(I blame the problems CBC was and maybe is still having with its website.)

1 “OUR GOVERNMENT’S USE OF EVIDENCE AND FACTS AS THE BASES OF PUBLIC POLICY IS DECLINING” That’s what Harris Decima chair Allan Gregg says about Stephen Harper’s  Conservatives. He’s right. It’s clear as day. The  39.62 per cent of Canadians (and 56.3 per cent of Saskatchewanians) who voted Conservative elected a demonstrably bad political party. They let our country down.

2 QUEBEC IS BECOMING MORE CANADIAN THAN CANADA A Quebec provincial judge has blocked the Conservative federal government from deleting its Quebec long gun database and ordered the feds to give Quebec the registry info. The federal government says it will appeal.

3 BECAUSE LET’S ALL HATE PEOPLE IN DESPERATE SITUATIONS WHO DO WHATEVER THEY CAN TO HAVE A BETTER LIFE The Federal Conservatives are going after 3,100 alleged immigration fraudsters. Now, I’m not going to defend immigration fraud but, ah, fuck it. Depending on the situation, I’ll totally stick up for some people who lied to get into Canada. While there are always going to be rats who need their asses deported, there are also basically good  people who are just doing their best in a tough world. Jason Kenney’s empathy-free, over-simplifications arejust another mean-spirited Conservative exercise in xenophobia and demagoguery. Not to mention thinly-veiled racism–you don’t hear statements from the government like “Canadian citizenship is not for sale” when a convicted criminal like Conrad Black is let back into Canada.

4 SOME ONTARIO RELIGIOUS SCHMUCK SUES BECAUSE SCHOOLS ARE TRYING TO EDUCATE HIS KIDS Grunt. I wonder which of his God-given  rights are being violated? The right to tell his child factually incorrect bullshit about how old the Earth is? The fact that schools don’t discriminate against gay people and minorities like he wants his children to? The fact that someday they might teach his daughter the basic biolgical facts of sex? I can’t wait to learn more about this poor man’s violated rights.

5 MEANWHILE IN AMERICA Speaking of schools, Chicago teachers are on strike, which is a pretty damn huge strike. Also, Barack Obama out-fundraised Mitt Romney in August, which is nice since, if we MUST have of of those two right-wingers running the United States, I’d rather have the essentially sane, moderate Republican (Obama) over the sleazeball-tool-for-the-rich-who-panders-to-lunatics Republican (Romney). Speaking of Romney, now he’s flip-flopping on cancelling Obama’s Affordable Care law now. What a lamester.

6 CUTTING DIPLOMATIC TIES IS A MISTAKE So says former Canadian ambassador to Iran John Mundy.

VIDEO! Monday’s a good day for some Fatboy Slim, I think. And Christopher Walken.