Now, if Ottawa really wants to get serious about this

So according to a story in the Globe and Mail, Ottawa is apparently going to start having telemarketers underwrite the cost of enforcing the national Do Not Call List. It seems that our  federal government plans to consult with the telemarketing industry in the coming months and implement a permanent funding mechanism to take effect April 1 of next year.

Junk Calls, an endless stream

Great concept, making the offender responsible for the cost of policing themselves. After all, why should the taxpayer continuously be expected to foot the bill to police industry. I understand the reasoning behind society having to cover the cost to police criminals, plain and simple they are criminals and its not like we can expect them to fund efforts to arrest, convict, and imprison themselves ( try collecting those dues.....). However, legitimate industry and business is another matter. When there is talk of impending government regulation for a specific sector of business we often hear from that particular group that they would much prefer self regulation over the government imposed version. Typically the argument will be made that the vast majority of the group is not the problem, that generally members respect and abide by the rules and common sense, and that excessive regulations will add to the costs of doing business. All good arguments, and for the most case very true. However, on occasion the government has no choice but to step in when an industry proves incapable of regulating itself  (yes, I said it, more government regulation), however why should the taxpayer be expected to shoulder the financial burden. After all, the industry itself is responsible for the problem and even if it were to effectively self regulate there would be an associated cost to its members.

So, maybe, just maybe this latest tact will help eliminate some of the dozens, if not hundreds of junk calls the average Canadian is subjected to.

Now while it is a good start, it simply does not go far enough. The current Do Not Call legislation effectively exempts a number of groups from the rules, charities, newspapers, pollsters and survey companies, and you guessed it, politicians and political parties. All of these groups will tell you that these calls are absolutely essential to fund raising, information gathering for their group or organization, or simply staying in business. Again probably true, however the same argument could be made for virtually any operation performing outgoing calls, yet none of them are blessed with exemption from the rules. It appears from the exempt list that the government covered itself (politicians and pollsters) and any allies that they felt might cause a backlash if not exempted (charities and newspapers), but does that really surprise anyone, its par for the course.

So if our government really wants to get serious about providing Canadians some relief from constant phone ring during their personal time at home, the regulations should blanket ALL call, no exceptions.

Just a few updates on past and ongoing stupidity

Nothing new today, so to speak, but rather some updates on pieces we have published in the past. Sometimes even when we think that common sense has prevailed over stupidity we find that stupidity is eternal and never goes away.

Spring Is Coming, May 1 - Occupy Whatever
Just when we thought that the Occupy movement had faded away to become a footnote in history it is attempting to rear it's head once again. Some of us had imagined (a bit naively) that the Occupy drones had gone back to school, possibly entered the workforce, or more than likely simply took to living under a bridge. However such is not the case, this time they have picked May Day (that's May 1st to us non communist types) to once more attempt to grind to a halt society and it's productive contributing members. I suspect that the movement which has been on life support for months has picked this day in the hope that many of their "comrades" will join in and add to the head count.
Here are a few quotes from their website and my personal comments (in Italics)

• "returning day after day to the boring jobs that drain our souls" Then quit and pursue something to enrich your soul. Remember, contrary to the indoctrination you received from your Occupy Masters, it is still a relatively free country.
• "the same system that causes students to graduate college with so much debt that they must chain themselves to a career in something they despise, rather than pursue their passions". Did someone force them into the education path they pursued? No, they chose it themselves so unfortunately if their career stinks they must accept personal responsibility for that.
• "This May Day, Occupy Wall Street, in coalition with numerous other organizations and occupations" I believe here they are referring to groups such as The American Nazi Party and the Communist Party USA
•  "If you can't call in sick hold a slow down" Funny, both these suggestions in most cases would mean that the Occupy Drones would still receive their paycheck, in other words taking something for doing nothing! Something that as a group they seem very fond of.

McDonalds, the last bastion of freedom?

Back in December of 2011 we posted an article about the "Nanny State" existing in society today and how the San Francisco Board of Supervisors were doing their best to get the toys removed from Happy Meals. At the time the "Bored" of Supervisors had passed an ordinance banning the giveaway of toys with children's meals. Thankfully MickyD found a work around that left them looking like heroes and the Supervisors with egg on their faces.

Unfortunately the story does not end there, it appears that the outcome did not satisfy a San Francisco mother who brought a class-action lawsuit against the fast food giant. Plaintiff Monet Parham, a mother of two, was represented by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nutrition advocacy group. Parham, along with the CSPI, argued that the use of toys in Happy Meals preys on children’s vulnerabilities and encourages them to eat unhealthy food.

“What kids see as a fun toy, I now realize is a sophisticated, hi-tech marketing scheme that‘s designed to put McDonald’s between me and my daughters,” Parham argued, according to the Daily Mail.
“For the sake of other parents and their children, I want McDonald’s to stop interfering with my family.”

This is just too funny, so if I understand this correctly, if Mcdonalds stops putting toys into happy meals Monet and her daughters will have a better family relationship? I wish I could say that this mindset is unique to California (obviously that would explain a lot) but unfortunately its spreading across society. This is the same mindset that expects the government to supervise all aspects of our lives as we are supposedly to stupid or ignorant to make everyday decisions for ourselves

The good news is that the judge dismissed the lawsuit without giving the plaintiff the opportunity to file an amended lawsuit.

But never fear, the left is not that easily deterred and I am sure that down the road they will tackle this issue until they feel they get it right.

Our Government, So right one day, so wrong the next

If you are like me last week was one for celebration. The Conservative government finally made good on their promise to scrap the Long Gun Registry by the passing of Bill C-19, and to say this was long overdue would be an understatement. This legislation when first enacted by the previous Liberal government was promised to make the streets safer and be self-funding, unfortunately like so many promises made by those in power this was a hollow one. Not only were the safety benefits of the program questioned by everyone ( including many in law enforcement) but in short order the program ran up a cost to the Canadian  government of over $1 Billion.... Surprise

Well fortunately after 'only" a billion or so of taxpayer money wasted this program is close to being history. Public Safety Minister Toews stated
“It criminalizes hard-working and law-abiding citizens such as farmers and sport shooters, and it has been a billion-dollar boondoggle left to us by the previous Liberal government.”
(You have that right Vic, good for you)

According to Bill C-19, all data pertaining to non-restricted firearms will be deleted as a measure to protect individual privacy. Unfortunately, once the bill is finally passed into law, Quebec has indicated it will immediately seek an injunction from the courts to halt the destruction of the registry data. Gotta luv Quebec...

Congratulations to Mr Harper and his party for doing the right thing, now hopefully the Liberals in the Senate don't hold up the passing of the bill.

Now, lets look at another effort on the part of the Harper government, one that is not so "right".