What are the neo-liberals doing?

In the USA, in regards to the election. The neo-liberals are painting the election as stolen by the Russians, as though somehow they swung the electoral college for Trump.
Except, as Ian Welsh points out, even if the leaks and the FBI did ultimately cost H. Clinton the election, both were own-goals. This cannot be stated enough. H. Clinton's email scandal was of her own design. The Russians never forced her to utilize her unsecured private email server. (That's not even getting into stating how the proof showing it was Russians who did it isn't good enough.)
What's especially concerning is how commentators are chasing this lede down a very dangerous rabbit hole. It's unsettling to hear how people would be absolutely fine with the electoral college overturning their decision, because of these accusations.
Well, that's called a coup. And if you're fine with the electoral college overturning result of an election, then you're fine with a coup, and all of its consequences. That probably includes fighting in the streets, demonstrations, and probably, ultimately, injuries and deaths. I suppose that's all fine, so long as they're the deaths of people whom you don't know. They probably don't even believe in the same things as you, anyway, so it's all good, right?
Look, let's face facts. Trump won. He won the electoral college. It's all he needed. He never needed the popular vote, and never bothered with it. He ran a brilliant campaign tailored to win what he needed, and disregarded what he didn't.
Whereas H. Clinton ran a terrible campaign. She ran a losing campaign, tailored to win her nothing more than what she already had. She disregarded and discredited those who would have supported her had she catered to them, such as Bernie supporters. She expected votes she never worked for.
In the end, what we're witnessing is simply another neo-liberal coup in its infancy. They're putting pressure onto the electoral college, and should it turn, then this coup is partway successful. These neo-liberals are simply doing what they've always done in foreign nations, except for the first time, they're brought it home.
Don't people understand how dangerous this is, ultimately? If they succeed, then the republic of the USA loses legitimacy. And legitimacy is key. It's absolutely fundamental.
I don't even know what to say, really.
Trump's odious. His picks for for his staff are odious. But he won. So oppose him in good faith. Oppose him within the limits of the republic. When those limits are breached, it's over. Might as well pack it all in, and never bother with democracy ever again.

KRS-One - MC's Act Like They Don't Know

Guess I needed to stop being lazy, and resume blogging. Thought it was important, because people are just so gods-be-damned wrong about what's going on in the world.

First Nations leaders leery of government measures on child welfare

CBC News
Well, yes. Of course it would make First Nations somewhat cautious. The number seems arbitrary. Arrived at because it was the freed money from another budget.
First and foremost, the government needs to consult First Nations leaders. There are organizations set up, mainly by First Nations, which can lead to an overarching dialogue, even with dozens of disparate and widely varied First Nation cultures throughout Canada.
I'm sure a face to face meeting between Trudeau and Bellegarde would've helped this process along quite nicely.
But at the moment, it seems like Canadian leaders are hiding away, avoiding First Nations leadership, and this announcement was meant to placate white voters with a conscience, rather than about working with First Nations. Listen to First Nations concerns and criticisms. That shouldn't be difficult to do.

Nigel Farage, and the right wing

Nigel Farage has stepped down from the UKIP leadership.
This is one complaint I have about the right wing, in general. They know how to break things down, but don't have a clue to when it comes to building things up.
Anyway, this will probably muddy up the waters. There are calls for another referendum, but if the vote remains the same, then what? Has anything really changed, other than Johnson and Farage vacating their positions? Has the sentiment within the UK as a whole changed entirely, or are news reporters simply parroting Remain talking points?
We'll see, I suppose.

Sihota says reluctance to go for jugular in last election deep-sixed Dix, NDP

Vaughn Palmer - The Vancouver Sun
The campaign as a whole was weak, not just the positive message Dix wanted to run with. Top to bottom, weak. In all honesty, I don't even remember what the BC NDP had actually campaigned on. It wasn't as though they managed to get their message out, and I'd attended a few gatherings.
Even now, perusing the BC NDP's current platform, I'm struck at how... bland it all is. Nothing exciting. Nothing new. Just the same old safe promises. Raise the minimum wage. Solve the housing crisis. Oppose Kinder Morgan. I agree with all that, but I'm having a hard time getting up for it all.
The BC NDP does understand we're facing a world-wide crisis, right now, as pertaining to climate change, right? Were the BC NDP to promise we would begin work, as of right now, yesterday even, on bringing BC to the forefront of green technology, world-wide, I'd jump onto their platform in a heartbeat.
Were the BC NDP to pick a fight with the federal government in regards to NAFTA, and the TPP, I wouldn't hesitate for a moment to join in.
A public post-secondary education option. Stronger agricultural policy. Reduction in mining. Revitalizing BC's forests.
There's a world of policies the BC NDP could adopt, but there's nothing in their current platform which even suggests real change. Nothing of real substance. Nothing the BC voter can bite into, and chew on.

Sports salaries, and then real life

A draft, archived, and forgotten. It's released, months late and unfinished. Never mind the now obsolete claims, throughout.

This is merely a thought. Some light consideration of sports salaries. Nothing in-depth. Merely guesswork and supposition. No evidence. No proof. No editing. No expansion. I'm just going to write out some vague ideas that are lurking below the surface of my thoughts. A free writing exercise.
I enjoy sports. Always have. Probably always will. Can no longer play sports. Injuries and accidents have robbed me of mobility, especially in the past five years. I'm done with anything involving running. Or heavy lifting.
Was intrigued to see David Price, formerly (and shortly) of the Toronto Blue Jays had signed with the Boston Red Sox for $217 million dollars. Wow. That's a lot more money than I could earn in my entire lifetime. I'd have to win the lottery. Just wow.
Seems obscene, but then again, I also subscribe to the old maxim, "Everything is worth what its purchaser will pay for it". In the end, I don't really care. It's ridiculous. It's not really real, in the end.
Honestly, money's a funny thing. We ruin ourselves for it, and it's not actually something tangible. It's merely a promise. A dream. A social contract, of sorts. Which is probably why it works.
I can't bring myself to resent these athletes for signing these contracts. What's ridiculous to me is how there are people in this world who are wealthy enough to give out these sort of pay cheques. That's what's obscene.
How can one person, or any one group of people have such riches. That's ridiculous. How did we allow this?
Through a loophole in our collective consciousness, I suppose. Psychotics are more determined to earn than us normal folk, willing to do anything to make a buck.
And what's funny, is by that, these psychotics really are willing to do anything. They'll subscribe to the most ridiculous notions even when there's evidence enough to suggest they're following some crazy ass line of thinking straight down to its common denominator.
Consider in hockey the idea of 'the code'. It's some form of nebulous values and principles that us mortal observers simply cannot comprehend. Hockey teams simply cannot win without it, somehow. Apparently, it has nothing to do with one team being better at all the measurable hockey bits than its opponent. Hockey teams are more than willing to throw a skilled player to the wolves in favor of goons whose skills involve nothing more than staging fights.
Of course, any organization needs good people throughout it, but....
You know, what I'm trying to say, in the end, is, simply, results matter. In any way of life. But the way sports organizations measure success is oftentimes convoluted and, frankly, insane. It's as predicated on superstition and faith, as much as it relies on simple observation and fact.
The fact is, David Price is probably worth his new pay cheque. The Blue Jays failure in retaining him has probably costed the team wins. But they followed their code, whatever that was.
Let's segue for a moment, here.
Sports are life. One should be able to take values and principles from sports life into real life. You can look around, and see this organization probably needs a rebuild, and this one seems to succeed every year. Let's apply this thinking to politics.
The NDP. And its failure to form government in the most recent election. In fact, the NDP was simply devastated in its electoral results, losing dozens of seats, moving from official opposition to third party. At this point, one would be thinking it's time for an NDP rebuild, right? Not so, according to NDP leadership. Let's stay the course, says NDP leadership. Not throw out the baby with the bathwater, and so forth. But that would probably be insane. Let's be honest, here. One can observe past results, and usually predict future results, if the variables remain the same. In this case, if the NDP leadership remains the same, then the next election will probably follow the same course as the previous one. A downward trend. The NDP should probably change leadership. However, the NDP might not. And that would be crazy.

Northern Gateway pipeline approval overturned

CBC News
I don't see it recovering. This has been a substantial body blow. Unless the government decides to break the law. But even they need to obey their own courts. At the very least, observe the niceties.
Can't see the PacificNorthWest LNG plant surviving a court challenge, either.

Brexit: a disaster decades in the making

Gary Younge - The Guardian 
Just started reading this article. Will take time over the next day or two to really digest it in full, but so far, it's been excellent. One point made, that simply astonished me, I'll share:

Neglect, both benign and malign, and indulgence, both covert and overt, left those prejudices open for opportunists to exploit for their own ends.

Now that needs repetition, for our friends in power. Over and over, again and again: "Neglect, both benign and malign, and indulgence, both covert and overt, (leave) prejudices open for opportunists to exploit for their own ends."

When all you have is a hammer...

Canada’s government spending is now on unsustainable path, warns PBO
Financial Post's reporting is a bit, what's the word? alarmist?
Things really aren't so dire.

Canada’s sub-national governments need a combination of new revenue or spending cuts totalling 1.5 per cent of GDP to put themselves on a sustainable path, up from 1.4 per cent last year — what the PBO called a “modest deterioration.” That would require a combined $30.2 billion in spending cuts or tax increases from provinces, territories, local and indigenous governments.

You know, the major, important thing is, that no one ever really mentions, is Canada will always have a modest to wealthy tax base. And also, Canada prints its own money. That's a major strength. It means Canada can always repay its dept, even if the value of its currency falls.
$30 billion? It shouldn't be an impossible amount for the government to raise.
It should be a multi-pronged approached. Modestly raise taxes, starting from the top earners, and work downward. Borrow, too: with the currency weak as it is, now's as good as any time for the government to borrow. Close tax loopholes: there's money going to waste, hidden away in off-short bank accounts.
Most importantly, get money into the hands of people who'll spend it. The gears of the economy are screaming for lubricant. And that's what money's for. To keep the economy healthy.

Another post on Brexit

Pulled out my copy of A Tale of Two Cities, just to read the opening.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

A rather cynical assessment, I suppose. Yes, the Brexit vote was profound, but it was neither the start nor end of anything.
The real story should be austerity. It's crushing the UK, and dragging it ever downward.