For me, today has been hectic. When I finally arrived home about 5 pm, I wanted to check on election results but that had to wait until I indulged in one of Lona's cat naps. And what would a cat nap be without furry critters purring away? Now, if I could only convince the critters not to shed! But at least Canadians shed the Harper government!!! Today's thread is a little longer with the Canadian election results included. To say the least, I am a happy Canuck!!! Too bad Harper wasn't defeated in his own constituency though.
Puzzle — Today’s took me 2:34 (average 4:45). To do it, click here. How did you do? For those that don't know, we always do the 48 piece classic.
Short Takes
Huffington Post — No, John Oliver's not going to a Canadian jail. He can also keep that $5,000 he was apparently ready to dish over to Canadian authorities.
The comedian devoted a segment to Canada's election on his HBO show, "Last Week Tonight," which culminated in mockery of a law forbidding foreigners from influencing Canadian elections.
He ridiculed its maximum six-month prison penalty and $5,000 fine. Oliver's seeming desire to fight the re-election of Stephen Harper was apparently so great that he was willing to risk it all, tossing money at the camera and practically daring Canada to arrest him.
Today, Monday 19/10/2015, is election day here in Canada. It is 7:30 pm and the polls in BC and the Yukon are now closed and the counting begins. We already know that the Liberals, headed by Justin Trudeau, have taken Atlantic Canada with 31 of 32 seats. By all anecdotal accounts, the polling stations have been very busy, some with long line ups, but none to rival Florida's line ups in the last US election. It will be interesting to see what the final results and the turn out are. Enjoy John Oliver "reporting" on our election process with the aid of Canadian ex-pat, Mike Meyers. It had me laughing!
Think Progress — “Whether it is in mosques, education or charities, the strategy will reinforce perceptions that all aspects of Muslim life must undergo a ‘compliance’ test to prove our loyalty to this country,” Shuja Shafi, the Muslim Council of Britain’s Secretary General, told Reuters.
And according to Reuters, an independent reviewer of anti-terrorism legislation named David Anderson warned that such measures could actually backfire, driving members of the Muslim community toward extremism and terrorism.
It seems that conservatives, whether American, Canadian, British, or any other, operate in a climate of fear rather than hope and reconciliation. Cameron's policies seem to have caught even some in his own party by surprise and with concern. Is it correct to tar and feather everyone in a group, in this case British Muslims, along with extremists?
CBC — Canadians, he said, had sent a clear message that it's "time for change in this country my friends. Real change."
"We beat fear with hope," Trudeau said. "We beat cynicism with hard work. We beat negative, divisive politics with a positive vision that brings Canadians together."
At dissolution of the last government, the Conservatives held 159 seats, NDP 95, Liberal 36, Bloc Québécois 2, Green Party 2, Strength in Democracy 2, Independent 8, and 4 vacant seats. As a result of the last census, 30 new seats were created for a total of 338. For a majority government, a party will have to win 170 seats. The results of today's election have Liberals with 184 seats, Conservatives 99, NDP 44, Bloc Québécois 10, and Green Party 1. Stephen Harper retained his seat but has stepped down as the Conservative leader. Justin Trudeau is the new Prime Minister of Canada. Phew!!!
Huffington Post — Monday's federal election saw the biggest voter turnout in the country in over 20 years, according to preliminary results from Elections Canada.
The government organization said 17.5 million of 25.6 million registered voters cast a ballot — a turnout of 68.3 per cent.
This is what 'get out the vote' looks like, and yet, this turnout is nowhere near the 1958 turnout of 79.4% that brought Progressive Conservative John Diefenbaker to power, nor the 79.2% turnout that ousted Diefenbaker in favour of Liberal Lester Pearson.
Daily Kos — New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman keeps cracking down on wage theft, and around 250 workers will be sharing in a nearly $500,000 settlement from four current and former Papa John's franchisees.
This is great news for the workers, but when will justice be served and these corporate criminals go to prison? If you or I stole something and were caught, we would go to jail. Why not these corporate criminals who have stolen wages etc?
My Universe —
14 Responses to “Squatch’s Open Thread 20/10/2015”
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2:40 I'm feeling blue that you beat my time.
HuffPo ~ Glad to hear Canada won't throw him in jail. It was a very funny segment.
Think Progress ~ Do they actually think that a "compliance test" would prove anything?
CBC~ ~ Congratulations Justin Trudeau and Canada!
HuffPO 2 ~ We need at least that kind of turnout in every election! So do you.
Daioly Kos ~ At least the NY AG is doing something about wage theft. Baby steps, but at least they are in the right direction.
3:16 Not as blue as I do.
😥
A compliance test is analogous to a fealty test which totally disrespects a person, especially if they have done nothing.
4:19 Well, if I had moved too much faster I would have scared him away.
HuffPo – Well, good for John. Good for Canada. Now the cleanup begins. Conservatives are like bratty frat boys, leaving messes behind. Good luck and plenty of stamina to Canada!
Think Progress – It's only common sense that alienating policies alienate. That is what they are designed to do. But common sense does not seem to be common, especially among Conservatives.
CBC, HuffPo II – Thanks for the stats. It's pathetic they so not seem to have the attention of US mainstream media.
DKos – By and large, I think normal people just want to be done right by. It is Conservatives who are so fixated on punishment (and unfortunately so often in charge of it). But yes, I could bear to see Papa John in prison, preferably sharing a cell with Jamie Demon. In a PRICATELY OWNED prison.
Universe – Sure, that's why we keep the dog around – to take the blame.
HP: Love his show! John Oliver explains it so well. Good to see Mike Myers on there too.
TP/CBC: Congratulations on your new PM.!!!
DK: I'm sure that there are other chains that are doing the same thing. I know drivers are paid very little, when not in the store, and all young people there work hard for their money. Jail time should be longer for those owners/misers who steal their worker's wages.
My Universe: I've gotten to the age where I don't blame my pets for my failures.
I know that you are in party mode up there in Canada, WTG. Thanks, Lynn/
Congrats
Kudos yourself!
Congrats yourself Puddy Tat! Venturing back online is a big thing. Just don't go too fast.
Congratulations, Lynn, so happy Harper is out. I hope this Trudeau is as good as the previous one.
Think Progress: Camero must have been conferring with some of the Republican candidates. Sounds like some of their questionable ideas.
CBC; Good news for Canada!
Huffington Post: I would be thrilled to see such a turnout here!
Daily Kos: Hurray for those workers, wish the rest of them were getting the wages they deserve.\
My Universe: Love this one.
To keep it short Lynn, I'm very happy you're a happy Canuck, because this turning point in Canadian politics hopefully is the first domino that topples a lot of dominoes all over the world in the same direction.
Loved John Oliver on the Canadian elections. I somehow got the impression Oliver didn't like Harper very much. Did have to pay his fine, by the way?
Think Progress: The current type of conservative anti-terrorist legislation is in fact mostly anti-muslim-terrorist legislation as if there's no other kind. It smacks of Fascism, whitewashing the homegrown terrorism against Muslims. Why are Syrian refugees being attacked now by right-wing extremists in Europe. Not because Syrians come with so many at once, as they maintain, but because they are (mainly) Muslims. If they had been extreme Evangelists, they would have been welcomed with open arms much earlier.
CBC: Canadians didn't need a record turnout to cause a landslide victory for the liberals with their message of hope and change, so they all must have been extremely fed up with Harper and the damage he was causing. Canadians wanted Harper gone and that is why they chose strategically: all votes in the center and to the left going to one party, the Liberals, out of fear that voting NDP would split the left vote and keep Harper in power. It worked.
Now we can only hope that Americans catch on and get the vote out.
Daily Kos: I agree, Lynn. If corporations are people according to SCOTUS, then corporations like Papa John's should go to jail for stealing as people would. Time to end these double standards and let this kind of legislation work both ways.
My Universe: Soooo funny.
HuffPo: Glad that Canada does have that law in place to keep foreign people from influencing pros and cons on their elections. Wonder if US has that kind of law here in the states. Who knows what and where the "dark" money influences comes from.
Justin Trudeau is in. Harper and his harlots are out. Awesome!
Think: "compliance’ test"…?? Fear mongering…??
CBC: Now, how long will it take Canada to clean up the mess Harper has left Canada. First things first – Help the First Nation!
HuffPo: US needs a huge turnout of Demo voters for the 2016 elections. Who knows what the GOP have done in their quest to steal the elections. Gerrymandering, closing of voting places, registration of voters, ballot stuffing, programmed voting machines to vote GOP. long lines and so on.
KOS: There is a Papa John here in town. Don't know much about them as I have never gotten a pizza from them but am glad that the wage theft is being corrected in NY. The Supreme Court has ruled that corporations are people. When will those corporations get arrested and thrown into prison?
Universe: Yep… kitties always blame the dog. lol.
No Jim, dogs are always to blame and kitties are smart enough to know how to milk it!
Thanks everyone! I just finished tomorrow's post. You'll have a treat on Saturday as Nameless is going to put the OT together while I take a day off.