Does voting matter?

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Wednesday November 03, 2010 · 9:45 AM PDT

2010/11/03 · 09:45

Let's look at some of the major pieces of legislation of the last two years, who voted against it, and what happened to them, shall we?

416Liberal

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Tuesday April 06, 2010 · 6:59 PM PDT

2010/04/06 · 18:59

Hello all,

By way of introduction, this topic came about because of a feature we have up here in Ontario called the Sunshine List. Sounds like a happy thing, doesn't it? Well, yes and no. The Sunshine List was instituted by the previous Conservative Party administration as an example of "transparency in government". Unlike the current transparency efforts of the Obama Administration to show where dollars are being spent from stimulus and so on, it tracks something far more personal.

Poll

15 votes Show Results

The Sunshine List

15 votes Vote Now!

The Sunshine List

Great idea, every government should do it

4 votes

Good in theory, needs some work

7 votes

An invasion of privacy and a tool for demagouges

4 votes

Sunshine, what's that? I live in the Pacific Northwest

0 votes

Catch-22, isn't it?

416Liberal

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday November 03, 2009 · 7:47 PM PST

2009/11/03 · 19:47

The last few weeks (months, even) of observing the despair which the netroots seem to have with the Obama Administration and Democratic Congress has been painful, even from across a border. I'm having the same problem in Canada, where I'm just not motivated at all to do anything with the Liberal Party because I just don't sense any direction or grand vision coming from them. But the thing is, I loathe Conservatives more. So I will vote Liberal, and I might even donate some money when the time comes, and it will be with no sense of enthusiasm.

Poll

15 votes Show Results

Politics, elections, government?

15 votes Vote Now!

Politics, elections, government?

Liberal, Tory, same old story (insert country-specific parties)

1 vote

Better than sex!

5 votes

You can either lead, follow, or get run over

8 votes

Other (see comments)

1 vote

"I hang Liberals"

416Liberal

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday October 01, 2009 · 6:59 AM PDT

2009/10/01 · 06:59

When you work in a call centre environment, you talk to all sorts of people. I talk to investment advisors, their staff, their clients, their head offices, and others in the industry. I talk to people who have advanced degrees and people who haven't graduated from high school. People who are multi-millionaires and people with just a few hundred dollars in their name. People who were born in Canada, and those born in a hundred other countries and came here to make a better life. Not every call goes according to plan, I can't always give every person what they are asking for, and sometimes that results in anger, some cursing, and an intervention by a manager.

But I've never been threatened because of where I live and what it is assumed I believe.

Poll

167 votes Show Results

Completely inappropriate and threatening comments by clients:

167 votes Vote Now!

Completely inappropriate and threatening comments by clients:

Ignore them

15 votes

Report them

92 votes

Argue with them

4 votes

Use them to fuel your activism

35 votes

Throw a cream pie at them

12 votes

You have pie? Don't waste it, gimme some!

9 votes

On behalf of Canada, I'm sorry

416Liberal

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday September 23, 2009 · 7:52 PM PDT

2009/09/23 · 19:52

How could we do this to your poor country, why this could tear apart the very fabric of American society. This could cause repercussions that could echo through the ages, and damage your system of laws and justices irreparably.

What am I talking about? Why, this:

U.S. women get married in Ontario, but can't get divorced in either country

Poll

48 votes Show Results

Marriage equality in Canada is a bigger threat than...

48 votes Vote Now!

Marriage equality in Canada is a bigger threat than...

bears

4 votes

sharks with lasers attached to their frickin heads

10 votes

Kenny G/John Tesh/Zamfir marathons

15 votes

a Republican majority in Congress

2 votes

having all the apple pie you want, but no ice cream

17 votes

Sometimes, just for a moment, I think like them

416Liberal

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday September 13, 2009 · 8:10 PM PDT

2009/09/13 · 20:10

It doesn't take much some days. Stuck in the same job for a few years, seeing people around me get promoted while I bust my ass doing more than they every did. After dealing with a particularly bad call, with someone who might be dealing with unfamiliar concepts in an unfamiliar language. Trying to get home when the subway has a malfunction...AGAIN. Turning on the news and seeing someone else get shot in the housing projects that dot the city, far away from my middle to upper class neighbourhood. Looking at the taxes I pay as a consumer, a worker, and as of next week, a homeowner.

416Liberal

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday August 31, 2009 · 5:38 PM PDT

2009/08/31 · 17:38

In a few weeks time, there will be a by-election (what Americans would call a special election) in the district of St. Paul's in Toronto for the Ontario legislature. In what seems to be a wonderful recruiting job, the non-Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario convinced Sue-Ann Levy to run. Ms. Levy has been a City Hall columnist for the Toronto Sun for several years. She also happens to be Jewish, and a lesbian who recently married her long-time partner, which of course is perfectly legal in Toronto. That would seem to be perfect in an urban district which has one of the highest incomes in Canada. So what might be a possible line of attack for her opponents? How about the point that she is a complete and utter hypocrite?

Poll

19 votes Show Results

If you lived in St. Paul's, would you vote...

19 votes Vote Now!

If you lived in St. Paul's, would you vote...

Progressive (heh) Conservative

3 votes

Liberal

6 votes

New Democratic Pary

9 votes

Green

1 vote

other

0 votes

Through all of this, some things I envy you

416Liberal

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday August 29, 2009 · 8:48 AM PDT

2009/08/29 · 08:48

Like many others from outside the United States, I've been watching this debate you have been having on health care with interest. I've been shocked at the blatant lies and fear-mongering that have been spread by lobbyists, astroturf groups, radio talk show hosts, and most disturbingly, Republican elected officials. I have tried to do a little bit to dispel some of their myths, at least as it relates to Canada, in my first couple of diaries here and here. I've been saddened by the weasel words, flip-flopping and lack of leadership shown by many Democrats like Baucus, Reid, Cooper and others. And today of course, I grieve with your nation at the loss of someone who would have been the general leading this campaign had he not been taken away by one of the cruelest killers known to humanity.

416Liberal

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday August 28, 2009 · 4:44 AM PDT

2009/08/28 · 04:44

In the second of what may end up being a series of debunking diaries on health care in Canada (specifically in the province of Ontario), here is some information on wait times for both ER visits and surgeries.

There is a meme about Canadian health care that it is "rationed". I'm not sure what that means, it's not like World War II where we have a booklet that gets stamped when we visit an emergency room or get an operation done. What we do have are targets that the Ministry of Health has set for ER visits and various types of common surgery. All the information is available for public consumption at this handy website. Below I'll review some of the numbers and in return I'd like to know more about your expectations and experiences with the American system.

Poll

93 votes Show Results

Wait Times in Canada

93 votes Vote Now!

Wait Times in Canada

are far too long

21 votes

are long, but a decent trade off for universal coverage

24 votes

reasonable

32 votes

better than I've experienced in the United States

9 votes

are nothing compared to waiting for a hot, freshly-baked pie

7 votes

Health Care vs. Health Costs: what a Canadian pays

416Liberal

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday August 27, 2009 · 12:13 PM PDT

2009/08/27 · 12:13

Wow, first diary at Daily Kos, and I decide to do it while Americans are having the political battle of a generation. This is kind of like a rookie pitcher stepping up to the mound at Yankee Stadium, so bear with me while I try to provide some info and hopefully get some in return from the 5 people who might read this.

There have been a number of diaries in the last few months from ex-pat Americans and citizens of other countries relating their experiences with single-payer/public/socialized/call-it-what-you-will health care. I can't really add much to that, mainly because I haven't really needed a lot yet. I go to the doctor a couple of times a year, get a prescription now and then, but I've had no major health scares. I guess I'm still in that younger age mindset where I think I'm invincible and nothing will happen until I reach retirement. Of course, part of it might also be that instead of a Visa or MasterCard at the doctor, I use something else...

Poll

81 votes Show Results

Canadians are...

81 votes Vote Now!

Canadians are...

conservative

0 votes

moderate

13 votes

liberal

13 votes

socialist

6 votes

communist

2 votes

members of the National Socialist party

2 votes

hot

26 votes

excellent bakers of pies

19 votes

RSS

Does voting matter?

Circular logic of the fiscal conservative, part 1

Catch-22, isn't it?

"I hang Liberals"

On behalf of Canada, I'm sorry

Sometimes, just for a moment, I think like them

Conservative mendacity: spreading across the border

Through all of this, some things I envy you

Wait Times in Canada: What is the Real Deal?

Health Care vs. Health Costs: what a Canadian pays