Screw the Public by Canada Post

Rotating strikes by its workers, were inconvenient to Canada Post. According to them, it didn’t allow for negotiations, or for a chance at settlement.   Of course, it was also annoying to the General Public, and to the many business interests that use ( and rely on ) the Postal service.

However, it was a one day inconvenience, until now.

Canada Post in its infinite wisdom has gone and made the strike National, by locking out its employees.  So no mail delivery now, anywhere, until a settlement is reached, or Canada Post is sold off.

After all, it is more important to ORDER WORKERS back to WORK if they are working for a private entity, like Air Canada, than if they work for the Crown Corporation, Canada Post.

Besides, it is also more important to screw those 60% of voters who didn’t support Herr Harper in the last election. You know, people like you and me, and all those small little business people, who got nada in Harper’s grand economic scheme, unless you were a buddy or big time contributor to his party.

Instead of talking, Canada Post has refused to meet, to discuss the issues with its employees. Like no wonder nothing got settled, but hey, they did tell their employees that they were going to cut their working hours down by 2/5 ths.  You know, go from 5 day mail delivery to just three per week.

And now they lock them out, under the bullshit reason of trying to force the Union to the bargaining table.

I guess seeing as how Harper was able to con 40% of the people with his lies, his deceit, his utter bullshit, they are now trying to convince the rest of us, how he is the only hope for Canada’s future.  You know, like selling off and dismantling a profit making Crown Corporation like Canada Post.

What is next, letting private enterprise run our Prisons?

A Total Lack of Ethics

It would be easy to blame Stephen Harper, or even George W. Bush, but truth is, they are simply products of today’s total lack of ethics in our society. You see it in Grocery stores that willingly sell expired food ( at a discount ) all to make money. You see it in how Governments ignore the will of the people, such as when Victoria Council opted for a new sports arena, that went against the voted upon plan by Citizens.

You see it in how taxes get added, without any consultation with the people, even though an election is in mid swing. You see it in how we move to interfere in foreign countries, all in order to secure oil rights, for the Oil Industry.

We see it in changes to the banking system, where they can hide default loans, as not being a liability, if they don’t put into collection through a third party. You can see it in how the big Cable companies want to limit downloads, when it literally costs them pennies in cost, while they increase their fees to the subscriber.

So who is to blame for this lack of ethics in our world, and when did it happen?

I seriously wonder if mankind isn’t heading towards some melt down, as we keep pushing the line of making money, at any cost. Drugs are put into the market, long before they are ready for use. Side Effects are unknown, but they are marketed as being the next wonder drug for whatever it is that ails you.

And that too, has become a whole industry. I mean, is there really something like A,D,D,?  Or is it something the drug companies came up with, that Doctors went along with, for a slice of the pie?

Hell, don’t get me started on Viagra. I mean really, what the fuck does some 20 something need with a pill that gets him hard? Surely at that age, he can manage without help, and if not, is it because of some disease, or dysfunction, or is it simply that he’s not attracted to the other person?

Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

Canucks Go To Stanley Cup Final, Let The Party Begin

IF there is every a good excuse for a party, for excessive drinking, it is when your team wins a big game, and is advancing to the big final.  The Vancouver Canucks hockey team have won this round, and now advance to the right to play for Lord Stanley’s Cup.   It is a big deal, for the City of Vancouver, and those who support the team.

HOWEVER, it is also a good example, of why BC needs even tougher drinking & driving laws.  While the Bars are filling up, while their patrons are glowing from their team’s victory, they are also downing a lot of alcohol.

And they are also DRIVING.

Police will be out in force, do prevent possible vandalism, to keep as many drunks off the road, as possible. It will cost a huge amount of public money to accomplish, and yet, they won’t catch them all. They will miss some, and hopefully no one will be hurt, as a result.

And that is why I have to say it again.    TOUGHER DRUNK DRIVING LAWS ARE NEEDED!

It drives me nuts, to think that so many businesses are reaping huge profits, as a result of our insane need to get hammered. It pisses me off that business opposes laws designed to prevent serious injuries, if not outright death, because they want more profits.

Self Regulation is a Killer

We are all supposed to be adults, and know that certain things, are well, important. I mean yes, we need to make money, if we are in business, but at the expense of safety? Especially if one is in the food production business, shouldn’t safety be above profits?

Apparantly Not.

Food recalls continue to mount, in Canada, since Harper has moved us away from Government Oversight, to Industry Self  Regulation. Today, many recalls for food, come long after the fact, long after the product has been sold or is not longer available on the shelf. Again, it happens only when PEOPLE GET SICK. There is no prevention anymore, because Government Inspection is no longer required, it is all done IN HOUSE.

To begin with, I don’t get how anyone, can justifycutting corners of safety when producing food.  I really don’t, but it is obvious they do. I mean look at the entire Maple Leaf Foods debacle, and now we have President’s Choice.  Look at some of the huge beef recalls in the United States, and it is obvious that there MUST BE GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT. 

To many people are getting sick from the food they eat.

It isn’t the way they cook it, or how they prepare it. It is the food they buy, from stores that they trust. That trust is misplaced, as today even expired products are okay to sell. After all, according to our Harper Government, a ‘best before’ label, just means that is when food is no longer at it’s peak flavor.  

TELL THAT TO THE KIDS WHO SPEND THE NIGHT WITH A STOMACH ACHE OR THE SENIOR CITIZEN RUSHED TO THE HOSPITAL FOR SEVERE STOMACH PAIN.

Food for Thought

Rather Ironic, but China is banning the import of Alberta Pork, due to the outbreak of swine flu, in a herd of pigs, in Alberta.  Not all that surprising is it? Okay, the fact that the herd got infected by a human might be different, but you have to admit, when you have over a billion people, sanitary conditions aren’t the best around, banning pork from where a highly infectious disease is found, is well, common sense.

China is halting imports of Alberta pork because of the presence of swine flu in a herd of pigs, according to the official Chinese news agency.

The Xinhua news agency attributed the information to China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the Ministry of Agriculture. ( source – CBC News )

What is ironic, is that we routinely receive tainted goods from China. From toothpaste with anti freeze, to farm fish doctored with high quantities of anti biotic drugs, yet OUR safety agencies rarely ban their import. Oh we may warn people, even recall the product, but BAN IT WE DON’T DO.

Kind of makes you ask why?

I mean here is a Communist Dictatorship, protecting its population, from a possible risk, better than our so called Democracy. Like isn’t that a bit ass backwards? Isn’t the Government of the people, by the people, for the people, supposed to be better at this, than a Dictatorship?

Obviously, an outbreak of Swine Flu in China would be devastating, and far more dangerous than one in Canada, due to the dense population, the lack of real medical professionals and health centers, so it does sort of make sense. Yet then again, does it?

Canadian officials said Saturday that most of the pigs at the central Alberta farm in question have recovered, but the herd was quarantined as a precaution.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, or CFIA, has also stressed that eating pork does not pose a flu threat. ( source – CBC News )

So, the perception here is, you can’t get the Swine Flu from eating pork, only if you come into contact with a sick pig, or sick human. Makes some sense, if one trusts the scientists who come up with this stuff.

I guess my question is, that while China may be over reacting, considering the risk of contracting the disease from the meat, is minimal at best, how come Harper & CIFA are so willing to allow migrant workers into the country, where the risk of infection our population, is considerably greater than if we all had a nibble on some Alberta Pork?

See this is part of my problem with Government, and especially that of Stephen Harper & his conservatives. If they object to the quarantine of pork meat, claiming the risk is minimal, why aren’t they doing more to prevent the exposure to Canadians, from other humans, where the risk is so much greater?

I also question, why we aren’t banning other Imports, like the tainted fish, that seems to fill many American Shops, from the unsafe fish farming practices of China? I mean, there, we know of the risk, and it is one that DOES impact people who eat it, so how come we don’t ban it?

Could it be a corporate influence?