HRM Transit Strike Coming?

The thought of a transit strike in even a mild winter will raise the hackles of those of us who regularly use the service, whether the bus or ferries. I hope that with the vote union’s vote being so overwhelming (98.4%) that this is merely the opening response to a productive negotiation with the City, but may well be pie-in-the-sky thinking. The fact that the City wants to open up their options to contracting out more labour elevates this fight from the typical dollars and cents into a realm of principle that might well wind up with a strike or lockout, depending on who wants to be the bad guy.

 

Not a fan of strikes, but I am a fan of unions, so peace Brothers and Sisters!

 

Also not a big fan of a 6 km walk/run to work in the morning, but if that’s where it goes, that’s where it goes.

Dear Canadian Taxpayer Federation:

I have an idea for your next target research focus.

Attawapiskat must pay Ottawa appointee $1,300 a day

While the known costs for the auditor are $1,300 daily, that sum could rise significantly once travel and other expenses are factored in, said Grand Chief David Harper, of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak. In fact, Harper suggested that the final tab could be about $300,000.

PS – Don’t read the comments below that CTV story if you still love this country. They may change your mind.

Derek Boogaard article in the New York Times

This is a very well-written, well-researched article that describes the life and death of Derek Boogaard. For those that don’t recognize the name, Boogaard was a feared and respected enforcer in the NHL. He died of a drug and alcohol overdose last May at age 28. It’s a long, three-part look into his life by John Branch. A fascinating and disturbing read.

Part 1: Derek Boogaard: A Boy Learns to Brawl

Part 2: Derek Boogaard: Blood on the Ice

Part 3: Derek Boogaard: A Brain ‘Going Bad’

The Habitable Exoplanets Catalog

The Habitable Exoplanets Catalog is an online database for scientists, educators, and the general public focused on habitable exoplanets discoveries. The catalog uses various habitability indices and classifications to identify, rank, and compare exoplanets, including their potential satellites, or exomoons. (this text is taken directly from the site’s introduction.)

The HEC ranked the exoplanets (and exomoons) discovered thus far by the Kepler telescope according to surface habitability and similarity to Earth.

A taste:

This planet is ranked #1 by habitability according to the metrics used on the HEC site:

This planet is the most earth-like:

Fun! Science! Science fun!

Deconstructing dog-whistles feeding off Attawatapiskat

âpihtawikosisân

A great deconstruction of the racist shit spewing all over the blogosphere and the House of Commons regarding Attawatapiskat. With numbers!

For a link to Attawatapiskat’s budget, go here (pdf).

I heard a rumour

A friend of a friend of a friend of a friend told me that the entire Federal Conservative caucus was going to step down before the next election in order to sail the good ship Ragnarok into the face of the Rapture. If this actually happens, it will trigger a number of byelections. If these byelections are triggered, who do you plan to vote for?

a) NDP
b) Liberal
c) Bloc
d) Green
e) Ragnarok
f) Other

(In case you think I’m crazy, which is possible, I am mocking this bit of douchebaggery: Conservative douchebaggery)

Jackboots in Toronto

From the civil suit Jason Wall filed against Toronto Police Services Huffington Post link:

The final final report said that an unnamed officer with the Toronto Police Service wrote: “…we were given specific direction in regards to people that were wearing banners [sic], gasmask, goggles and that they were going to be arrestable or that they were to be arrested for Disguise with Intent, which is a Criminal Code Offense and as well anyone with a backpack was to be searched and if they refused to be search [sic] then they would be arrestable for obstruct police which is a Criminal Offence and as well as people, weapons including bottles and canisters of liquid were to be investigated and arrested for Possession of Weapons.”

Arrested for refusing to be searched while walking down the street? Arrested for wearing bandanas? People were also arrested for wearing black t-shirts. And it was all ordered from the top. How does Bill Blair still have a job after so blatantly ordering his officers to break the law? How do police who followed these illegal orders sleep at night? I hope that there are some police out there who regret following these orders. They can’t all be bad apples, can they?

A CEO, a unionist, and a tea partier…

Repeating a joke (or is it?) that I’ve seen on a few blogs:

A CEO, a Tea Partier and a union organizer sit down at a table, on which there is a dish of 12 cookies.

The CEO takes 11 of the cookies and says to the Tea Partier, “That union guy wants your cookie.”

To Grunfeld

I’m proposing a new word for the internet lexicon:

To Grunfeld: To carefully omit a portion of a person’s statement so that your version of the statement is the polar opposite of what the person stated, with the intent of causing them great professional harm.

For example:

But I’ve been very clear in this campaign – I don’t believe the party should have a position on abortion.
Stephen Harper

Grunfelded!:

the party should have a position on abortion.
Stephen Harper

Double Grunfelded: Stephen Harper should never mention the word abortion! He’s history’s greatest monster!!!

Alternative meaning: To flunk out of University in the first week?

On shared-use paths

I love them, for the most part.  They are much safer for cyclists.  However, the city of Halifax Regional Municimouthful does not do them properly.  Shared-use paths have people going many different speeds on many different modes of transport (walkers, runners, rollerbladers, cyclists).  Because of the different speeds, people need a visual cue that keeps them on one side of the path or the other.  Every other city I’ve been to where I’ve cycled, run, or bladed (just Edmonton, Calgary, Quebec City, and Toronto, to be fair) have painted either a yellow or a blue line down the middle of their paths.  This usually prevents people from walking/ running/ cycling four abreast.  It always prevents them from walking straight down the middle of the path, which I find to be the most dangerous situation when I’m on a bike (Often someone walking down the middle won’t know which way to shift when a cyclist approaches.  The line down the middle reminds them to shift to their right, but also usually prevents the problem in the first place).   Halifax’s paths need these lines as surely as cyclists using the paths need bells.