Cathie from Canada

Now, it could be that the Harper government's move to take humpback whales off the endangered species list  is just a routine change which echoes similar downgrades by environmental organizations like the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.
And it could be that it is merely a happy coincidence such a downgrade means no protection of critical whale habitat will be required anymore if the Northern Gateway pipeline and Trans Mountain pipeline expansion just happen to be approved someday soon.
But this is a government that sends out press releases about the number of visitors Canada gets from the Philippines and how it has improved the internet in Ottawa Valley South, to name just two of the 21 press releases it sent out today.
And the whale news was just posted quietly on Easter Saturday in the Canada Gazette?  So who can possibly believe that they didn't intend to sneak this one past us all.
Luckily, the Harper Cons are about as sneaky as humpback whales themselves, so now everybody knows about it:

...if Ottawa approves the pipeline, it must still persuade Canadians that the highest environmental standards have been met. On that count, the Harper government’s recent decision to downgrade the protection of humpback whales off the B.C. coast ranks as an epic fail.
Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq’s recommendation to reclassify the humpbacks from “threatened” to a “species of special concern” removes a major hurdle for Gateway’s approval, just a couple of months before a decision is expected on the pipeline. Which is precisely why it should raise all sorts of red flags.

Kersplash!
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I'm not sure how the Hallelujah Chorus became a Christmas song -- it's a much more logical as an Easter celebration.
Here is the Hallelujah Chorus by the 5th grade class in Quinhagak, Alaska:


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Air Canada apologizes for luggage toss caught on video - Toronto - CBC News:

In spite of Air Canada saying that tossing bags down the stairs isn't their policy, its pretty clear from the video that there is nothing unusual for either of the gate staff doing this.
Then again, on our recent trip to the coast, I was surprised at the size of some of the bags people were trying to carry on, particularly for the puddle-jumper jet we were on from Calgary to Saskatoon.
And the woman sitting in front of us was shocked SHOCKED that her loaded, bulging bag just would not fit in the overhead compartment!
 This video is a lot more fun:

But it isn't so much the airplanes that are awful these days, its the airports:

Our own trip was certainly better than this -- planes on time, no problems either way.

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Rich people are NOT just like the rest of us, only with money.
Sometimes they're just amazingly silly.

Case in point -- Josh Romney sends out a tweet with a photo of his dad, Mitt Romney supposedly standing in a line to mail in his income tax return -- just like the simple folk do!

Josh seemed to think his photo proved some sort of point -- I guess it never occurred to him that just because his dad files a tax return doesn't mean Harry Reid was wrong in saying Romney didn't pay taxes from 2000 to 2010 .  The only thing it proved to me is that Romney is too cheap to have his accountant file electronically.
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Here's what employers supposedly like about temporary foreign workers:

Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, recently told CBC News that many Canadian employers feel that temporary foreign workers have a better work ethic than Canadians and that there are some jobs in some regions that Canadians do not want to do.

Better work ethic?  What tripe! Here's what I think employers actually like about those temporary foreign workers - they aren't likely to be talking to a union anytime soon.
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It couldn't have happened to a more deserving guy:

despite endorsements of Anders by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Calgary cabinet heavyweight Jason Kenney, Liepert’s message that the area deserved a better MP resonated with Conservative voters weary of Anders’ shoot from the lip style.

"He can’t point to one damn thing he can take credit for accomplishing in this riding.” A fitting epitaph for the creepy, undead Rob Anders.
— Dr.Dawg (@DrDawg) April 13, 2014

When Rob Anders wakes up from his nap he'll be pissed. #cdnpoli

— Steve V (@FarAndWide) April 13, 2014

Now Rob Anders has more time to follow his true passion: finding and fighting the ghost of Nelson Mandela.

— Charles Demers (@charliedemers) April 13, 2014

When his staffers finally succeeded in waking Anders to give him the bad news he was heard to exclaim but Mandela IS a terrorist

— trapdinawrpool (@trapdinawrpool) April 13, 2014

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From Thomas Walkom's column about Jim Flaherty and the CBC cuts -- CBC cuts show other side of Jim Flaherty:

Those who knew him say he was hard-working, loyal to his family and possessed of an engaging personality.
There is no evidence that I know of to suggest that his motives were anything but public-spirited.
But he was also an integral part of a government determined to smash or cripple much of what makes Canada a livable country.
His death is a reminder that good people can do bad things for the best of motives...
Flaherty was also a willing and active participant in Harper’s dark experiment to remake Canada along Conservative lines. The omnibus budget bills that, to the dismay of the opposition, allowed this experiment to proceed were his.

Yes, that pretty much sums up how I feel.
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