dictation's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vent vent vent vent vent vent vent vent.... This week has been INSANE. Working 9-1/2 hours a day sans breaks, sans overtime pay is growing old, I tell ya. And when a cold enters one's chest in a split second, as one entered mine this morning, it's not a good sign. I'm fed up with requests for information that take three more days to prepare than I'm given. I'm fed up with people who ask for information and then say "but I'm sure this must be on your computer - or the Internet - somewhere" or "I don't want you to go to a lot of trouble" implying that it shouldn't take too long or that it's already done and putting a casual spin on the effort. When the truth is they have no idea of what's involved in researching data, disassembling data, figuring out what data say and don't say, selecting and piecing them, refining those selections, transforming tables into simple graphs that make clear and obvious statements, writing the analysis of those pieces in layman's language. Editing the hell out of it. It's a lot of work. And when people tell me what it is and where it should be and imply it's no big deal, it pisses me off. Lines need to be drawn. What's more, today I was designated as the lead hand for a five week (over the summer) project. Thanks. NAUGHT. The lead hand does all of the preliminary research... I have tomorrow and Friday to prepare for a planning day scheduled for Monday. I've decided that I'm not going to ask, I'm going to tell my boss I'm working at home on Friday. I also want compensation in time at least. Enough is enough. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In other news, is anyone else alarmed by the looming prospect of Stephen Harper as Prime Minister? If the polls are accurate, have Canadians lost their minds? The New Conservative Party is virtually identical to the American Republican Party. Christian fundamentalist and right wing. If this bastard gets elected Canadians will have two career options: GI Joe and MacDonald's server as Harper channels billions into the military "to please George Bush" at the expense of all other social programs including health and education, and signs away every ounce of sovereignty we have in the name of globalization and free trade. His planned tax breaks - which he won't be able to afford - will mean dick to the average citizen after our health care premiums are forced to go up and we have to pay for services the gov't can no longer afford to cover. Which is exactly what happened in this province under the so-called Liberal Party. The raises on our pay cheques lasted approximately 2 weeks. Then Campbell had to jack up health care premiums. So much for the tax breaks. Who did they benefit? The very rich. And that's who will benefit from Harper's tax breaks, too. Beyond that, Harper wants to make it impossible for gays to marry. He brought this up in the ghastly debate last night and didn't mince words. He's against gay marriage and he wants parliament to be able to vote on it. Which means a bunch of right-wing Christian fundamentalists, mostly white male politicians, are going to decide the fate of gay men and lesbians. Harper's party is also overwhelmingly pro-life or anti-choice, take your pick. They say they won't be touching the laws that protect a woman's right to control her biology, but do you believe that for a minute? It is a crime in Canada to promote hatred of visible and ethnic minorities, and gays and lesbians. Harper proposes to 're-examine' these laws. Even though we've seen a proliferation of white supremacists and extreme gay bashing crimes. Why are they interested in amending the anti-hate laws? Because they have the redneck vote in this country? Harper has had his lips firmly planted on the butt of George Bush since the war in Iraq started. He believes Canada should have participated militarily and he even wrote a letter to the Wall Street Journal saying that he was ashamed of our government's foreign policy. Imagine sucking up in the American media...How's that for self-respect? If Harper had glanced at the old polls, he'd have seen that Canadians overwhelmingly opted not to participate in that war for all the reasons other countries didn't. We knew Bush was lying about WMDs, we knew Bush had an agenda against Iraq prior to 9/11 and we also knew that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. It was never rocket science. Harper thinks there might still be WMDs in Iraq. His red lips are puckered and planted, I tell ya. Harper wants Canada to participate in Bush's missile defense system. Star Wars. This guy is so yuck. Ok, so let's see... -a right wing government that wants to kiss US ass on every trade issue, focus federal tax dollars on the military, set gay and women's rights back two decades and decimate social programs (essentially sacrifice them to fund military spending). He's also pro-Bloc - a Quebec separatist party - revealing this former Alliance member's keenness for the idea of allowing provinces that want to, to opt out of federalism. (The Bloc party shouldn't even be in federal politics...it's exclusively regional). It's ludicrous to think any province in this country could survive solo without coming to be dependent, eventually, on the United States. Every province receives billions in transfer payments from Ottawa to fund health and education. Federal cash is generated Canada-wide.) But it's no secret the New Conservative Party is largely comprised of western separatist types. - 22 major urban center mayors from across Canada met 2 weeks ago and delivered a statement on national radio and television a week ago urging the electorate not to vote Conservative. If that's not a wake up call... Old conservatives - one a former Mulroney campaign organizer - are telling Canadians not to vote for the new Conservative Party. Because it's really the Alliance Party. When Mulroney Conservatives tell the electorate not to vote conservative, it's a clear indication that something is very very wrong with the new conservative party. Because those old conservatives were as right wing as we thought it was possible to get. A vote for Harper will mean the end of Canada as we know it, and let's face it, Canada is vulnerable enough. If you hate Paul Martin - and God knows, I share your disdain because the man is an obvious hypocrite - please consider voting for the NDP, Green Party, the Bloc or an independent. A vote for the New Conservatives will be the beginning of the end of Canada. I suspect we'll soon find out that Harper's dream is to completely devolve Canada (I'm sure this is Washington's dream too, because a devolved Canada would be much more vulnerable to a takeover). Free trade is all about evolving toward a single government and in the western hemisphere we all know what that gov't would be. The one with the largest amount of capital and the biggest military. The US is itching to get its claws into our natural resources (we are the second largest supplier of oil to the US and we have vast water reserves). Harper wouldn't hesitate to sell us out. Please...even a vote for Martin would be better...although for sure, he doesn't deserve a single vote after the scandals, the waste and the cuts he's imposed. Still, I'd vote for him to keep Harper out. 9:12 p.m. - 16 June 2004 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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