Tuesday, 1 July 2014
The Brawler on Drydock
The Brawler is in for repairs. I mistakenly put my trust in a rogue mechanic last Fall. As a result the Brawler took on water after he failed to properly fix the boat. He then failed to connect the transmission to the starboard stick shift which lead to a harrowing first voyage. There were numerous other issues. I have replaced him with anew mechanic that has taken the Brawler out of the water. I hope to get the boat back in Ontario Place in the near future. Disappointing start to the summer.
Recent Photos June 2014
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| Brawler's Lone Voyage in 2014 |
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| Dafoe Lines up Penalty Kick for TFC |
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| Blue Jays Lose Sunday Matinee |
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| The Bond Reaches Ground Level |
Trinity-Spadina By-Election Winners & Losers
Big Winner: Justin Trudeau. The leader of the Liberal party wrested control of the riding association from the Ianno/Innes family. He tired of their bully tactics and made it respectable to vote Liberal in the riding again. It was a gutsy move that broke a promise not to interfere in the nomination process. The Ianno/Innes tandem poisoned the well for the Liberals. Many old school party stalwarts predicted disaster for Trudeau but when it counted he delivered an important downtown riding back to the Liberal party.
Winner: Adam "No Fun" Vaughan. He may be hard for the party to whip and he may go off message but his name recognition won the day. He took on a tough NDP candidate and some high profile Liberal critics and won a solid Liberal victory.
Winner: Liberal Party. They won two Toronto seats, including an NDP stronghold and increased their voter share in all 4-ridings where by-elections were held. All the other parties lost voter share.
Winner: Joe Cressy. He lost the by-election but won the admiration of many in the riding. Ran a hard fought campaign and increased his name recognition. He will live to fight another day.
Loser: Thomas Mulcair. NDP leader lost Trinity-Spadina an NDP seat, barely registered in the Scarborough riding. The increased number of condo dwellers in the core are voting Liberal not NDP.
Loser: Stephen Harper. Lost voter share across the country. His pathetic campaign in Scarborough attempting to paint Trudeau as a drug pusher to our youth backfired in the riding and across the country. Harper is one sick SOB. Harper's hate filled endless campaigning is tiring to the Canadian public.
Losers: Ianno/Innes, Warren Kinsella, that 19-year old Paikin kid: Justin Trudeau took the Trinity-Spadina Liberal Party Association away from the control of the Ianno/Innes family. The aforementioned Liberal stalwarts said it would backfire on Trudeau. Justin Trudeau gave a victory speech last night. The Liberal Party is trying to unseat Stephen Harper, throwing your leader under the bus and trying to disrupt that goal, for your own personal gain is punishable by banishment from the inner circle. Enjoy your timeout! Kinsella promised that Trudeau would pay for clamping down on the Ianno/Innes bully tactics. He stated outright that Cressy would win the riding. Cressy lost by 20% of the vote. The 19-year old Paikin prodigy resigned from his nomination fight in Ancaster defending the Ianno/Innes Gang. Paikin's Liberal party epitaph will read "he never was and never will be".
The voters don't care about internal party politics, they want to unseat Harper and voting Liberal is going to make that happen.
Loser: Christina Blizzard/Toronto Sun: Blizzard's fake endorsement of NDP candidate Cressy was a desperate attempt of an extreme right-wing columnist to influence the vote in a left leaning riding. She heaped praise on Cressy, a man who holds no positions similar to Blizzard, designed only to deny Trudeau a victory in Trinity-Spadina. Blizzard wouldn't even mention her real goal, to stop the momentum of the man that has Conservatives scared across the country, Justin Trudeau.
Winner: Adam "No Fun" Vaughan. He may be hard for the party to whip and he may go off message but his name recognition won the day. He took on a tough NDP candidate and some high profile Liberal critics and won a solid Liberal victory.
Winner: Liberal Party. They won two Toronto seats, including an NDP stronghold and increased their voter share in all 4-ridings where by-elections were held. All the other parties lost voter share.
Winner: Joe Cressy. He lost the by-election but won the admiration of many in the riding. Ran a hard fought campaign and increased his name recognition. He will live to fight another day.
Loser: Thomas Mulcair. NDP leader lost Trinity-Spadina an NDP seat, barely registered in the Scarborough riding. The increased number of condo dwellers in the core are voting Liberal not NDP.
Loser: Stephen Harper. Lost voter share across the country. His pathetic campaign in Scarborough attempting to paint Trudeau as a drug pusher to our youth backfired in the riding and across the country. Harper is one sick SOB. Harper's hate filled endless campaigning is tiring to the Canadian public.
Losers: Ianno/Innes, Warren Kinsella, that 19-year old Paikin kid: Justin Trudeau took the Trinity-Spadina Liberal Party Association away from the control of the Ianno/Innes family. The aforementioned Liberal stalwarts said it would backfire on Trudeau. Justin Trudeau gave a victory speech last night. The Liberal Party is trying to unseat Stephen Harper, throwing your leader under the bus and trying to disrupt that goal, for your own personal gain is punishable by banishment from the inner circle. Enjoy your timeout! Kinsella promised that Trudeau would pay for clamping down on the Ianno/Innes bully tactics. He stated outright that Cressy would win the riding. Cressy lost by 20% of the vote. The 19-year old Paikin prodigy resigned from his nomination fight in Ancaster defending the Ianno/Innes Gang. Paikin's Liberal party epitaph will read "he never was and never will be".
The voters don't care about internal party politics, they want to unseat Harper and voting Liberal is going to make that happen.
Loser: Christina Blizzard/Toronto Sun: Blizzard's fake endorsement of NDP candidate Cressy was a desperate attempt of an extreme right-wing columnist to influence the vote in a left leaning riding. She heaped praise on Cressy, a man who holds no positions similar to Blizzard, designed only to deny Trudeau a victory in Trinity-Spadina. Blizzard wouldn't even mention her real goal, to stop the momentum of the man that has Conservatives scared across the country, Justin Trudeau.
Saturday, 21 June 2014
Post Election Thoughts
Defeated NDP MPP Rosario Marchese blamed the party leader for his loss in the Ontario election. Of course he would not take any blame himself. This is a quote from Marchese "Having respect for taxpayers as a message reminds people in the Annex of Mike Harris". Can you imagine a politician that claims respect for taxpayers money is the wrong message? This man was our MPP for 20-years. Saddling future generations with massive amounts of debt is not a problem for him. I want to know if I can make a citizens arrest and throw this man in jail? Just defeating Marchese in the polls doesn't seem like enough for me. Marchese by the way was trounced, humiliated in the election.
The PC party has to think long and hard about their next leader. Going too far to the right will not work in Ontario. Pick a moderate leader that has no ties to Stephen Harper.
Stephen Harper's anti-Ontario party is at it again. They changed the rules on transfer payments to screw Ontario. Joe Oliver the new Finance Minister and Ontario MP was ripping into his own province just like his overrated predecessor Jim Flaherty. I'm convinced that that the Harper Conservatives will be wiped out in most of Ontario next election. Harper's MP's have no loyalty to their province, only to their Dear Leader and they will pay for it in the polls.
Harper cut a deal with Peter MacKay when they agreed to merge the PC and Reform parties. He had to give MacKay a plum cabinet job. That was over a decade a ago, at what point does the incompetence of the Man Child Mackay result in a demotion out of cabinet? There is no safe cabinet posting that he can't screw up. For the sake of Canada and your party put Peter MacKay in the back benches with your rural Alberta neanderthals.
Don't give me the line about Conservatives being great custodians of taxpayers money. Harper inherited a massive surplus and was into deficits within 2-years, before the recession. He has run up $160 Billion in debt. They have still not funded any of the big ticket military hardware they promised. Jim Flaherty was an insurance defence lawyer, while Paul Martin was titan of business and a CEO of a major corporation.
The PC party has to think long and hard about their next leader. Going too far to the right will not work in Ontario. Pick a moderate leader that has no ties to Stephen Harper.
Stephen Harper's anti-Ontario party is at it again. They changed the rules on transfer payments to screw Ontario. Joe Oliver the new Finance Minister and Ontario MP was ripping into his own province just like his overrated predecessor Jim Flaherty. I'm convinced that that the Harper Conservatives will be wiped out in most of Ontario next election. Harper's MP's have no loyalty to their province, only to their Dear Leader and they will pay for it in the polls.
Harper cut a deal with Peter MacKay when they agreed to merge the PC and Reform parties. He had to give MacKay a plum cabinet job. That was over a decade a ago, at what point does the incompetence of the Man Child Mackay result in a demotion out of cabinet? There is no safe cabinet posting that he can't screw up. For the sake of Canada and your party put Peter MacKay in the back benches with your rural Alberta neanderthals.
Don't give me the line about Conservatives being great custodians of taxpayers money. Harper inherited a massive surplus and was into deficits within 2-years, before the recession. He has run up $160 Billion in debt. They have still not funded any of the big ticket military hardware they promised. Jim Flaherty was an insurance defence lawyer, while Paul Martin was titan of business and a CEO of a major corporation.
Saturday, 14 June 2014
Ontario Election
I held my nose and voted Liberal as a strategic vote to oust NDP MPP Rosario Marchese. It seems Marchese was a favourite of the artsy downtowners. They have sense of entitlement that the riding belongs to them because they produce art that no one wants to purchase. They pay little in taxes and rely on taxpayer handouts funded by the people they despise. It is an industry onto itself.
Happily Marchese went on to a resounding defeat. It was not close and the voter turnout was greater than the provincial average. Welcome to the new reality of the core voters. All the new condos downtown are occupied, not by artists and handout seekers, but by working people with above average incomes. They don't like Hudak, Harper or the rightwing but they are not ready to trust the NDP with their tax dollars. They are natural Liberals. This bodes well for Adam Vaughan and the Liberals in the federal bye-election later this month. That would be a triumph for Justin Trudeau and a blow to the NDP.
I'm not a fan of Adam "No Fun" Vaughan but I will vote for him. I like Trudeau and want to see the hateful Harper out of work in 2015. I was also impressed that Trudeau wrestled control of Trinity-Spadina riding association from the Ianno family.
I was not pleased with the gas plant fiasco and other Liberal scandals. I have called for the prosecution of Dalton McGuinty. It is a mistake to call the Liberals proliferate spenders of tax money. Ontario has the lowest per capita spending of any province in Canada. Ontario also collects the lowest amount per capita in taxes. We have a revenue problem, not a spending or tax issue. I do not support the sharp left turn that Wynne has tabled in her latest budget. Wynne has to control spending, take a hardline on public sector bargaining and introduce tolls to pay for transit.
I see promise in the Ontario economy in the long run. The deficit will be slayed in due course with an improving economy and controls on spending. The US economy is recovering and so will Ontario's.
I hope that the PC party thinks long and hard about the selection of their next leader. A moderate that has no connection to the Harris/Harper cabinet would be a good start.
Some local losers in this election? The NDP, Warren Kinsella and old school Liberals that have been pushed out of the party back rooms, the provincial and federal conservatives, Olivia Chow, old time socialists that sold out their party by attacking its leader.
Happily Marchese went on to a resounding defeat. It was not close and the voter turnout was greater than the provincial average. Welcome to the new reality of the core voters. All the new condos downtown are occupied, not by artists and handout seekers, but by working people with above average incomes. They don't like Hudak, Harper or the rightwing but they are not ready to trust the NDP with their tax dollars. They are natural Liberals. This bodes well for Adam Vaughan and the Liberals in the federal bye-election later this month. That would be a triumph for Justin Trudeau and a blow to the NDP.
I'm not a fan of Adam "No Fun" Vaughan but I will vote for him. I like Trudeau and want to see the hateful Harper out of work in 2015. I was also impressed that Trudeau wrestled control of Trinity-Spadina riding association from the Ianno family.
I was not pleased with the gas plant fiasco and other Liberal scandals. I have called for the prosecution of Dalton McGuinty. It is a mistake to call the Liberals proliferate spenders of tax money. Ontario has the lowest per capita spending of any province in Canada. Ontario also collects the lowest amount per capita in taxes. We have a revenue problem, not a spending or tax issue. I do not support the sharp left turn that Wynne has tabled in her latest budget. Wynne has to control spending, take a hardline on public sector bargaining and introduce tolls to pay for transit.
I see promise in the Ontario economy in the long run. The deficit will be slayed in due course with an improving economy and controls on spending. The US economy is recovering and so will Ontario's.
I hope that the PC party thinks long and hard about the selection of their next leader. A moderate that has no connection to the Harris/Harper cabinet would be a good start.
Some local losers in this election? The NDP, Warren Kinsella and old school Liberals that have been pushed out of the party back rooms, the provincial and federal conservatives, Olivia Chow, old time socialists that sold out their party by attacking its leader.
Sunday, 8 June 2014
What is Going On?
It was 20 years ago that Brian Mulroney accepted a brown envelope with several hundred thousand $dollars in cash. He then sued the taxpayers of Canada who were forced to give him over $1 million as there was no proof a the time that he committed an offence. The government formed a Commission which concluded that he received the money for no known services rendered. Why has Brian Mulroney not severed time in jail?
Dalton McGuinty cancelled two gas plants to save 2-seats over one election cycle. It cost the taxpayers of Ontario $1Billion dollars. Why is Dalton McGunity not serving time in prison?
Catholic teachers in Ontario want to send a delegation to march in the gay pride parade. The Catholic clergy has come out against this march. It is ironic that an institution with an overwhelming number of gay clergy would be against this. I once read about a famous writer that wanted to be a Catholic priest as a young man, he left the seminary in Washington because he was constantly being hit on by his fellow seminarians.
I was speaking with someone the other day that claimed that the Church taught you to be a good person. The implication was that if you did not believe in God there would be no reason to be a decent human being. As for lapsed Catholics, his theory is that the teachings were already ingrained and therefore not lost when we lost faith. Of course this is complete nonsense. Pope John Paul II was one of the most divisive, right-wing leaders in Catholic history. He drove away millions of progressive decent Catholics from the church. I don't know if it was John Paul II or modern science that can be credited with pushing away progressives from the church. I like to think it was science.
It appears that the mayor of my city and his brother have been lobbying City Hall on behalf of their family business and associated companies. He is currently in rehab but is still the mayor.
Dalton McGuinty cancelled two gas plants to save 2-seats over one election cycle. It cost the taxpayers of Ontario $1Billion dollars. Why is Dalton McGunity not serving time in prison?
Catholic teachers in Ontario want to send a delegation to march in the gay pride parade. The Catholic clergy has come out against this march. It is ironic that an institution with an overwhelming number of gay clergy would be against this. I once read about a famous writer that wanted to be a Catholic priest as a young man, he left the seminary in Washington because he was constantly being hit on by his fellow seminarians.
I was speaking with someone the other day that claimed that the Church taught you to be a good person. The implication was that if you did not believe in God there would be no reason to be a decent human being. As for lapsed Catholics, his theory is that the teachings were already ingrained and therefore not lost when we lost faith. Of course this is complete nonsense. Pope John Paul II was one of the most divisive, right-wing leaders in Catholic history. He drove away millions of progressive decent Catholics from the church. I don't know if it was John Paul II or modern science that can be credited with pushing away progressives from the church. I like to think it was science.
It appears that the mayor of my city and his brother have been lobbying City Hall on behalf of their family business and associated companies. He is currently in rehab but is still the mayor.
Thursday, 5 June 2014
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