Tag: dealing with idiots

Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard is being criticized for not speaking French in a speech at a recent conference in Iceland.

There are times, especially on the international scene, when speaking English is required to be understood, he said. In the case of the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik, Iceland last week, where Mr. Couillard spoke in English only, no simultaneous translation was available. The former prime minister of France delivered his remarks in English as did the president of Iceland and a Norwegian minister, Mr. Couillard noted.

“With all due respect, I think my colleague is exaggerating,” Mr. Couillard told the National Assembly in response to a question from Coalition Avenir Québec leader François Legault, who was on the attack, saying the premier “failed to live up to his responsibilities as a representative of the Quebec nation.”

“There are two angles when it comes to language: expression and comprehension. Here’s a little challenge for him; go to the London and New York financial circles and pitch your remarkable economic plan … in French only. Let’s see how that goes. I submit the following hypothesis,” Mr. Couillard said,“when we make important remarks, especially those involving the economic development of Quebec, it’s usually a good thing to make sure everyone understands what we are saying.”

José Manuel Barroso, the most anglophile commission president of the last 30 years, will give vent to deep frustration at British tactics when he takes the highly unusual step of venturing into internal UK affairs by warning that the Tories should learn from the Scottish referendum and not wait until the final days to make a positive case. In a speech at Chatham House on Monday, Barroso will sweep aside his usual diplomatic language to say: “My experience is that you can never win a debate from the defensive. We saw in Scotland that you actually need to go out and make the positive case. In the same way, if you support continued membership of the EU you need to say what Europe stands for and why it is in the British interest to be part of it.

“And you need to start making that positive case well in advance, because if people read only negative and often false portrayals in their newspapers from Monday to Saturday, you cannot expect them to nail the European flag on their front door on Sunday just because the political establishment tells them it is the right thing to do.”

The intervention by Barroso, a month before he stands down after a decade as president of the commission, comes amid deep frustration among EU leaders about the way in which Cameron is hardening his approach to the EU in response to Ukip. The prime minister is embarking on a fresh change of heart as he plans to impose restrictions on the free movement of citizens from EU member states. The prime minister is planning to cap the number of national insurance numbers issued to EU immigrants with low skills. This would hit the 11 eastern European states that have joined since 2004. National insurance numbers could be issued for a limited period to ensure the prime minister delivers on his pledge to reduce net migration to the tens of thousands.

Barroso said that Cameron’s proposal would fall foul of EU law which guarantees the free movement of people. The Lisbon treaty of 2007 echoed the EEC’s founding 1957 treaty of Rome as it said “the free movement of persons is ensured”.

I hold two passports, one Canadian, one British. These days, I’m wondering how long it’ll be before I can apply for a Swiss one. I’m profoundly ashamed of the government in both countries.

Harper has been pissing away Canada’s international reputation and his tenure has been marked by one scandal after another. Human rights, native rights, natural resource management, voter fraud, patronage, you name it…

Meanwhile, David Cameron is so afraid of losing ground to UKIP, the UK equivalent of the Tea Party, that he’s going even more to the right to try an reign in the defectors. UKIP’s platform is built on two propositions – that it would be better if we returned to the 1950s and that all that is bad in the UK emanates from the European Union. The two latest gems from Cameron’s government:

Under proposals to be included in the party’s general election manifesto, the Tories would reverse more than half a century’s tradition of human rights authority residing in Europe by giving parliament the right to veto judgments from the European Court of Human Rights. The authority of the court in Strasbourg would be severely curtailed, with parliament given the final say in deciding whether or not to adopt ECHR decisions.

And my favourite:

Schools should teach pupils mainly in imperial and not metric measurements, David Cameron has said. Four decades since metres and litres replaced yards and pints on the curriculum, the prime minister suggested he would prefer to see a return to the old system.

Welcome to England, the most retrograde country in the West.

A 21-year-old woman claims to have paid $20,000 to surgically add a third breast in a desperate bid to become a reality TV star.

Jasmine Tridevil, not her real name, insists she was rejected by more than 50 doctors who feared violating ethical codes before she found a willing surgeon who would perform the procedure.

Now, she has hired a camera crew to follow her around Tampa, Florida, documenting the ‘struggles’ she faces as a three-breasted woman.

While the procedure is possible, surgeons are barred from carrying out any operations that could be harmful to ‘human dignity’.

The ethical code outlined by the American Board of Plastic Surgeons dictates that ‘the principal objective of the medical profession is to render services to humanity with full respect for human dignity.’

However, Tridevil claims she found a surgeon who agreed to carry out the unusual operation on the grounds that she kept their name a secret.

She says the medic took tissue from her abdomen and used it to fashion the third breast – a procedure commonly used for normal breast enhancements.

The massage therapist, who recently celebrated her 21st birthday, has shared dozens of pictures of her new look in custom made bikinis on her Facebook fan page in a bid to convince followers the surgery was legitimate.

However, Tridevil insists she has no regrets as she prepares to send pilot episodes of her self-produced reality show titled Jasmine’s Jugs to MTV. ‘My whole dream is to get this show on MTV,’ she told Real Radio 104.1. ‘I’m dumping every penny I have into this. If this doesn’t work, I’m through.’

Scot Glasberg, president-elected of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons blasted the stunt as ‘worse than unethical’ and ‘harmful to society.  This violates every ethical principle not just in surgery but in medicine as well. We look to enhance the norm. This is not the norm.’

Mr Glasberg said the case will likely be reported to the national board of plastic surgeons and if the surgeon is tracked down they will likely have their license revoked.

Despite scheduling interviews, creating a fan page, and hiring a film crew, Tridevil insists her apparent surgery was not an attempt become famous.

‘I got it because I wanted to make myself unattractive to men,’ she claims. ‘Because I don’t want to date anymore.’

I get home a few nights ago and Katy tells me that a security consultant came to see her – as part of seeing everyone in the building today – about installing a free alarm system. O.o Just that same day, the whole principle of TANSTAAFL came up at least 3 times while I was at work, so I was a bit dubious to start with. As Katy was telling more of the story, more and more red flags came up. The guy insinuated, without actually saying, that they’d been contacted by the Régie who administers the building about a rise in burglaries (THEY TRIPLED IN THE LAST YEAR!) and how the visit was without obligation, and they’d already been around to all of the neighbours, and the only thing they wanted was for us to put stickers on our mailbox, and how they only had a limited number of free systems to give away…. you get the picture. Katy had Ben (literally) hanging off of her, and the guy was talking in French, so she told the guy to come back one evening next week when I was in.

Cue me doing a bit of internet snooping, to find that most of the elements that came up in his pitch have been reported by others as part of pressure sales tactics, and that, from asking the Concierge, no official (or even officious) referral was given from the Régie. You might get a “free” system, but you had to sign up for a multi-year monitoring contact.

Even their website is rather dubious. Look at these 2 screencaps:

and contrast them with the Protectron website, which I used when I was living in Montreal:

Slight difference in tone.

Hell, even their facebook page only has 3 likes (compared to the 4000+ for Protectron).

I was pretty much convinced that this wasn’t for us, but the clincher came when I tried to cancel the appointment. Classic pressure-sales tactics. “But we’ve already talked to all of your neighbours”, “we only have a limited number of free systems”, “the crime rate has tripled” yada yada yada. I took me 4 tries to cancel the appointment, and at each time there was “but go see apartments 28 A,B,C,D and E!”, “if not this week, can we arrange a meeting for next week?”. In the end, I told him in no uncertain terms that I had his details, and I would talk with my multiple neighbours, and if I was interested I’d call him back and take my chances if all the “free” systems were given away.

A coworker who was sitting next to me almost pissed herself throughout the whole phone call.