From the comfort of your couch you can experience the corporate atmosphere like you're actually there.
Through virtual reality, we can show you companies the way they truly are. We're always working hard to develop and improve our videos. That's why our cameraman Hozna will be replaced by a robot as soon as we add the finishing touches.
Come with us on a virtual tour of your new favourite company. Just choose the company and click the 360°video option on its profile. Then from the comfort of your home, you can experience the company's atmosphere and become a temporary team member. Don't have a VR headset? No problem. You can still enjoy virtual reality with your mobile phone or tablet.
No advertisements or hidden videos. You see the companies as they really are.
Look around and see what interests you.
Discover the corners of companies that regular visitors don't see.
How and where to use VR?
Don't have a VR headset and you're feeling frustrated because you can't launch virtual reality? We'll tell you the best ways to watch.
The headset pulls you into virtual reality and allows you to really experience the company's atmosphere. You can use our VR function with headsets including Oculus Rift, Htc Vive or Sony Playstation VR.
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Want to check out the first few companies that have allowed candidates to take a peek into their culture through virtual reality? Prepare to be amazed!
What are the advantages of VR?
Virtual reality has been a tantalizing possibility for decades. Today this technology is available to everyone, including you.
You can experience the real atmosphere in companies from the comfort of your home.
Look anywhere you want. You don't have to follow a guide, just show yourself around the entire company and its real employees.
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Let the atmosphere of VR absorb you.
Want to look around so you don't miss anything? Check out all of the VR companies in our career showroom.


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Broby – miejscowość (tätort) w południowej Szwecji, położona w regionie administracyjnym (län) Skania. Siedziba władz (centralort) gminy Östra Göinge.

Miejscowość położona jest nad rzeką Helge å na obszarze Göinge w północno-wschodniej części prowincji historycznej (landskap) Skania, ok. 25 km na północ od Kristianstad przy drodze krajowej nr 19 (Riksväg 19, Ystad – Östanå).

Nazwa miejscowości oznacza dosłownie "wieś po drugiej stronie mostu". Broby przynajmniej od XVII w. stanowiło lokalne centrum handlu oraz miejsce odbywania się zebrań i sądów. Znajduje się tam jeden z największych i najstarszych w Szwecji skansenów, Broby Hembygdspark.

W Broby (Östra Broby församling) urodził się Viking Palm, mistrz olimpijski w zapasach (Helsinki, 1952).

W 2010 Broby liczyło 2920 mieszkańców.

Przypisy

Miejscowości w gminie Östra Göinge

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
What lessons can we take from the fatal accident (…)
What lessons can we take from the fatal accident in Arizona in 2018 involving an autonomous vehicle?
Léonie Gagné
On March 18, 2018, in Tempe, Arizona, a vehicle being operated by self-driving software which was under development, collided with a pedestrian, causing her death. Following this accident, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board ("NTSB") conducted an investigation and, on November 19, 2019, issued its preliminary results and recommendations.1
The circumstances of the accident involving an autonomous car from Uber
The autonomous vehicle ("AV"), a 2017 Volvo XC90, was equipped with an automated driving system being developed by Uber Technologies Inc. ("Uber"). At the time of the collision, the vehicle was travelling at a speed of approximately 72 km/h, and was completing the second portion of a predetermined route as part of a driving test. The pedestrian was struck while crossing the street outside the crosswalk.
The NTSB's investigation found that the vehicle's automated driving system had detected the pedestrian, but was unable to qualify her as a pedestrian and predict her path.
Further, the automated driving system prevented the activation of the vehicle's emergency braking system, relying instead on the intervention of the human driver on board to regain control of the vehicle in this critical situation.
However, videos from inside the vehicle showed that the driver was not paying attention to the road, but was rather looking at her cell phone lying on the vehicle console.
Since the collision between the pedestrian and the vehicle was imminent, the inattentive driver was unable to take control of the vehicle in time to prevent the accident and mitigate the damages.
What are the causes of the accident?
The NTSB issued several findings, including the following:
Neither the driver's experience nor knowledge, her fatigue or mental faculties, or even the mechanical condition of the vehicle, were factors in the accident;
An examination of the pedestrian showed the presence of drugs in her body which may have impaired her perception and judgment;
Uber's automated driving system did not adequately anticipate its safety limitations, including its inability to identify the pedestrian and predict her path;
The driver of the vehicle was distracted in the moments preceding the accident. Had she been attentive, she would have had enough time to see the pedestrian and take control of the vehicle to avoid the accident or mitigate its impact;
Uber did not adequately recognize the risks of distraction of the drivers of its vehicles;
Uber had removed the second driver from the vehicle during the tests, which had the effect of giving the sole remaining driver full responsibility for intervening in a critical situation, thereby reducing vehicle safety.
The probable cause of the accident was found to be the driver's distraction and failure to take control of the AV in a critical situation. Additional factors were identified, including insufficient vehicle safety measures and driver monitoring, associated with deficiencies in the safety culture at Uber.
The NTSB issued recommendations, including the following:
Arizona should implement obligations for AV project developers regarding the risks associated with the inattentiveness of vehicle drivers which are aimed at preventing accidents and mitigating risks;
The NTSB should require entities conducting projects involving AVs to submit a self-assessment report on the safety measures for their vehicles. Additionnaly, the NTSBshould set up a process for the assessment of these safely measures;
Uber should implement a policy on the safety of its automated driving software.
Can an identical tragedy related to autonomous vehicles occur in Quebec and Canada?
Following the update to the Highway Safety Code in April 2018, level 3 AVs are now permitted to be driven in the province of Quebec when their sale is allowed in Canada. Driving of level 4 and 5 automated vehicles is permitted where it is expressly regulated in the context of a pilot project.2
According to SAE International Standard J3016, level 3 AVs are vehicles with so-called conditional automation, where active driving is automated, but require the human driver to remain attentive so that they can take control of the vehicle in a critical situation.
Thus, the vehicle involved in the Arizona accident, although still in the development phase, corresponded to a level 3 AV.
Level 3 AVs are now circulating fully legally on Quebec roads.
In Canada, the Motor Vehicle Safety Act3 and the relevant regulations thereof govern "the manufacture and importation of motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment to reduce the risk of death, injury and damage to property and the environment". However, there is currently no provision specifically for the regulation of automated driving software or the risks associated with the inattention of Level 3 AV drivers.
With the arrival of AVs in Canada, taking in consideration the recommendations of the NTSB and to ensure the safety of all, we believe the current framework would need to be improved to specifically address VA security measures.
National Transportation Safety Board, Public Meeting of November 19, 2019, "Collision Between Vehicle Controlled by Developmental Automated Driving System and Pedestrian", Tempe, Arizona, March 18, 2019, HWY18MH010.
Highway Safety Code, CQLR c. C-24.2, s. 492.8 and 633.1; the driving of autonomous vehicules in Ontario is regulated by Pilot Project - Automated Vehicles, O Reg 306/15.
Motor Vehicle Safety Act, S.C. 1993, c. 16; see, in particular, the Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations, C.R.C., c. 1038.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The heat process will decarboxylate the cannabis and you can also use trim leaves and small buds. Or if you want great stuff, you can use your good buds.
My honey got really thick with overnight cooling. How do I thin it?
full disclosure- I wrote the best-seller: Cannabis Cocktails. I learn by making mistakes. just like you. and you know what? It's ok!
So should I decarbolize the bugs first?
This is a myth. Raw cannabis extracts are light energetic and euphoric but not stoning at all. As a patient in my mid 30's i rarely have time or the desire to be stoned and stuck to my couch for 8-12 hours. I highly recommend trying for a pleasant head and body buzz without the unpleasant heaviness.
What is your method of transportation of the THC molecule? There is no fatty lipid thus infusion is impossible for any medicinal content. I guess you can enjoy the taste; however, this is a failure.
You are so right .I tried this recipe two times and it did not work.
I agree fully! I make infused honey with dry ice kief, coconut oil, and my own honey. I've heard you can eat fatty foods with a non-fat infused honey and feel the effects, but if you really want to use as a medicine one would be better off first combining the coconut oil and herb and then adding that to honey. I can post the exact method/recipe, if anyone is interested?
Dan could you provide this recipe! Thanks so much!
I'm trying to get CBD honey to fl. Only found sold to ca. Any ideas? Can I just buy cbd oil from? Somewhere and then add to honey? Help? Need for chronic pain too young with a baby for this.
I'm suffering from a concussion & neck injury using medical marijuana would appreciate your recipe.
Can u send the recipe. .
Yes, please send the recipe.
please send me the recipe. thank you!
So would you recommend doing this recipe or not? I was already looking into local honey as part of my daily routine, but I don't want to destroy the enzymes etc. I know you said to keep a thermometer in it, and check it frequently, if possible, but would like more insight, if possible. TIA!!!
If the temperature goes over 40oC then you essentially are destroying most of the good stuff that honey has. If there is a way to decarboxylize marijuana with such a low temperature yes, go for it.
If not you have to choose: You either heat it a lot and have a marijuana honey that is decarboxylized and you get the high and the good stuff of marijuana but not the good stuff of honey (the taste of honey will still be there of course) OR you don't heat it above 40oC and you get a honey that has the good stuff in it but with marijuana that isn't decarboxylized so you don't get high.
All these provided that marijuana isn't decarboxylized around 40oC which I am not sure about but I think you need more heat to make that happen, perhaps someone with more knowledge on marijuana and cooking it can answer that, I just provided my knowledge on honey.
Or as other have also said if there is a way to decarbozylize marijuana first and then mix it with honey without going over the temperature limit then that would be the best way! Then you get all the good stuff!
In my experience, this would taste amazing, but have no medical value. This would not help you medicate. Make budder, then mix that with honey that could possibly work and taste even better.
Can coconut infused mj be mixed with raw honey ?
This is kind of like what I do, as I'm not sure honey is a good medium to extract the cannabinoids, but I just do the honey and coconut oil, at first this way I can make chocolates, add it to recipes, coffee, chai tea, I also keep all the bud in it and blend it up really good by putting a regular size canning jar on my blender ring, basically any regular size mason jar can be used for the container, and just blend everything real good, that way I'm getting all the benefits, I decarb everything first, and the jar thing is great for grinding everything up, you do everything in one container that way there's not waste, and not as many dirty dishes, and you use the jar in a pan of hot water, I put the lid on that way nothing escapes, makes some killer stuff.
Rule of thumb … 110 deg C (240 F) limit for 60 min to decarb Cannabis and convert THCA to THC. So, if honey breaks down at 40 deg C, better to first decarb your Cannabis flowers first, THEN soak the decarb'd flowers in everclear to dislodge the trichomes, drain off and dry the plant material and save it for stash-filler, then add the now cooled liquid to the honey, about a mix of 75/25 to retain a thick viscosity. Spread on your toast with some butter and cinnamon, and 'jai-la' … you've got canna-honey!
What is the method used for heating. What kind of container? In the oven? I'm uninformed. Thanks.
Bees do not have receptors for THC, so they dont get high. There is also a guy, that makes raw cannahoney, bees only collect stuff from cannabis plants and make honey with all of the great stuff, plus high effect.
I was under the impression you needed to use oil or butter to get the infusion? Or is this strictly for cannibinoids, therefore not the?
If you made one pot of Honey infused, and take over the recommended temp for the Honey to be much use, but then added that to some unheated Honey I think that might do the trick..
Yes what about oil.. and whats the ratio ?
I raise bees and bud. All these posts are unnecessarily complicated. Just make a batch of Rick Simpson oil and add to your honey. I hest up the oil and honey in the microwave slap the lid on the jar and shske well. If the the oil seperates from the honey heat again and repeate as needed.
what is Rick Simson oil?
Enjoying this topic so much, unable to smoke and need pain relief but don't necessarily want high.
I'm just adding my opinion, that since no one seems to know how well the cannabinoids are infused into the honey, I'd use either and alcohol or coconut oil, I've done both, and then mix that into the honey, I always decarb first, just to know for sure it's done.
I dissolved 1 gram of hash into 375 ml of honey and 1 tablespoon was a dose.
Now, can you just use pure thc concentrate and infuse it directly into the honey or do I need a medium like coconut oil to infuse the concentrate into first and then mix it into the honey?
I'm a bee keeper I have gallons of honey I was wondering if I took 1/4 oz. Per qt jar and left in my truck during the summer if it would be enough to infuse it? I live in the Az. desert.
sounds like you've done this before.. of course… same holds true for wine! try it! or bourbon, even better!
I wrote the best-seller, Cannabis Cocktails. There is so much disinformation in this thread. Please, let me help. I have an Ardent Decarboxalator. You open the container. Put anywhere from a few buds to 1/2 oz inside, close the top and turn it on. In one hour and fifteen minutes you have perfectly decarbed Cannabis- fully active. Look at their website for info.. fascinating.
then I add my decarbed buds whole, not ground, into my Magical Butter Machine. I add one cup of coconut oil. One tablespoon of lecithin, one cup of raw honey. I close the top. Select 160 Degrees for two hours. The magical machine does the rest.
Ok, so you don't want to spend the money on the Ardent nor a Magical Butter Machine? Check out my book on Amazon or in your local bookseller. I give the entire recipe there. from decarb to infusion to making tasty little cocktails and mocktails. and yes I am a Medical patient- but no, not a doctor.
But I cannot wish for one of them to win the League above the others because I have shared so many special moments with all of those teams.


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Political Knocks
Canadian Political Commentary
A RAT TURNS TAIL: TRUDEAU BREAKS ANOTHER PROMISE
Posted on February 1, 2017 by Frank A. Pelaschuk
A man's reputation is the opinion people have of him; his character is what he really is. – Jack Miner
Integrity has no need of rules. – Albert Camus
Frank A. Pelaschuk
On May 20, 2016, I posted the following: We have observed how this government has increased the wealth of the middle class while doing absolutely nothing for the poorest amongst us. We have watched as this government has operated with breathtaking arrogance and watched a prime minister so narcissistic he believes nothing will stick: broken promises, manhandling members of parliament, ministers placing themselves in conflict of interest positions and ministers working to jettison or rig, either is a possibility, electoral reform.
While I have never held much faith in Trudeau, suspecting him of insincerity and hypocrisy, I was willing to give him a chance even hoping I was wrong. He quickly proved to be all I feared and worse. I have written a few times that I believed him a phony, a man not to be trusted. Sadly, he has proven himself both a phony and untrustworthy and almost from the first. Oh, initially, it was true, he seemed eager to go through with his promise of electoral reform but very quickly proceeded to undermine the work of the committee set up to formulate a recommendation even once stating such reforms were not on top of the public's list. When the committee did submit it's report favouring a form of proportional representation, the then minister of democratic reforms, Maryam Monsef, mocked the work of those on the committee and accused them of not even doing what they were supposed to. It was clear where this was going. But the saddest aspect, in some way, is not his broken promise nor his betrayal of those who voted for him on this issue, so loudly trumpeted by Trudeau, but his throwing to the wolves Karina Gould, the neophyte MP who replaced Monsef, by having her make the announcement that electoral reform was now off. You see, he did not want to have any video of him wearing this, yet another broken promise. Oh, he is a brave man of integrity alright.
Justin Trudeau is a prize and a phony. Oh, yes, he smiles a lot, talks of sunny ways, and easily milks tears from those overworked lacrimal glands when he wants or needs to; he's a take charge guy who does not hesitate to swagger across the room to rescue a fellow MP even if it means elbowing another in the breast. He talks big on big things. For him, Human Rights was a priority when he campaigned but, when it came to the crunch, Human Rights took a beating as he signed off on a trade deal with Saudi Arabia one of the world's most repressive regimes. And, of course, Human Rights is never mentioned as he seeks to do even more trade with China, another Human Rights abuser. Well, let's face it, Human Rights is a honey if it don't cost money.
He talks big about tolerance and yet when he sees and hears a lunatic Donald Trump signs bills to erect walls and wage religious and racial wars against Muslim immigrants, he is strangely mute except to say Canada welcomes immigrants. That is not enough. Where is the voice of outrage and condemnation?
He has proclaimed himself time-and-again to be a feminist. Well, he was given the opportunity to prove himself during the American election campaign when he was asked to comment on the vile recording made of Trump boasting about groping women. This is what Trudeau said: "This relationship goes far deeper than any two personalities at their countries' respective heads. I think, however, I've been very clear in my approach as a feminist, as someone who has stood clearly and strongly through all my life around issues of sexual harassment, standing against violence against women, that I don't need to make any further comment" (Kathleen Harris, CBC News, Oct. 13, 2016). Not even a whisper of condemnation for Trump.
He was given another opportunity on January 24 of this year to speak when asked by a reporter, "Do you think Trump is a misogynist?" His response was exactly what one would expect of a craven phony. He said, he was "pleased to have a constructive working relationship with the new administration…and I have made it very clear over the past year, it is not the job of a Canadian prime minister to opine on the American electoral process." And this is our fearless, feminist, Human Rights defending prime minister?
This man Trudeau is a phony. He is a craven coward more interested in trade than Human Rights, more interested in access-for-cash than feminism, and more interested in oozing, simply oozing sincerity than actually doing the right and decent thing.
There is nothing, absolutely nothing, admirable about a man, especially a leader of a nation, who remains silent on the sidelines watching others bullied and hoping, just hoping, no one will notice.
Well, Trudeau, one person has noticed. I had hoped for better from you but really did not expect it. I am not surprised by today's announcement, I expected it long ago.
You are not a man of courage or of your word. You are just another phony out for the main chance. And I thought Harper and his gang were sewer rats.
But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing. – Thomas Paine.
They that can give up essential liberties to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. – Benjamin Franklin
Posted in Canadian Politics, Political Commentary and tagged access-for-pay, broken promises, electoral reform, human rights. Bookmark the permalink.
JUSTIN TRUDEAU: THE REAL DEAL OR BEST-DRESSED PHONY
Posted on September 29, 2016 by Frank A. Pelaschuk
Callous greed grows pious very fast. – Lillian Hellman
I once said cynically of a politician, "He'll double cross that bridge when he comes to it." — Oscar Levant
Frank Pelaschuk
While Trudeau was on the campaign trail he was very much like Donald Trump promising whatever he believed the audience before him at the time wanted to hear. The voters lapped it up. Almost a year into his mandate, he has kept a few of them going so far with one promise as to seem to be washing his hands of his role as Prime Minister of Canada.
The promises he did keep were easy because most Canadians supported them: welcoming over thirty thousand Syrian refugees; bringing back the long-form census; raising taxes on those making over two hundred thousand and lowering taxes for the those in the middle class; following through with the promise to set up an inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women; allowing government scientists to speak; forming a committee to look into electoral reform; pulling Canada out of bombing missions against ISIS; and, because so patently unfair, prejudicial, offensive, and often ignored, the punitive Conservative mandatory victim levy which placed a greater burden on poor offenders than on those with money. These were good promises when made and good promises when kept. But they were also easy promises because so widely embraced.
But it's the other promises, the big promises, the promises not kept, easy to make when one has no intention of keeping them or not on the public radar thus easily ignored or unnoticed when quietly dropped, that must be reckoned with. How faithful has he been to honouring those promises, the promises of more honesty, openness, and transparency?
Well, not very.
What is certain is this: On the big promises, the ones that really matter, Human Rights, climate change, the anti-terrorism bill, the disability pension for our vets, Trudeau has failed. He misled, lied and fudged offering examples aplenty of clear failures and a willingness to equivocate, to make excuses, to justify and to blame. While we are seeing many younger faces, we are subjected to the same-old same-old that caused the Liberals so much difficulty and left them in the political wilderness for almost ten years. Yes, many new and younger faces but all pros, already, at playing the game. We saw it then from the Liberals and we see it now from the Liberals: the shameless hubris and belief of entitlement. That it happened so quickly and so easily, this slippage into bad habits and behaviour is almost shocking. Almost. Watch Trudeau closely. When he walks, it is not confidence one notices but swagger, the strut of arrogance and smugness: Here I am, look at me.
It is not enough to look at him; one must see him, really see him.
MONEY FOR THE TAKING
Early in the Liberal mandate we saw signs of equivocation when it came to transparency and honesty. That was when the newly appointed Minister of Justice Jody Wilson-Raybould attended a fundraiser put on by a prominent law firm. She said that she attended as a Member of Parliament not as justice minister. That's splitting hairs and they are not, they cannot be, mutually exclusive. That, notwithstanding Trudeau's approval, was a clear breach of conflict of interest guidelines. It didn't bother the justice minister and it didn't bother Trudeau who merely shrugged it off. It bothered me. It should you.
We have a Minister of Environment, Catherine McKenna, who attended a climate conference in Paris who had no difficulty in claiming expenses for a professional photographer that cost Canadians over $6K. Press from around the world covered the event; even so, McKenna needed her own private photographer. Why? Because she could and on the public dime?
We have the health minister, Jane Philpott who several times attempted to stiff the public with expense claims, which, upon coming to light, were repaid. First it was $3700 for luxury limousines (she quibbled over the word "luxury"). Then she charged $520 for a pass to Air Canada executive lounges. And then $202 for a suitcase and $178 for a Nexus pass. I suspect she will keep on trying until she gets it right and no one notices or no longer cares.
We have Chrystia Freeland, International Trade Minister, who cancelled a government plane that was to take her home to make a detour on another plane to LA for an appearance on a TV show. That cost taxpayers almost $20K. While campaigning, she charged Canadians $500 for her grooming. A few years ago, Freeland wrote a book on plutocrats. Now she acts like one, another on the public dime.
And then we have the cost of relocating 49 government staffers for $1.1 million. Two staffers to the PMO cost a total of $220K for relocation expenses including "discretionary" costs. Both of the staffers, Gerald Butts and Katie Telford are personal friends with Trudeau. While both repaid some money, saying they did not feel comfortable with some of the claims to which they were entitled (if so, why make the claims and why the discomfort only when the expenses became public?). Trudeau's attitude regarding these claims was one of justification and fingerpointing. They were allowed to make the claims and they were simply following the rules set up by Harper's government. Besides, others did the same in the past. That was Trudeau's response. That is the kind of response I expect of a man who has issues with ethics (for himself and his), a man all too willing to resort to legalese to justify questionable behaviour. If I can, why shouldn't I? And why not for as much as I can and as often as I can?
THE BIG PROMISES NOT KEPT
During the Harper years, the Temporary Foreign Workers Program enraged Canadians when it was revealed that the government allowed foreign workers to be paid 15% less than Canadian workers, that 200 workers from China were granted permission to work a mine up north while Canadian miners were turned away because they couldn't speak Mandarin, and that RBC had Canadian workers train foreign workers to do jobs that would then be exported overseas. The Liberals appeared incensed and the NDP really were. The Harper gang, bowing to public pressure, made changes promising to scale back the cap of low-income workers from 20 per cent to 10 per cent. Once in office as prime minister however, Trudeau ignored the Harper cap and kept the level of foreign workers to 20 per cent. In other words, Trudeau, as did Harper, is working with business. As if Canadian workers do not have enough to worry about than having the added burden of their own government working with Big Business to suppress their wages. That disturbs me deeply. It should you as well.
Remember veterans? Remember how Trudeau, riding the wave of support for better treatment of our vets, promised to reopen the nine offices closed by Harper and to return the life-long disability for vets and do away with the one-time lump sum payment? Well, the government has opened some offices and may open all though that is still unclear. What is not unclear, however, is how badly the Liberals betrayed vets with disabilities as a result of their service. Instead of reinstating the life long disability pension, the Trudeau welshers have simply increased the amount of the one-time lump sum payment. Once again veterans have experienced the bitter sting of betrayal by their own government. Liberals and their staffers pillage the coffers with outrageous expense claims and sorrowfully nickel and dime military men and women. Nice.
When Harper's regime introduced Bill C-51, it was loudly condemned by almost every sector including the NDP, jurists, lawyers, scholars, activists and concerned citizens. The BC Civil Liberties Association points out the bill expands the definition of "terrorism", it gives security agencies too much discretion, it "criminalizes speech acts that have no connection to acts of violence", it will allow sharing of personal information with agencies having nothing to do with security (BCCLA, March 11, 2015). The Liberals supported the bill on the whole but expressed some concerns regarding certain aspects. But, in power, they are doing absolutely nothing. Well, not quite accurate. They are consulting with Canadians online. But the information offered and the questions asked are insufficient for uninformed respondents to give any other outcome but one that is skewed and likely to satisfy the Liberals, i.e., allow the bill to remain almost as Harper's Conservatives envisioned it.
Should we be concerned that Canadians are asked to have input on the bill when experts in security and the law have denounced it? What does Joe or Jane Average know that those in the field don not? It's insane. Trudeau and his government want lull Canadians into believing they are offering meaningful input and that they will be listened to. Not so. This is Trudeau's away of absolving himself when the bill eventually creates real problems and it will. It's not me, he can aver, it's the citizens who made the final decision. He is a coward and certainly no leader.
Trudeau did promise to consult. And he has ad nauseam on almost everything one can imagine even when the public likely has little to no knowledge and experience regarding the issue at hand. That's not governance, that's abdication of responsibility.
But if Trudeau has proven himself shifty regarding some of his promises, he has also demonstrated he is as hypocritical as any other politician. He had, while campaigning, declared his desire to regain Canada's seat on the UN Security Council. To that end, he made clear that Human Rights were a priority of his government. Well, that was an absolute load of rubbish, which he proved with his government's signature completing the trade deal initiated by the Conservative government allowing for the export of light-armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia. He not only went against UN but also Canadian regulations regarding international trade with Human Rights abusing nations. Saudi Arabia is among the world's worst offenders.
When the Canadian Streit Group allowed for shipment of LAVs to Libya from its facilities in the Mideast, breaching an international embargo, the Liberal response from Global Affairs was that the vehicles, while manufactured in Canada, were shipped from the United Emirates "which is outside of Canada's export-control jurisdiction" (The Globe and Mail, Steven Chase, April 5, 2016). Legalese again. Cowardly and dishonest. But when money is at stake, the Liberals are quite willing to place Human Rights at the back of the line for consideration "at another time".
And then we have the environment.
Trudeau's commitment to the environment and climate change seems about as steadfast as his commitment to Human Rights as demonstrated by his willingness to trade with rogue abusers such as Saudi Arabia and China.
Not only did Trudeau approve permits for the go-ahead of the Site C dam in northern British Columbia, he has also given the green light to the Pacific Northwest LNG export terminal off the BC coast at the mouth of the Skeena River. Yes, it will create jobs and will certainly go over big with Christy Clark the premier of British Columbia who grants private meetings to special interests provided they hold in their hands $10K, $20K, $30K and whose Liberal government will be facing an election during 2017. But, if the project creates jobs and helps another Liberal government get re-elected, it will also be a vast emitter of carbon waste thus seriously undermining Trudeau's much vaunted commitment to reducing carbon emissions. The project, which will be operated by natural gas rather than electricity, will pose a huge risk for the salmon habitat and industries in the area.
Nothing like friends helping friends, eh.
There are folks out there who love Trudeau. Well, he's personable, why not? The thing is, his behaviour and his acts suggest he's a phoney. He's bogus. Oh, yes, he'll keep his undertakings on the small things but, when it comes to the big prize, getting re-elected, gaining power and keeping it, when it comes to entitlements and getting away with what one can, well, Trudeau is your man all the way. The Liberals, the profligate Liberals are back. And we are lapping it all up, the handsome prince mixing with the gushing public who are only interested in snapping selfies with his arm around them. They have met the prince and he has touched them. They do not think; they react. They stare at him with mouths gaping and lips drooling but, I suspect, failing to notice he has no clothes, that there is no there there. He is straw and air. Oh, it's a beautiful chimera but reach out to touch it and – poof – it's all air. Nothing.
Posted in Political Commentary and tagged Catherine McKenna, Chrystia Freeland, disability pensions, environment, human rights, Jane Philpott, Liberal promises broken, Liberal promises kept, Pacific Northwest LNG terminal, PMO staffers, relocation expenses, Saudi Arabia light-armoured trade deal, Site C dam, temporary foreign workers program, vets. Bookmark the permalink.
POLITICS, POLITICIANS AND THE PUBLIC: THE ENDLESS SHAMELESS DANCE
Posted on January 23, 2016 by Frank A. Pelaschuk
Politics, n.pl. A means of livelihood affected by the more degraded portion of our classes. – n. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.
Politician, n. An eel in the fundamental mud upon which the superstructure of organized society is reared. When he wriggles he mistakes the agitation of his tail for the trembling of the edifice. As compared with the statesman, he suffers from the disadvantage of being alive. – Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary
They are politicians. They are of a type often found in groups of the like minded holding sordid ambitions involving recognition, influence, expense accounts and lifelong pensions, who, in seeking office, hold firmly (often unjustifiably) to the belief they are the right person for the job which, unfortunately, is dependent on the votes of the fickle, greedy, gullible, and ignorant which they quickly establish, often successfully, by currying favour with offers of promises that are largely extravagant and unrealistic and unrealizable in the full knowledge the promises cannot be met, will not be met and were never meant to be met.
The individual, and the group to which he belongs, while not necessarily needing but always mindful of the advantages of such should the need arise, will, in his quest for office, often add insurance that will almost certainly garner a few extra votes: they will pander to the worst in us, exploiting our fears and our biases: scapegoats are of particular use for electioneering purposes whereas honesty, integrity, loyalty, truthfulness, respect, openness, transparency, and the ability to experience shame have little place and hold little value and are certainly not requirements of the job but must, nevertheless, be loudly acknowledged as virtues deeply ingrained to appease those for whom such things matter. In truth, however noble these qualities may seem and however loudly the public may proclaim its desire that those who run for office possess most if not all these traits, it would be best if they were left at the door. Conscience and decency are obstacles and will bode no good for the individual or the party for the truth is this: the voter rarely cares about scruples unless in some way he feels personally negatively affected. Occasionally, in this mixture, aberrations can be detected and seem almost a fault because such rarities: there are some who actually are good, decent, able, intelligent, non-partisan, and worthy of the office they seek. They do not always last. Megan Leslie and Peter Stoffer of the NDP were such. Unfortunately, too many are not of the calibre of Leslie or Stoffer possessing none of their talents, work ethic and certainly none of their decency. I am thinking in particular of those Harper Conservatives who, if capable, were and are more noted for their naked ambition, shrillness, spitefulness, vindictiveness, partisanship, aversion to truth, and just plain unlikablity. They are sewer dwellers revelling in muck.
The crew of the last regime, many still MPs if only as official opposition, were and are exemplars of this group as were the Liberals of the past until chastened by their ouster from first to third place recovering after years of exile for one too many excesses involving scandal and corruption. Regardless of the party, once having gained power, the winning group, with shovelfuls of hypocrisy, invariably quickly loses interest in the voter and the public in general breaking many of the promises with demands the public lower expectations their attention now focused on the special interests groups that contributed greatly to their victory. The victorious party invariably offers familiar excuses pointing fingers at the previous government for having left the cupboard bare or in some otherwise fashion imposed constraints that make it impossible for them to fulfill all they promised. In this regard, the Liberals have good cause for such claims, Harper overspending in procurement of planes and ships, often at double cost, and cutting taxes for the wealthy and, shortly before the election, renewing contracts of bureaucrats long before their terms expired. The victor will repeatedly remind voters how bad it was with the previous regime. It's doubtful anyone will quickly forget. Meanwhile, those suddenly out of power, let's call them losers, armed with equal amounts of hypocrisy and with a proclivity for revisionism regarding their behaviour, seek every opportunity to punish the new government with demands and expectations they themselves had refused to honour in the firm conviction that the opposition's first duty is to oppose, obstruct and undermine rather than work with the government of the day. None of this can be unexpected, even if disheartening, for much of the Tory gang with the same level of meanness, spite and hypocrisy still hold office, ugly people with ugly mindsets. They are doing exactly what the previous Liberal governments have done when they, too, were booted out of office.
Once in power, the party, whether Liberal, as it is today, or vile Conservatives as it had been for close to ten years, will always offer small demonstrations of making efforts to honour their promises; these are usually largely insignificant measures with, perhaps, one or two major initiatives loudly trumped to suggest great importance, movement and impact. The public always embraces them initially and with great enthusiasm – This is what we voted for! – acting surprised and pleased, just as the governing party intends. Eventually, as noted above, rather quickly in fact, the ruling party will move on preoccupied with fulfilling its own agenda including paying off debts to major donors and backers with various forms of favourable legislation, government jobs, business contracts or various forms of public recognition often with a cost borne by the citizenry. The voter thus dismissed and unheeded until once again called upon to partner in the same squalid political dance four or five years down the road, will quietly step aside and observe a sad truth no other party demonstrated more clearly, loudly and viciously than Harper's Conservatives: the primary duty and function of any governing party, seemingly, is to survive. Towards that end, the governing party, having obtained power, must work diligently at clinging to it for as long as possible by any means possible even at the expense of democracy exacting vengeance against opponents and critics while also resorting to deceiving the public, lying to the public, cheating the public, and changing laws and electoral processes to their advantage. Who can blame them: What use is power if it cannot be wielded and abused?
But a politician is nothing without an audience and is even less without his voters just as a dancer is without his partner. He is fully aware it is not often the dull, decent honest man or woman or the visionary with true ideas, ability, and integrity or even the steady, reliable truthful plodder who occasionally gets things done who are most rewarded but rather the hustler, the smooth talker with bold, flashy promises, and the panderer who appeals to our greed, vanity, fears and ignorance. He knows it doesn't take much: push a button, any button, the selfish button, the bigoted button, the religious button, the patriotic button, the ignorance button, the stupid button, the fear button but, for god sakes, never, never, press the wake up button, the thinking button: that's the road to certain ruin. The politician knows that voters will always, always, claim to want honest, decent, truthful individuals running for office and he knows voters will always, always, aver they want change, real change, but he also knows it's just hot air, knows that many of them, enough to allow him and his group to lead and mislead a nation over the years, are primarily concerned with one thing: What's in it for me? So he tells them, fingers crossed, offering the familiar uplifting homilies and vague outrageously extravagant undertakings as if new, never before promised or heard the player and played partners in deceit and self-deception. It's all about winning and losing, of suasion and deceit, of pandering and being bought. It's about power, image and perception. This is politics. Governance apparently has been relegated an ancillary role.
Well, that is politics as played by Harper and his gang who introduced Canadians to a soulless era of authority and dogma rather than guidance and wisdom.
Harper as prime minister is gone but his husk haunts the Hill. We have a new government. Under Trudeau, we may take a step back to kinder, gentler and possibly even effective governance, but it is likely the Harper rot and methods will win the day in the end. You can see it in the official opposition, many of the same people behaving in the same way slavering and impatient eager to witness if not bring about the downfall of the Liberals.
And the Liberals will fall. All parties and all leaders, however good and effective, fail over time and often for no good reason than the urge for change without real change. When that happens it will be the Conservatives once again back in power. Federally, it's always been so.
Yes, after a long hiatus, the Liberals are back. They and the other parties made big promises for the middle class, more benefits, more money in their wallets, less taxes. Unfortunately, none were interested in focusing on poverty, homelessness, health, education, assistance for single parents holding down two, three jobs though, it is true, there was a nod towards First Nations members. It was all about the middle class, the marginalized marginalized even more. That was surprising from the NDP, less so from the Liberals and expected from the Conservatives. So, yes, there are new, fresh faces and among them, a few familiar battle-scarred veterans to offer comfort of wisdom and experience but it's the same old ground, the same beneficiaries and the same losers at the bottom. Occasionally, a bone is thrown to the losers. It didn't matter, Trudeau, won the voters. Sunny days, sunny ways.
After Harper, any change would seem a seismic shift and for the better. But is it?
Within weeks of the election, Stephen Harper renewed the contracts of many of his bureaucratic appointees. Some of these renewals were made well in advance of the expiration date and were clearly intended to tie Trudeau's hands with Harper appointees in senior positions. This was a filthy, mean-spirited move by a scheming prime minister who likely suspected his days were numbered but still wanted to have some say in government or at least to make things difficult for the Liberals. Trudeau, denied the opportunity to put his own people in the bureaucracy, wrote letters to the appointees requesting they step aside and reapply for the positions. It's not clear how many have obliged (if any) if only for the appearance of decency and to eliminate the suspicion of cronyism run amok. Thanks to Harper, the taxpayer faces the real possibility of paying millions to buy out these bureaucrats if Trudeau goes that route. He will be held to blame, the Conservatives will see to that, and possibly accused of cronyism with his replacements. For some, that appears to be acceptable, a few journalist stooges admiringly labelling the Harper manoeuvre a creative use of his authority. Creative it certainly was, but vile and abusive as well. Had the Liberals or the NDP done such, one can imagine the howls of outrage from those hypocrites. The thing is, Trudeau might have been better served by first reviewing the appointees to determine for himself if they were indeed all Harper hacks or whether they were capable men and women able to work with his regime in a non-partisan manner. They should not be disqualified simply because they are Harper appointees but because they are incompetent or clearly too partisan to do their jobs effectively on behalf of the Liberal government. If the lesson was rough on Trudeau, hopefully he has learned from it and works to bring an end to that kind of shabby, cheap chicanery. There is nothing admirable in what Harper did. He was clever, yes, but devious, shameless and contemptible as well revealing as much about his character as many of his other questionable past actions and deserving of nothing but contempt. While I do not support the Liberals, I do not believe Justin Trudeau is of the same dirty cloth nor do I believe his caucus of the same snarling, partisan, mean-spirited, parochial vacuity so openly exhibited by such Conservative stalwarts as Michelle Rempel, Pierre Poilievre, Jason Kenney, Peter van Loan, Kellie Leitch, and those booted out of office Chris Alexander, Dean Del Mastro, Paul Calandra etc. In that respect thus far, the differences are obvious and hopeful.
But limited. A few days from this writing, the PBO declared the Liberal plan for the middle class doesn't add up and will reduce revenue by $8.9 billion over six years. Increasing taxes for the top 10% will only lead them to scurrying about to find and take advantage of other loopholes available to them. That's a fail particularly when those at the bottom are completely shut out. And it's an even more egregious fail when the middle class is defined as those earning between $45 and $90 thousand.
Trudeau began well, however, fulfilling a commitment to form a cabinet with equal numbers of men and women. That was not mere tokenism for these are all people from all walks of life with real ability and accomplishments certainly suggesting a promise of great things to come. And he started moving on some of his promises, many of them small but not without significance to those affected. He has moved to look at pardons and the costs for applying for them which, under Harper had tripled. Trudeau's minster of justice and attorney general of Canada, Jody Wilson-Raybould, a First Nations member, will look towards reducing the time one can apply for pardons from five to ten years to three to five years. She will also be working with the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs to set up an inquiry into murdered and missing aboriginal women as well looking into physician-assisted death. She is extremely impressive.
Too, the government will repeal CRA audits of charities, which, under Harper, targeted "left" leaning organizations for being "too political" such as Oxfam for wanting to end poverty. As well, in another great move, Trudeau has set out to depoliticize the public service by looking at ways to keep appointments of the clerk of the Privy Council at a remove from the Prime Minister's Office. Small but promising moves. Unfortunately, so soon into the mandate, there are clouds that threaten the Trudeau honeymoon. The Liberals are at risk of falling into old habits. Politics has a way of doing that to even the best.
To all his minsters, Trudeau wrote "Mandate" letters outlining many of his goals, desires and expectations. I recommend all Canadians read them and take him at his word when he says, "I expect Canadians to hold us accountable for delivering these commitments…. We have also committed to set a higher bar for openness and transparency in government" (http://pm.gc.ca/eng/ministerial-mandate-letters).
Trudeau has chosen very good men and women with his appointments but there are also glitches that are not insignificant.
His pick of Jane Philpott as Minister of Health who very early in her term appears well on the road to mending fences with provincial leaders in working for an accord on pharmacare, the sharing of patient information between doctors, long-term care, and funding, is a particularly good choice. Hopefully, there will be a time we see increased funding, less reliance on the private sector, and standardized treatment and care between provinces and a consistent, long term plan for training of nurses and doctors and the end of health and education being used as political footballs often resulting in cuts and demands for doing more with less. But I will not count on that happening soon.
We have the impressive Catherine McKenna who, within days of her appointment as Minister of Environment and Climate Change, was in Paris playing a significant role during the climate change summit. This is a formidable and talented member who managed to unseat another formidable and talented member of parliament, NDP's Paul Dewar.
Maryam Monsef, Minister of Democratic Institutions, seems another extremely good choice. Young, bright, energetic, she has the task of overseeing the reform of the Senate. The committee of prominent Canadians formed under her guidance, however, suffers from the inclusion of Heather Bishop, a talented folksinger with a great voice, who engages in hypnotherapy, a form of "new-age" quackery popular in the '70s discredited by reputable scientific bodies. Hers is a very odd choice for a government proclaiming itself determined to make policy that is evidence-based. Monsef will be the minister looking at electoral reform. This was a major promise by Trudeau when he declared last year's election the last first-past-the-post. But, if he opts for the ranking system, well, nothing will have changed; it's another rigging of the game.
Another possible good choice, which has yet to be demonstrated, is Harjit Singh Sajjan, a retired Lieutenant Colonel of the Armed Forces with combat experience in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Afghanistan, as Minister of Defence. The Liberals had vowed to pull Canadian planes from the ISIS mission in Iraq without saying when while at the same time hinting at involvement in other ways. However, their dithering on the role they would play in the war against ISIS in the future has likely been the reason for Canada's exclusion from the summit by allies meeting in Paris to determine how to best combat ISIS. Sajjan claims this is not a snub. Really? This is not a good beginning for the defence minister nor does it indicate a government fully embraced by the US-led coalition combating ISIS.
A FEW GOOD STEPS, SOME STUMBLES
John McCallum, Minister of Immigration, is an old experienced hand for the Liberals. He is responsible for overseeing Canada's efforts to resettle refugees into Canada. Unfortunately, it has not gone as smoothly or as well as the Liberals had hoped and promised. When campaigning, they had vowed to introduce 25,000 refugees to Canada by year's end in just a little over a two-month period. There were sceptics saying it could not be done and there was the NDP making a much lower but clearly more realistic commitment of bring in 10,000 during the same time frame. Even so, the Liberals insisted they were up to the task. The tally by year's end turned out to be 6,000. The difficulty is not the number of Syrians taken in; any number is better than none. The difficulty is the extravagance of the promise in the first place and that so many wanted to believe it possible they were willing to overlook that the Liberals had over promised and failed to deliver and likely knew they would fail. It didn't matter. People preferred to believe in hype and hope especially when presented by a young and sincere Liberal leader with a famous patronym. What made it even worse, in spite of repeated delays in meeting the challenge, the Liberals vowed to bring in thousands more by the end of 2016. The first was a foolish promise, the timeline impossible. It was a promise that could not be met or kept observers warned yet Trudeau and the Liberals went ahead ignoring them trusting in the generosity and compassion of Canadians to forgive and forget because the promise was made with the "best" intentions. That was something Harper did all too often. Thus far, Canadians appear willing to give the Liberals a pass excusing the delay as a result of an enthusiastic grand gesture. But should the Liberals get off that lightly? Does anyone really enjoy being played?
Still, the Liberals know how to score points at little cost. One of which was to make a quick decision on the so-called Monument to Liberty to honour the victims of Communism. Not only would this monstrosity be moved and downsized, the government would reduce by half Ottawa's contribution towards it. These are good moves but not good enough. The project should have been scrapped. At the very least, it should be renamed: The Monument for Victims of Tyranny perhaps. It is an offensive travesty that memorializes the victims of one tyranny over the victims of others as if mass murder were more tolerable when committed by free enterprisers in the name of Nazism, fascism, despotism, or capitalism. The Harper gang offered strong support for this eyesore with donated crown land and taxpayer monies evidently holding to the belief victims of any –ism do not deserve equal consideration. By not insisting that the project be scrapped or renamed, the Liberals appear to agree. That is disappointing.
So, how new and fresh are the Liberals when one looks at the party rather than the young, bright faces? Overpromising, as with the Syrian refugees, may strike some as quibbling. People were brought in; lives were saved and transformed for the better. But it was the cynicism behind the promise that disturbs me. It's not new; this kind of tugging at the heartstrings has been practiced probably since politics began.
In fact, there is not much that's new though what we now have is much, much better than what we had with Harper.
Nearing the end of the campaigning, the Liberals removed the Liberal national campaign co-chair, Dan Gagnier, one-time lobbyist for TransCanada following reports of him offering detailed advice via email on how to lobby a minority government led by Trudeau. Looked like Trudeau was on top of it. Only, it appears, the energy sector had nothing to worry about. Janet Annesley, former executive from Shell and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers was hired as chief of staff for Jim Carr, Minister for Natural Resources. As well, Bill Morneau, Minister of Finance, one-time executive chair of one of Canada's largest human resources companies, Morneau Shepell, hired Sharan Kaur, former communications expert for TransCanada, as senior special assistant.
And then we have Lawrence MacAulay, agricultural minister, hiring as his chief of staff, Mary Jean McFall, who ran for the liberals. This is an extremely problematic promotion because of the very real possibility of conflict of interests. Her family owns one of the largest agricultural businesses in the egg-laying and egg-grading sector. She was a former Egg Farmers of Ontario board member. Friends in high places, debts being repaid with jobs in high governmental positions – this is the old-style cronyism practiced for decades by the Conservatives and the Liberals.
Is this new? Is this fresh? Is this better? These should worry Canadians who recall the many Liberal scandals of the past. And the Liberals are just into their fourth month!
It will be interesting how much Liberal support TransCanada will garner in light of recent reports the energy giant is suing the US government for shutting down the XL Keystone project. Under NAFTA and other trade deals, notably the EU-Canada deal, CETA (Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement), and TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership), companies can sue democratically elected governments for passing laws Big Business does not like leaving taxpayers footing the costly bills if decisions favour business. American businesses have been very successful in going after Canada for laws they claimed interfered with their ability to earn profits (or profiteering). Such rights, referred to as ISDS (investor-state dispute settlement), handicap governments even in protecting citizens from harm in matters of health and in protecting the environment. A few years back we saw this at work when Canada attempted to remove a gasoline additive deemed harmful and banned in the states. Faced with a lawsuit, Canada cravenly backed down. But they had done that earlier when they became signatory to Chapter 11 of NAFTA and surrendered Canadian sovereignty to American Big Business interests. But it works both ways, as well. Canada, under Harper and now Trudeau, has consistently opposed labelling origin of country in meat products. The US insisted on that until pressured by Canada and hoping to close the TPP, it scrapped that requirement. For them, it's a small concession when the benefits are huge. This is unconscionable when Harper insisted on this and is still unconscionable under Trudeau. When people die from tainted meat as they did a few years back, there will be no way to trace meat products to their source. Profit over lives. How can Canadians trust any leader who places the health of Big Business over the health of consumers?
This is a big deal and should worry all Canadians. In truth, it should worry all citizens of signatory states. CETA, which has yet to be ratified, apparently poses some problems for Europeans who are less prone than Canadian governments to roll over as they did for the Americans with NAFTA and TPP. Americans have no doubt who will benefit more from TPP for they call this the Made In America deal. As of this writing, Canada and European Union Officials are in secret talks to rewrite a clause that protects businesses from "arbitrary" government legislation, i.e., anything Big Business doesn't like. Chrystia Freeland, international trade minister, refuses to call the talk "negotiations". What is it then? Clearly the EU has concerns about sovereignty. Perhaps they have seen what has happened to Canada under NAFTA. Canada has been at the losing end of innumerable lawsuits. Is that what Europeans want? Was that what Canadians signed for when they voted for Mulroney? The deals now pending, CETA and TPP, promise to be much worse and more effective in eroding Canadian sovereignty. Canadians do not know what the deals offer, what is being surrendered and lost. Trudeau's mandate to Freeland was to quickly close these deals. I suspect she will and to Canada's detriment. Trade deals cloaked in secrecy were the hallmark of the Harper era. Look at the trade deal with China locking Canada in for thirty years. One certainty is this: Canadian sovereignty is imperiled to corporate interests. The plutocrats, which Freeland warned against in her book, Plutocrats: the Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else, will have won if Trudeau and Freeland stand by and allow the takeover by the corporate elite. So secretive is TPP that those involved in the negotiations risk arrest if they leak any part of the agreement. Is this for what Canadians voted? The Conservatives have begun the process of replacing our democracy with a corporatocracy. Will Trudeau continue on that path? Signing these deals without removing the ISDS clauses will be an absolute betrayal of Canadian interests to Big Business and the Plutocrats. What does Trudeau or Freeland who literally wrote the book on the dangers we face under a plutocracy have to say?
Finally, on the issue of trade, we have to question Trudeau's commitment to human rights when he insisted days after a mass execution of political prisoners the $15 billion military equipment Arms deal with Saudi Arabia would go ahead as planned. It's business as usual and 3,000 Canadian jobs saved at the price of human rights and lives lost in a deal with one of the world's biggest violators of human rights. Supporters of the highly secretive deal have said Canadians and the Saudis share the same values. Really? Do Canadians really share values that deny women the right to drive, opt for abortion or to vote? Do we share values that call for public stoning of women and hanging of men for adultery? Harper, who signed the deal, refused to track human rights violations in Saudi Arabia as required by Canada's own trade policies before any deal can go ahead. The Liberals initially refused to release the report and then relented promising the public an edited version of human rights in Saudi Arabia. Why are Canadians kept in the dark regarding this deal? What did Harper and now Trudeau want to keep from us? What guarantees has Canada that the Saudis will not use the equipment against its own people? It has in the past.
So what really differentiates Trudeau from Harper? You either believe human rights matter or you don't. Harper believed more in business and profit. What about Trudeau? Canada is the only member of NATO to refuse to sign the Arms Trade Treaty to control and regulate the global arms trade. As a result, Canada, mostly because of the Conservative pro-business at any cost attitude, has sided itself with South Sudan, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Saudi Arabia all of whom visit gross human rights indignities upon their own people. Under Harper, Canada has even opposed having guns stamped identifying origins of manufacture. That is not something to be proud of. Yet the Liberals will go ahead with the deal. As with the Conservatives, it all boils down to money and those you prefer to sleep with. While the Conservatives, foul as they were, never disguised where their interests lay, the Liberals offer hand wringing lip service saying they are locked into the deal. That's hypocrisy. What is even more laughable if not so tragic is Tony Clement who for years worked with one of the most secretive and mean-spirited governments in Canada now calling on the Liberals to release in full the report on human rights violations in Saudi Arabia. https://www.opencanada.org/features/ten-facts-about-canadas-arms-deal-with-saudi-arabia/
Trudeau better? Maybe. But relative to what? It's easy to say "Yes," after Harper. I see a few things I like. As of yet, I'm uncertain they are enough. I see a few too many reminders of the bad old days of the Sponsorship era.
Politics, you gotta love it. Better yet, we gotta change it.
They that can give up essential liberties to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty not safety. – Benjamin Franklin
Posted in Canadian Politics, Political Commentary and tagged Bill Morneau, CETA, Chrystia Freeland, Harper, human rights, Jane Philpott, Jody Wilson-Raybould, Justin Trudeau, Liberals, Mandate Letters, Megan Leslie, Peter Stoffer, Plutocrats, real change, Saudi Arabia, TPP. Bookmark the permalink.
CANADA'S DESPICABLE STAND ON THE UN ARMS TREATY
The party, which, while in a minority, will lick the dust to gain the ascendancy, becomes, in power, insolvent, vindictive and tyrannical. – Noah Webster
Take care to get what you like or you will be forced to like what you get. – George Bernard Shaw
Harper possesses no moral credibility. This is the man who out of pettiness and spite cannot conceal his contempt for the world body by refusing, once again, to take the opportunity to address the United Nations General Assembly. His antipathy to the UN reveals the smallness of his vision, the limit of his depth and the sparseness of his character. He is more calculating machine, robot, than living, breathing, thinking flesh and blood.
With 107 of 193 signatories to the UN Arms Trade Treaty, calling for the control of illegal gun trade, especially to nations with poor human rights records, one of those signatories the United States, for god sakes, likely the most gun crazy nation on earth and with about 30,000 gun related deaths annually, Canada dithers and, as of yet, refuses to sign even though it was one of the nations voting in favour of the treaty.
Once again, Canada has refused to side with the angels preferring to stand in solidarity, for the moment, at least, with Syria, North Korea, and Iran and those others who abstained objecting to the human rights criteria. This is not the first time that Harper and gang went against the world in doing the right, moral, honourable thing. While the world decries the use of asbestos, Harper and thugs allows its continued sale to other, poorer nations. For Harper and his thugs, health risk and death concerns must never, ever interfere with the health of business concerns, especially Canadian business. Profits over lives and even more palatable when the lives lost are not Canadian.
Harper has no moral credibility. The reason he gives for not signing along with the likes of Syria, Iran and North Korea is that Harper wants to make certain that this will not affect domestic policies regarding gun ownership and regulation. John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, doesn't believe this will affect domestic policy, yet Harper does, or, rather, says he does.
This move by Harper is a despicable, craven display of sheer politics, a willful abdication of his role as a world leader to dutifully contribute towards the protection of society at large. Rather than harken to the wishes of the majority of Canadians, Harper and his party have sold themselves for the sake of holding on to their inflexible core of voting supporters, preferring to cater to the wishes of those right wing, gun loving, paranoiac, wingnuts with deep pockets and shallow ideas. Instead of listening to the majority of Canadians, Harper and thugs scrapped the Long-gun Registry program distorting facts, ignoring statistics, making up their own numbers on the fly, and playing to the fears and ignorance of his base supporters who are never eager to allow the facts to get in the way of their biases and paranoia. Harper and his party have done the same with science and scientists, with global warming and oil, with crime and stats, and are doing the same with the UN Arms Trade Treaty.
This is the man who is more concerned about power and keeping his base of support than he is of the threat to society that the proliferation of guns poses. But why is Harper more eager to please and appease his core of gun loving supporters than in doing the right thing for world society by signing the Arms Treaty and for Canadians by toughening Canadian gun laws? Is it really possible, can it really be true, that Harper and his gang are more terrified of the spectre of a long line of gun lovers turning on him and his party come next election than they are of the spectre of long rows of gunshot victims waiting to be delivered to the morgue? True, the dead don't vote, but their survivors do.
Harper and his thugs and their supporters will lie and tell you that any laws controlling guns is a move towards criminalizing law abiding gun loving owners and sports hunters or just another step towards State control and the end to all liberty. It's nonsense. It's a lie. It's crap. They no more criminalize than registering one's automobile or requiring a driver's license do. They will say, "It's the criminals who do these terrible things." That is true. Up to a point. Criminals do many terrible things, including murder, but so do many who have never had involvement with the law until that particular moment. Harper and thugs and supporters will say, "Criminals don't register their guns." That, too, is true. And there are a lot of illegal guns. That's why we need laws to control them. They will also say, almost suggesting that the police and courts are merely casual observers and not doing their jobs, "Go after the criminals," as if that's the answer to gun violence. But here is where it gets sticky. What is also true is this: most violent crimes, including murder, are not committed by "criminals" but by acquaintances and family members who have never, until then, been in trouble with the law except, perhaps, for trivial offences. In other words, "honest, law-abiding citizens" commit most of the murders.
Harper's supporters haven't a leg of logic to stand on so they resort to lies, falsehoods, accusations against their opponents and specious arguments. They will say guns don't kill, people do. That's just silly and no argument at all. On the surface, it sounds logical. You can point a finger at anyone all day and pull an imaginary trigger and nothing will happen. But put a gun in your hand. Guns kill, people use them and they use them to kill.
Gun lovers will say, "Knives kill too and so do cars". Yes, that is true, but they also mostly serve other, useful purposes. The sole purpose of the gun is to kill. The argument that knives and cars kill are not logical arguments against gun control; they are only arguments to do something about making the use of knives and cars safer.
Reducing the number of guns, locking them up in safe storage areas, registering them and being held accountable for them if they are lost or stolen or sold will go a long way towards making for a safer and healthier society. Most of us do not hunt; nor do we target shoot. Those that do must be licensed, registered, and have their weapons properly secured. None of these steps will eliminate gun deaths but it will go a long way. My preference is to ban all guns, but that is unrealistic and I know that. I also know we can make for a safer society. But, to achieve that, we need leaders who are willing to place the interests of society before their own political ambitions, leaders who place more value in the interests of all members of society than their own survival at the hands of gun lovers and other special interest groups.
Harper and his gang are not those people. They are small, petty, self-interested. They possess no vision and offer no hope for the majority of Canadians. They cater to special interests and hold the rest in contempt. They are secretive, dishonest, and contemptible. They lust for power and think nothing of subverting Democracy to achieve that end and they have done so.
Harper and his gang belong in the garbage bin of history.
*UPDATED FIVE HOURS LATER:
Hours after publication of this page, word came out that Elections Canada has levelled four charges against Dean Del Mastro and three against official agent Richard McCarthy, a campaign worker, both accused of filing a false document and not reporting $21,000 in expenses from the 2008 campaign. Del Mastro, one time Parliamentary Secretary to Stephen Harper, sanctimonious and vicious Tory partisan on a scale matching Pierre Poilievre, denies all wrongdoing and must be presumed innocent until found otherwise.
That said, however, the Conservatives are once again under a cloud regarding serious ethical breaches outlined in previous posts. We have Harper's appointees in the Senate forced to repay monies for illegitimate claims. We have doctored documents in the Duffy report, the Nigel Wright $90,000 "gift" to Duffy. We have questions about what Harper knew of these. Then we have Bev Oda forced to resign for padding expenses and Peter Penashue for accepting corporate donations. We have the Conservative Party paying fines for the robocalls scandal and allegations of them misdirecting voters to nonexistent polls. Now we have Del Mastro facing serious charges. The list is long, the allegations, if proven, a direct threat to Democracy. What we are witnessing under Harper's leadership is symptomatic of a serious case of rot in his Conservative regime.
The garbage bin? How about the dung heap?
Posted in Political Commentary and tagged asbestos, domestic policy, gun trade, Harper and the UN Arms Treaty, human rights, Long Gun Registry, sports shooting. Bookmark the permalink.
I am the author of two works of fiction, Serpent in the Garden and Ambiguities of Love in Six Stories, both available from Amazon as soft cover or e-book.
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Herring Finn was slumped brooding in the corner, watching the largely flat scenery fly past the window, when Daenelia returned to the Peacock's quarters, not in the best of moods herself. She hadn't lost a great deal of coin to the conniving stranger but it was the principle of the thing. She was supposed to be the thief not the victim. She vowed to find the exotic foreigner but first she needed to deal with a little crew management.
She had noticed a deterioration in Herring's already normally gruff demenor since he lost his left arm in his fight with the machine man back when they stormed the Church of the Machine. The elphin had always been proud of his mechanical arms and he invested a great deal of his identity in them. She had no prosthetics herself but she's seen enough crew with false limbs come and go and had seen others lose actual limbs to have a good sense of empathy for the elphin.
It was some indication of Finn's depression that he had found one of the passenger's shirts to cover his usually bare torso. Daenelia could count the times she'd seen the elphin's chest covered on the fingers of one hand - she grimaced inwardly at the expression, making a mental note to be careful with her words when talking to the deckhand.
Between staring out of the window Herring occasionally glanced down at his remaining hand which he flexed thoughtfully from time to time. He noticed the captain approach and issued barely more than a grunt in greeting.
"How's it going, Finn?" She tried a smile, but it left her face quickly after a look from the elphin.
"What do you think?" he growled. He repositioned himself so that his back was towards her.
"Brem will fix you a new arm, you know," she said soothingly.
"It won't be the same," Finn replied gloomily, "but it's not just my ... arm. It's ... everything. I joined to sail the skies, captain. Not to run from town to town." He picked lint from his pants with his hand.
"You know this is only temporary," she replied, "I'm as eager to get back the Steamhawke as anyone, but I wanted to talk to you about something else."
"Go on," Finn harrumphed, flexing his fist.
"When we get the ship back, when we get back up in the sky ..." Daenelia paused for effect, "I want you as master gunner."
Finn narrowed his eyes at the offer. It was a good offer, or would have been from any other captain. But not a lot of respectable and honest captains would offer such a position to an elphin. It was one of the reasons he ended up with Steamhawke. "Alright," he said after a moment, studying the captain's face. "Why?"
Daenelia took a deep breath. "Because I need someone who I can trust, who won't turn and flee, someone who ...."
"Has fewer options," Finn finished her sentence. To her credit, the captain nodded.
"But it's not a empty offer, Finn," she added quickly. "I am glad I'm the one you're stuck with. No, wait, I am happy to have you on board. I count myself lucky. It's a silver lining..." She stopped herself when she noticed Finn cocking his head and trying to hide a smile. That was unusual enough to shut her up.
"I'll accept that position, Captain," he said. "And I will hold you to it, when we go out into the skies again."
She held out her right hand to shake on it, and Finn grabbed it. "If you don't, I will tear off your arm." He said it casually and Daenelia assumed he probably meant it as a joke. She laughed.
"Now captain," Finn said, sitting a little straighter, "do you have any orders for your Master Gunner?"
"Find some guns?" Daenelia suggested slyly. Finn laughed at the suggestion, but his mind was already going over possibilities.
"Aye captain," he replied, "I'll need a few men." He wasn't going to take on the rail marshalls alone, not with only one arm at least. Which reminded him, he needed to talk to Brem.


That is interesting isn't it. A month ago most here would say they never manual focus, thats why they bought model xyz for its AF. Now all of a sudden this particular camera is "crippled" because it doesn't have a split screen focus aid for manual focusing. I seriously doubt most of them ever looked through a camera with a split screen ground glass prism aid.


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Palmarès
Mondiali
Nur-Sultan 2019: bronzo nei 68 kg.

Europei
Bucarest 2019: argento nei 72 kg.
Budapest 2022: oro nei 72 kg.

Altri progetti

Collegamenti esterni


Motorists are facing long delays after a smash closed the East Lancs Road.
A motorbike and a minibus crashed on the westbound carriageway near Tyldesley in Wigan at around 9am.
Police and paramedics were called to the scene and discovered a biker with a serious leg injury.
The westbound carriageway has been closed while officers from GMP's serious collision unit investigate the incident, and tailbacks have formed for several miles back towards Manchester.


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The practice understands that symptoms and signs are merely indications of an imbalance deep within the body. This 5,000 year-old healing art focuses upon correcting underlying imbalances that have occurred over the years.
Acupuncture and TCM offers a safe, gentle, effective way to treat many conditions, including many that have failed to respond to contemporary medicine.
It is natural and drug-free. It is safe and without harmful side effects…actually, a feeling of calm is one of the most common side effects people talk about.
Acupuncture is world-renowned for its ability to reduce pain and stress. It improves energy flow throughout the body so the healing process can occur more effectively. It is a painless, drug-free way to reduce pain and inflammation, improve sleep, and calm the mind. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!
Stress is one of the most important factors determining our quality of life and overall health. No one is immune to its effects.
When your body is exposed to a stressful situation, whether physical, mental or even a perceived threat, the "fight or flight" response kicks in as you prepare for the emergency.
When we are healthy and the stress is short-lived, we bounce back with little effect to our overall health. However, a constant state of stress takes its toll.
Acupuncture has an immediate effect on the nervous system to relieve stress and anxiety, help with symptoms of depression and restore a calm state of mind. It is safe, effective and drug-free.
The causes of infertility are numerous. Many cases in women are due to hormonal imbalances causing an absence or irregularity of ovulation. Acupuncture and herbs are used to regulate different phases of the cycle and restore balance.
Around 35% of fertility problems in couples stem from male factors. Evidence suggests that acupuncture can have an effect on sperm quality, production, and quantity, without causing any change in behaviour or sexual desire.
It is a clinically relevant adjunct to in vitro fertilization (IVF). It reduces stress, nausea and pain during oocyte aspiration (egg collection). It also relaxes the uterus and increases blood flow for successful embryo implantation.
It is a simple, non-invasive method to help couples reach their natural fertility potential.
Acupuncture restores imbalances of Jing Qi, Yin and Yang energies. As we age, and when we overwork ourselves, our supply of Jing Qi energy is slowly drained. This affects the Organ Systems within our body to become unbalanced and leads to various symptoms and signs related to menopause.
An imbalance in Yin and Yang energies can also contribute to symptoms of menopause. Yin can be thought of like the cooling system of the body. When this cooling system declines, heat symptoms will naturally arise, leading to night sweats, restlessness, hot flashes, mood swings, heart palpitations and insomnia.
Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine assesses these energy and organ systems to find where the imbalance occurs and to create a treatment plan to support the healing energies of Jing, Yin and Yang. This will provide the body with the building blocks it requires to nourish, heal, and regain balance.


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'He's done the right thing': Contenders jockey for NSW Labor leadership
State Parliament
By Alexandra Smith, Deborah Snow and Esther Han
March 27, 2019 — 12.00am
Labor's Michael Daley, who led the party to Saturday's disastrous election loss, has pulled out of the NSW Labor leadership race altogether, saying he does not want to be a "distraction" during the federal election campaign.
Mr Daley had already stepped aside as Labor leader on Monday, but announced his intention of re-nominating for the leadership ballot after the federal election, which will take place in May.
Standing aside: NSW Labor Opposition Leader Michael Daley. Credit:James Alcock
But on Tuesday he said he would pull out altogether, saying he did not want to be a "distraction" and that after the state election loss he wanted the party to be able to clear the air. He said he had made the decision after consulting colleagues and family.
Mr Daley's announcement marks the second resignation of a state Labor leader in dramatic circumstances in just four months, and caps a traumatic few days for the party after Saturday's dire result.
"Michael Daley has done the right thing," a senior party source said late on Tuesday, saying the ALP's Sussex Street head office was now fully focused on the federal poll and desperate to have no more brand damage coming out of NSW.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten did not talk with Mr Daley on Tuesday but senior federal and state Labor figures made it clear to Mr Daley that he should not contest the ballot.
NSW Labor frontrunners: Jodie Mckay and Chris Minns. Credit:Kate Geraghty, Janie Barrett
With the decision to defer the state leadership contest until after the federal election, the party has bought itself time to conduct "due diligence" – as one source put it – on likely contenders to replace Mr Daley.
Names so far coming into the mix are the shadow water spokesman Chris Minns, shadow transport spokeswoman Jodi McKay and shadow treasurer Ryan Park, all from the right. None have openly declared they are contesting yet, although Mr Minns ran against Mr Daley in November after the abrupt downfall of Luke Foley, and managed to garner 12 votes against Mr Daley's 33.
Mr Minns is expected to try his hand again, while Ms McKay and Mr Park are believed to be considering their options. Frontbencher Prue Car, shadow minister for TAFE and Western Sydney, is another whose name was being floated, though one senior source said yesterday she had indicated to colleagues that she would not run.
Mr Minns and NSW general secretary Kaila Murnain have had a poor relationship in the past, partly a legacy of Mr Minns' friendship with previous state party secretary Jamie Clements.
Some senior insiders claim Ms Murnain has already thrown her weight behind Ms McKay. But others dispute this, saying that Ms Murnain's key priority is to see a candidate come forward who will be able to unite the caucus and hold the job for the next four years.
"Her head's in the federal game now," said one insider. "She wants caucus to deal with it – whoever wants it, can stick their hand up, let them have the ballot and sort it out."
Rule changes mean the next leader will be chosen by a combined vote of grassroots party members and Labor MPs.
Ms McKay told the Herald on Tuesday evening: "I had given Michael my support and I was not expecting him to withdraw. As we're in a federal campaign, I will take some time to consider what I now do. I will not be making further comment on the Labor leadership."
Some believe Ms McKay, who has been an effective advocate for Labor in transport, will struggle to gain traction from caucus members despite having a relatively strong public profile.
Mr Daley's abrupt downfall has left his supporters reeling, with one saying yesterday "some of the Liberals have gaffes too, and they just skate over it. We take people out the back and shoot them."
Another senior Labor figure said: "There certainly had been some pretty public federal intervention [in Daley standing down] but I think this was more a domestic realisation."
The source said it "wouldn't be fair" to say Mr Daley had lost all support of the caucus but there was a lot of "shock around the result".
Time's up: Michael Daley during the campaign last week. Credit:ninevms
A senior frontbencher said Mr Daley would not recover from this. "He was told 'that's it, it was done'.
"That's it for him, his political career is over. He will have to hang around though for two years until he can get his parliamentary pension. But that's it for him".
Mr Daley made a series of mistakes in the final week of his campaign, the most damaging of which was the emergence of a video of him telling a pub audience in the Blue Mountains last year that "our children are fleeing" because "Asians with PhDs … are moving in and taking jobs".
He also performed badly in the leaders' debate against Premier Gladys Berejiklian last week.
Mr Daley said at the weekend that he had wanted to run again because he'd only had 134 days in the job and had "worked as hard as I could" to win the election. Cold hard political reality has now sunk in. Mr Daley said he wants to remain the member for Maroubra.
He added that he had "spoken to the interim leader Penny Sharpe and have advised her I will be taking leave over the next few weeks to spend time with my family."
NSW Votes
Michael Daley
Alexandra Smith is the State Political Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via Twitter or email.
Deborah Snow is a senior writer for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via Twitter, Facebook or email.
Esther Han is a journalist at The Sydney Morning Herald. She has covered state politics, health and consumer affairs.Connect via Twitter or email.


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WaterSnake.Net
hunting, diet, courting and life-cycle
Dimorphism
Life-cycle of Water Snakes
Water Snake Characteristics
News about Water Snakes
Northern Water Snake
Hunting, life-cycle, diet and dimorphism
Water snakes (Nerodia spp.) belong to a family of non-venomous colubrid snakes found in North America. In the southeastern USA, water snakes are among the most abundant and most often encountered reptiles. Although they are not venomous, they will defend themselves and bite if threatened, and water snakes are known to be aggressive.
Water snakes can climb, and they are often found resting on branches above the water. When disturbed, they will drop into the water—sometimes into boats passing by.
Buy from Amazon.com.au(AUS) click here
Hunting in Water
Confusing water snakes with cottonmouth snakes
February 16, 2013: Water snake catches and swallows a fish
Water snakes commonly forage in the water's edge looking for small fish—preferably the slow moving fish (Linzey & Clifford, 2002)1—and other animals in the shallow water.
According to a study (Mushinsky et al. 1982)2 there is a shift in prey choice towards frogs and other larger animals when the snakes reach a length of about 1.5 feet. However, a water snake less than 1.5 feet will probably not eat many frogs or other larger animals (ibid).
A study by King (1939)3 showed that 35% of a population of water snakes had tadpoles and salamanders in their stomachs. All water snakes eat their prey alive.
Banded water snake
Florida water snake
Blotched water snake
Yellow-bellied water snake
Females are significantly heavier and larger than males. They also grow considerably faster than males.
Water snakes dwell in shallow waters with their mouths open waiting for any prey to come close by—within a few inches—so they can close their jaws around the prey. They also move around on the underwater surface looking for prey in rock crevices and other hiding places (Drummond, 1983)4. Water Snakes hunt both day and night.
They have a compound in their saliva inhibiting coagulation of blood. The advantage from having an anti-clotting compound in its saliva is that, when prey escapes, it will leave a trail of blood that the water snake can follow.
Water snakes mature when they are three to four years old5. Mating takes place in the spring, and snakes are born between August and October. Often many male snakes are courting one female snake. Water snakes give birth to live snakes. The eggs hatch within the female body before the birth. Litters of about 20 snakes are common, and the newborn snakes have a length of 8-12 inches on average.
Water snakes are often confused with cottonmouth snakes. There are a lot of differences, but cottonmouths have a triangular head and eyes that are not round. Water snakes have a round head and round eyes.
In this video you can see how a water snake (Nerodia fasciate) catches a fish and swallows it alive.
The Northern water snake (Nerodia spp.) is found in many different types of freshwater habitats. It can be found near large rivers and small ponds as well. When conditions are good, these snakes can be found in very high numbers. This type of snake is a relatively large snake, with adult females reaching a length of almost five feet.
They can reach an age of approximately seven to eight years. Their litters have a size of anywhere from 10 to 40 snakes, and new snakes are born during late summer and early fall. The snakes mainly feed on fish, which constitutes approximately 50% of the snake's varied diet. Larger individuals also eat a lot of frogs, while smaller individuals eat anything from invertebrates to small mammals.
Because of its vicious temperament, the Northern water snake, as well as other water snakes, is not suitable for keeping as a pet. As the Northern water snake is fairly common and shares some similarities with the venomous cottonmouth snake, many are killed on the suspicion on being cottonmouths.
Water snakes also have scent glands near the base of their tails (in their cloaca) from which they can excrete an ill smelling musk in case they feel threatened.
1. Linzey, D.W., Clifford, M.J., Snakes of Virginia (2002)
2. Mushinsky, H.R., Hebrard, J.J., Vodopic, D.S. Ontogeny of Water Snake Foraging Ecology. Ecology, 63(6) pp. 1624-1629 (1982)
3. King, W., A survey of the herpetology of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Amer. Midi. Nat. 21, pp. 531-582 (1939)
4. Drummond, H., Aquatic Foraging in Garter Snakes: A Comparison of Specialists and Generalists, Behaviour, Vol. 86 (1/2) pp. 1-30 (1983).
5. Brown, G.P. and Weatherhead, P.J., Thermal Ecology and Sexual Size Dimorphism in Northern Water Snakes, Nerodia sipedon Ecological Monographs, 70(2), pp. 311-330 (2000).
6. Ribeiro, LA, Jorge, MT, Piesco, RV, et al. Wolf spider bites in Sao-Paulo, Brazil – A Clinical and Epidemiologic-study of 515 Cases. Toxicon 28(6) pp. 715-717 (1990)
Confronting water snakes
Concho W.S.
Southwestern Herp
Virginia Herpetological Society
Anders Nielsen, Ph.d.
Anders Nielsen PhD in Ecology, University of Oslo.
Founder of watersnake.net and www.cottonmouthsnake.net.
Water snakes eats a varied diet of fish, tadpoles, frogs, small mammals and large insects.Read More
Water snakes are not suitable for pets, as they require a lot of space. Also, their temper is rather vicious.Read More
Water snakes can reach 7-8 years and females can reproduce after a few years. They darken as they get older.Read More
Water snakes can climb trees and use branches for resting. They are always close to a water source.Read More
Water snakes are most common in the south-eastern USA, but is found in California also as an invasive species.Read More
They are often confused with cottonmouth snakes, despite having round eyes and round heads.Read More
Water snakes hunt both day and night. During night they concentrate on shallow waters and mellow fish.Read More
Water snakes waits under water for their prey to pass by. Hunting like this, they prefer small fish in calm waters.Read More
Females are larger than males, not only longer, but heavier also. Their growth is faster too.Read More
Drawings are © www.watersnake.net
list of references to us
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerodia http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Nerodia_fasciata/ http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Nerodia_fasciata/ https://www.slideserve.com/preston/cottonmouth-snake-animal-report-by-j-r https://ontarionature.org/hide-and-seek-with-snakes/ http://animal-world.com/php/Panel/links/animal_world_links/8 http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatreptileblog/2011/12/09/captive-care-of-the-worlds-largest-snake-keeping-the-green-anaconda/
Snake Proof – www.watersnake.net
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