to live
in Canada after that wintry introduction should be able to stay.
However, more than one African has told me they loved their first
winter in Canada because winter was so beautiful...

Envoyé depuis mon iPhone / Sent from my iPhone.

WMTC Loses Credibility

I'm not a fan of conspiracy theories. Especially stupid ones that use stupid tricks to justify them. They are a major insult to my intelligence. L-Girl over at WMTC is not stupid. However, quoting a news release from the New York Times new release reproduction service, to lend it credibility, is intellectually dishonest, or, well, stupid .

An NDP Minority Government

This is in response to wmtc's prediction of a minority Liberal government.

As a French Canadian, I have real trouble imagining Mr. Clarity Act Stéphane Dion as the next Prime Minister. Frankly, I still have trouble imagining him as leader of the Liberals (but I digress).

Just in case the following actually happens, I want to be on the record for having predicted it:

-The Liberals will win a majority in Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe. Now that was a bold prediction :-) .

Seriously, this is the prediction I will be bragging about (anybody know how to frame a blog post):

-The NDP will win a minority (perhaps smaller than the Conservatives) and will align with the Liberals to form the government. The government will be all NDP with Jack Layton as Prime Minister. Dion will resign, Rae will become leader, a few MPS will cross over to the Liberals, the Governor General will name the Liberals as the government (in order to avoid an other election). In the interim, Harper will leave politics to work for an oil company and a Newfoundlander will become Conservative leader (Joe Clark will try but loose badly). The Conservatives will also change their name back to Progressive-Consevatives. Then, inspired by the Alaskans, Quebec will finally become a country, the Liberals will lose all 5 Quebec MPs, lose their majority status and the Governor General will apply to regain her French citizenship before giving the government to the Conservatives (to avoid an unnecessary election at such a time of uncertainty).  Oh, and I'll find a way to lose more money on the stock market. 

WMTC Shamefully Reduces Quebeckers to Children

WMTC Shamefully Reduces Quebeckers to Children .

 

Xenophobia is part of human nature. A very unfortunate part if you ask me. I was helping a sweet old lady over the phone the other day and she confided to me (in French) "I'm so glad your not a Black". I was helping her over the phone!

 

Then I realised that I was prejudiced. It never occurred to me that sweet old ladies could be racists. But of course they can be. Anybody can be racist or xenophobic: the old, the young, homosexuals, bi-curious, handicapped, Black, White, Asian, poor, rich, educated, ignorant, doesn't matter.

 

More importantly, even us tolerant folks can sometimes betray our tolerance by saying something that isn't. Unfortunately, that is what L-Girl over at wmtc has done with her title bouchard-taylor commission tells quebec to grow up . That statement, which is false, is embedded with anti-Quebec sentiment. And I'm calling her on it.

 

You don't tell a people to "grow-up". That is insulting to the extreme. You don't belittle a nation and culture just because you don't understand it.  And by the way, the premise of the statement if false: that people become more tolerant with maturity. Um, no. Sorry. Extremely mature people can be quite intolerant and extremely immature people, and indeed, young children, can be very tolerant.

 

Further reading on WMTC festering anti-Quebecness:

 

-The Process of Becoming Anti-Quebec

 

By the way, here is a previous post of mine that contains some examples (thanks prominent Liberal Party Members) of what not to say when someone brands you as anti-something:

-I Am Not Anti-Israel, I Even Sleep With a Jew

How Many Nigerians Does it Take to Win a US Election?

Dear frends,

 

You have all gotten an email from someone in Nigeria* (see end note for example). They usually claim to be trying to escape South Africa with loads of Apartheid money and they somehow expect you to be sympathetic and wire $150. Some do. Many of the emails are more creative and are often written in good English. See video example here.

 

Why not pay some of the 138 million Nigerians to blog? If people are gullible enough to fork over hard earned money to outrageous scams, then surely their vote could be influenced by a semi-well written blog. And it would be cheap.

 

My blog has generated 25,000 visits in 18 months. I spend a couple of hours a week on it (sometimes even less). Imagine a concentrated effort by a crowd of relatively educated Nigerians. Joining a blogroll is easy. Staying on a blogroll is even easier. There are many documented cases of paid bloggers (Wal-Mart's are the most famous examples).

 

Perhaps just as effective would be hiring people to comment on blogs. With a good proxy server, the blogmaster would be none the wiser.

 

I'm not guaranteeing this is the most effective use of your election donations, you might get killed or kidnaped in the process and you most certainly will be robbed or scammed. But with the right middlemen, why not?

 

Who knows, maybe there are bloggers out there in third world countries trying to influence the US and other elections. Maybe some of them are paid. Paid by Saudi Arabia or Israel... John McCain has repeated, more than once, that the Hamas leadership would prefer Barak Obama. Why wouldn't Hamas or Iran send a few dollars to some Nigerian bloggers?

 

Sincerely,

 

Your humble servent, Altavistagoogle, %100 Canadian.

 

Links to foreigners trying to influence Canadian elections:

-Wmtc

 

(Well, I'm sure there are more, but this post is getting tedious. Isn't there a service where I could hire some cheap third world labour for the grunt work?)

 

 

 

End note:

 

* Example of Nigerian 419 scam email (borrowed from here):

 

IMMEDIATE ATTENTION NEEDED:

HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL

FROM: GEORGE WALKER BUSH
DEAR SIR / MADAM,

I AM GEORGE WALKER BUSH, SON OF THE FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH, AND CURRENTLY SERVING AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS LETTER MIGHT SURPRISE YOU BECAUSE WE HAVE NOT MET NEITHER IN PERSON NOR BY CORRESPONDENCE. I CAME TO KNOW OF YOU IN MY SEARCH FOR A RELIABLE AND REPUTABLE PERSON TO HANDLE A VERY CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS TRANSACTION, WHICH INVOLVES THE TRANSFER OF A HUGE SUM OF MONEY TO AN ACCOUNT REQUIRING MAXIMUM CONFIDENCE.

I AM WRITING YOU IN ABSOLUTE CONFIDENCE PRIMARILY TO SEEK YOUR ASSISTANCE IN ACQUIRING OIL FUNDS THAT ARE PRESENTLY TRAPPED IN THE REPUBLIC OF IRAQ. MY PARTNERS AND I SOLICIT YOUR ASSISTANCE IN COMPLETING A TRANSACTION BEGUN BY MY FATHER, WHO HAS LONG BEEN ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN THE EXTRACTION OF PETROLEUM IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND BRAVELY SERVED HIS COUNTRY AS DIRECTOR OF THE UNITED STATES CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY.

IN THE DECADE OF THE NINETEEN-EIGHTIES, MY FATHER, THEN VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, SOUGHT TO WORK WITH THE GOOD OFFICES OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF IRAQ TO REGAIN LOST OIL REVENUE SOURCES IN THE NEIGHBORING ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN. THIS UNSUCCESSFUL VENTURE WAS SOON FOLLOWED BY A FALLING OUT WITH HIS IRAQI PARTNER, WHO SOUGHT TO ACQUIRE ADDITIONAL OIL REVENUE SOURCES IN THE NEIGHBORING EMIRATE OF KUWAIT, A WHOLLY-OWNED U.S.-BRITISH SUBSIDIARY.

MY FATHER RE-SECURED THE PETROLEUM ASSETS OF KUWAIT IN 1991 AT A COST OF SIXTY-ONE BILLION U.S. DOLLARS ($61,000,000,000). OUT OF THAT COST.

THIRTY-SIX BILLION DOLLARS ($36,000,000,000) WERE SUPPLIED BY HIS PARTNERS IN THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA AND OTHER PERSIAN GULF MONARCHIES, AND SIXTEEN BILLION DOLLARS ($16,000,000,000) BY GERMAN AND JAPANESE PARTNERS.

BUT MY FATHER'S FORMER IRAQI BUSINESS PARTNER REMAINED IN CONTROL OF THE REPUBLIC OF IRAQ AND ITS PETROLEUM RESERVES.

MY FAMILY IS CALLING FOR YOUR URGENT ASSISTANCE IN FUNDING THE REMOVAL OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF IRAQ AND ACQUIRING THE PETROLEUM ASSETS OF HIS COUNTRY, AS COMPENSATION FOR THE COSTS OF REMOVING HIM FROM POWER.

UNFORTUNATELY, OUR PARTNERS FROM 1991 ARE NOT WILLING TO SHOULDER THE BURDEN OF THIS NEW VENTURE, WHICH IN ITS UPCOMING PHASE MAY COST THE SUM OF 100 BILLION TO 200 BILLION DOLLARS ($100,000,000,000 - $200,000,000,000), BOTH IN THE INITIAL ACQUISITION AND IN LONG-TERM MANAGEMENT.

WITHOUT THE FUNDS FROM OUR 1991 PARTNERS, WE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO ACQUIRE THE OIL REVENUE TRAPPED WITHIN IRAQ. THAT IS WHY MY FAMILY AND OUR COLLEAGUES ARE URGENTLY SEEKING YOUR GRACIOUS ASSISTANCE. OUR DISTINGUISHED COLLEAGUES IN THIS BUSINESS TRANSACTION INCLUDE THE SITTING VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, RICHARD CHENEY, WHO IS AN ORIGINAL PARTNER IN THE IRAQ VENTURE AND FORMER HEAD OF THE ALLIBURTON OIL COMPANY, AND CONDOLEEZA RICE, WHOSE PROFESSIONAL DEDICATION TO THE VENTURE WAS DEMONSTRATED IN THE NAMING OF A CHEVRON OIL TANKER AFTER HER.

I WOULD BESEECH YOU TO TRANSFER A SUM EQUALING TEN TO TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT (10-25 %) OF YOUR YEARLY INCOME TO OUR ACCOUNT TO AID IN THIS IMPORTANT VENTURE. THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL FUNCTION AS OUR TRUSTED INTERMEDIARY. I PROPOSE THAT YOU MAKE THIS TRANSFER BEFORE THE FIFTEENTH (15TH) OF THE MONTH OF APRIL.

I KNOW THAT A TRANSACTION OF THIS MAGNITUDE WOULD MAKE ANYONE APPREHENSIVE AND WORRIED. BUT I AM ASSURING YOU THAT ALL WILL BE WELL AT THE END OF THE DAY. A BOLD STEP TAKEN SHALL NOT BE REGRETTED, I ASSURE YOU. PLEASE DO BE INFORMED THAT THIS BUSINESS TRANSACTION IS 100% LEGAL. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO CO-OPERATE IN THIS TRANSACTION, PLEASE CONTACT OUR INTERMEDIARY REPRESENTATIVES TO FURTHER DISCUSS THE MATTER.

I PRAY THAT YOU UNDERSTAND OUR PLIGHT. MY FAMILY AND OUR COLLEAGUES WILL BE FOREVER GRATEFUL. PLEASE REPLY IN STRICT CONFIDENCE TO THE CONTACT NUMBERS BELOW.

SINCERELY WITH WARM REGARDS,

GEORGE WALKER BUSH

Americans Have Fat Genes

http://wmtc.blogspot.com/2008/05/something-else-to-blame-on-fat-people.html

There is fat epidemic in the United States and a couple of other
places (Canada, Ireland). Some people would have you believe they are fat because of their genes.

Unfortunatly, this flies in the face of basic logic: Americans are
fatter today than they were a hundred years ago. Genes don't morph that fast.

Mexicans aren't particularly fat in Mexico, when they live in the USA they are huge. People who live in the subburbs are fatter then people who live in the iner city.

More importantly, ask a fat person what sport they play. Almost invariably, you will draw a blank stare. Now, granted, maybe they don't exercise (walking is NOT exercise) because they are fat. But I suspect it is the other way around.

Fat people die young. They get heart desease and colen cancer and the rest. Fat people who smoke, don't get me started.

My point is that being pre-disposed to being overweight (which history tells us would only be a small fraction of the population, if at all),is not an excuse to be lazy and not exercise, it should be the motivator to get moving.

Envoyé depuis mon iPod / Sent from my iPod touch.

Blame the bears: "canada is making me sad these days"

My favorite immigrant, L-Girl over at www.wmtc.blogspot.com, is suffering from buyers remorse a couple of years after choosing Canada.

 

I like to tease her because she left New York City, arguably the best city in the world, for Mississauga, arguably the worst. She didn't move for family or work, she moved because she honestly thought Canada was better place than the USA.

 

"I've been feeling so sad and disappointed in Canada lately.", she writes. Well duh, Canada sucks just as much as anywhere else. If more Canadians had tasers, there would be alot fewer immigrants roaming the streets I'm afraid. Canadians don't like immigrants. Polish ones who don't speak the language or American army runaways who do. Just the way it is.

 

Altavistagoogle.

 

NB. The title is an obscure Simpsons reference, when the Springfieldians stop blaming the bears and start blaming immigrants for all their problems.

New Yorker Emigrates to Toronto and ends up Unemployed.

L-Girl, from wmtc.ca, immigrated (or is it emigrated?) to Toronto a couple of years ago and is now struggling, desperately looking for work.

 

Now being unemployed is certainly something I can relate to. And I wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemy. Not having anything to do is easy to overcome, not having any money, not so much.

 

She banned me from commenting on her blog because I called her and her husband "the stupidest couple in the world". You see, they left for "political reasons". But more importantly, who in their right mind leaves New York City to move to Toronto (worst, they actually ended up in Mississauga)? What, you needed big box stores that badly? There is actually a post where she describes driving from Mississaug all the way to Oakville for groceries!

 

Anyway, nothing stopping her from moving back to the USA. I wish that were true for the rest of us. I've never figured out why the French and Irish can work in England (and vice-versa), but Canadians and Americans are treated the same way as Iranians or Ethiopians. Let people make their own mistakes. It is called freedom*.

 

*New Zealanders can work in Australia (and vice-versa), Norwegians in Sweeden (and vice-versa) and you all know about the European Union. Are there other examples?