Let's be Marines! Get over DADT

Sgt. Maj. Barrett speaking to new Marines and I suspect to the attackers of  DADT ...

Sgt. Maj. Barrett, top ranked enlisted man in US Marines

“Get over it,” he said. “We’re magnificent, we’re going to continue to be. … Let’s just move on, treat everybody with firmness, fairness, dignity, compassion and respect. Let’s be Marines.” - Washington Wire

Will these people opposed to gay people serving in the military ever grow up. They have lost this fight on all counts, morally, ethically and politically.


More on DADT here.


h/t to Matthew Elliott on twitter

They are going to create a monster here

“They are going to create a monster here, because you will have at the end of the day … an elected body that may or may not be elected, that the Prime Minister may or may not accept the recommendations that come out of an election. It’s going to be one ugly scene and throughout that generation, we will spend $100 million a year feeding this beast which will by and large stand in the way of democracy in this country … It’s a disaster for Canadian democracy, all wrapped up in the guise of Senate reform.” - Jack Layton, Leader of the Official Opposition (The Star)


I think Jack summed that up rather well.

He robbed a bank of one dollar to get health care

North Carolina man robs store for a dollar so he can get health care in prison for medical problem

"The pain was beyond the tolerance that I could accept," he told the Gaston Gazette. "I kind of hit a brick wall with everything."  With little money to his name and many medical problems, including a growth on his chest, two ruptured disks and an unidentified problem with his left foot, he said the "robbery" was his last resort. 

Health care is so important and one of the things that binds Canadians from coast to coast to coast.  We have a good system here, it could be better, yet its not like the USA.  This man was so desperate, run out of options that he robbed a bank of one dollar.  

Now in the USA robbing a bank is very serious.  The guy will likely get several years in jail.  Once in jail, his multiple health issues will finally be dealt with.  Imagine the desperation one must be in to commit a crime so he can get health care. 


I suspect that many of us in Canada find this unreal.  Yet  millions of Americans have no healthcare. Many States are rationing healthcare for the poor. Texas is trying to get out of the federal program of Medicaid all together, a state where 25% of the people have no health care coverage at all. 


I have a friend that works in a upper middle class profession in North Carolina.  He has a first class health care plan.  He only pays five to six thousand a year in co-pays.  He pays for every Doctor visit, every specialist visit.  Last year he had a heart operation.  


After scheduling the operation and a talk to the admitting clerk a week ahead of time he received a call from the accounts receivable department.  They wanted to know how he would be paying his three thousand dollar co-pay.  Would that be by check or credit card, when would they receive the check.  It was that straight ahead.


Now my friend could pay this fee.  He gave them a credit card number and agreed to pay two thirds up front and the remainder after surgery.  He was home only three days after the surgery and they called about the additional money. 


My friend feels very lucky to have his plan, even with the many additional costs he has to pay. He knows that earning an upper middle class salary and having a Cadillac health plan makes him fortunate.  He can pay the co-pays.  Unfortunately many Americans can not.


This same friend comes to Canada every summer. He needed to have monthly tests done on his blood so he could adjust his heart medication.  This is a vital test.  Here in Ontario he would go to a lab, get the test done and receive the results in a week. It cost eleven dollars (the test is free to OHIP card carriers). The same test in the United States cost him seventy five dollars.  


I know we have much work to do to improve our system, yet it is still much better than the USA, especially if you are a middle class income earner or someone with little or no income.  Its vital that we in the next few years, work to protect our public system and not opt for more privately delivered care in this country.


If we go the way Steven Harper wants us to go, I fear for our collective well being.

Government misses CAW but slams CUPW to the Floor

These are very busy times.  First there was the Air Canada fiasco.  They were out less than a day and the Prime Minister was laying down Back to Work Legislation.  Fortunately the parties concluded an agreement before the Legislation could be passed.  The Canada Post management then decide to lockout workers and again, in less than a day the Minister starts screaming that the economy is falling apart and it is her intent to legislate an end to the dispute.

Canada Post never likes to negotiate. They prefer the government to settle disputes because they usually have a big business friend in the government. They certainly do now. The Legislation is decidedly anti-union.  In the offers exchanged between the parties to date Canada Post offered 1.9% increase.  The union was asking for 3.5%.   The government has decided that Canada Post's offer was too generous and has set the rate at 1.75%. 

The government is not acting to end a dispute, it has decided to take this opportunity to slam the union.  The legislations calls for binding arbitration.  The arbitrator is to take the last union offer and the last employer offer and choose one of them.  There is really nothing to arbitrate. The wages have been set by legislation.  The arbitrator will then decide which proposal will be implemented.  

All of this becomes a roll of the dice for the union. Do they take their chances? I don't envy the Union leaders decisions in the coming days.  

You also have to know if the government really wanted Canada Post and the Union to work out a deal, they could have told the company in which they control 100% of the stock to lift the lock out, told CUPW to go back to work and negotiate   It was that easy.  

The government just missed its chance to slam CAW workers at Air Canada, they won't let that happen again. 

Say Uncle CUPW.

Link to:

An Act to provide for the resumption and continuation of postal services Bill  C-6

Where did your rights come from?

What have unions done for people? Its something we often forget.  Many of us don't remember the days when vacations were unpaid, sick leave was unpaid, weekends were for working, 40 hour weeks were a short work week.


Fortunately there is a good list here to remind us...

Let's get one thing straight...

"...Employers and Corporations did not feel generous and decide to give you two days off every week to have a social/personal life. (We now call them weekends). Corporations did not just feel like being nice one day and give their employees paid vacations. CEOs didn't get together in a board room and say "Let's give our employees more rights at work" or "Maybe there should be laws to limit our power over an employee". ...

Here is some of the list ... Its American but many Canadian applicable law/rights

36 Reasons Why You Should Thank a Union

1. Weekends

1. All Breaks at Work, including your Lunch Breaks

1. Paid Vacation

1. FMLA

1. Sick Leave

1. Social Security

1. Minimum Wage

1. Civil Rights Act/Title VII (Prohibits Employer Discrimination)

1. 8-Hour Work Day

1. Overtime Pay

1. Child Labor Laws

Illegal for Teachers too Talk about Homos

Time to allow teachers to do their job and protect all students In Canada and the USA.



 More on Publicly funded Catholic Schools in Ontario soon, where they have banned GSA's and rainbows.





FCKH8.com: The "Teachers Can't Talk About Homos" Law from FCKH8.com on Vimeo.

Catholic diocese challenges award to abused altar boy

This one is for Bruce.

Read more: 
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/06/19/116085/catholic-diocese-challenges-award.html#ixzz1PomwvMtK


This crosses the borders of decency. It is more abuse on the man that as a boy suffered many sexual assaults at the hands of priests.  Its beyond my understanding how the Catholic Church could take the position they have in this attempt to appeal a judgement against them.


The boy was repeatedly raped. He was forced to participate in sex with an adult against his will.  He was likely told he needed to do this to honour god. 


In this case the Catholic Church argues that religious freedom is under attack if they have to pay this settlement. If religious freedom means you can abuse young boys, then they deserve no freedom in our society to practice their religion. 


I know many people that are Christian. I know many Catholics. I know them to be good people. These people have to rise up and condemn this effort of the Catholic Church. 


Bruce railed against this abuse on his blog, Canuck Attitude which has disappeared after his unexpected death in December 2010.  Bruce who saw all of the Christian religion as evil, then he met my sister online.  He discovered that there were good christians.  At least they did not condone the actions of the people that preached death to gays, that accepted gays could be christian and have a sex life.  


Yet many christians felt Bruce went too far in his ongoing campaign to end the genocide against queer folks. They took it as he was attacking them.  He was in fact attacking them. Religions and its followers have made big money by demonizing gay people. They have worked to elect people that would ban gay people from having rights that others enjoy.  Rights like having a partner, renting an apartment, keeping a job, raising children, visiting sick or dying partners in hospital, inheriting, or having pensions and benefits.


This latest attempt by the Catholic Church to claim that religious freedom is under attack because they have been found guilty of some of the most heinous of crimes, abusing children, is as corrupt and surely unforgivable from their own GOD.


Yesterday a Twitter friend posted that she had her church pass a gay acceptance policy. See I know that Christians would like to do the right thing.  Its time for them to stand up against the violence being perpetrated against queer people. Its no longer good enough to say I care, its no longer good enough to say we don't practice such things, we don't listen to our church.  Try saving some more gay people from hell on earth and then maybe some of you will legitimately make it to your heaven.  

I never met a band that wants to jail their fans

Charlie Angus and Andrew Cash sing, discuss today's music and copyright law.  The Harper conservatives are soon to introduce copyright law that would make many people criminals if they share their music.  Angus tells SunTV reporter David Akin, "I never met a band that wants to jail their fans."

Angus is the longtime NDP MP from Timmins - JamesBay and Andrew Cash is the new MP for Toronto Davenport. Both these men played in a band "L'etranger".  They were a punk band.  A band that spoke of change and now they are both in the House of Commons, working for change.


Check out this video from SunTV News. These NDP MP's are truly talented entertainers and will contribute much to the debate over new copyright laws.  


Link to video at SunTV is here.

When Punks Turn into Politicians

Edit: correction as per comment below!  Thanks Thor!