Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Makes Game For Third Annual Hour of Code (gamasutra.com)

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Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Makes Game For Third Annual Hour of Code (gamasutra.com)

Posted by BeauHD on Tuesday December 6, 2016 @10:00PM from the you-have-to-start-somewhere dept.

Eloking writes: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Twitter account lit up today with a message all too familiar to many indie devs: Mr. Trudeau has made a video game, and he'd like everyone to play it. It was a cute bit of promotion for Hour of Code, the computer science education event masterminded every year by the Code.org nonprofit. While the Hour of Code websites hosts one-hour tutorials (in 45 languages) for coding all sorts of simple applications, game developers may appreciate that the lion's share appears to be game projects, like the one Trudeau modified into a sort of hockey-themed Breakout variant.

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Nice to see he has focus! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-06 22:18 · Score: -1

As a Prime-minister writing games is TOP priority!
1. Re: Nice to see he has focus! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 00:18 · Score: 1
  
  What is with all the ignorant hate comments against Trudeau?
  Like it or not the man is trying to help push coding to the public. Is it marketing? Yes An agenda? Sure But it is also someone of importance trying to show that anyone can do basic coding and that is good for our kids and education in general. As hardware continues to be less important, software will continue to be where the jobs are. I can't tell you how many times I wish kids today would learn some basic logic because their parents are not. As a father of five kids, I use logic to teach my kids basic troubleshooting of everyday issues when they run into a problem. My wife who is a brilliant teacher wants all kids to learn basic coding as a way of teaching logic and maybe a little commonsense as well.
  Basic coding means learning some basic logic skills and that is good for everyone.
  For all you hating on the example being set by Trudeau, turn in your geek card. You should realize the benefits of people learning basic coding and logic.
  -GeekPoet
2. Re: Nice to see he has focus! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 00:35 · Score: 0
  
  Coding does not seem to promote logical thought in daily life. There are plenty of coders in San Francisco, but few living there have a grain of common sense. I'm
3. Re: Nice to see he has focus! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 02:48 · Score: 0
  
  Looks like this guy was paid a visit by Candlej
4. Re: Nice to see he has focus! by BarbaraHudson · 2016-12-07 03:25 · Score: 1
  
  Why all the hate comments? Try the serious mother-fucking hypocrisy. Ran on a campaign that included as a key element that we needed to get rid of the first-past-the-post election system before the next federal election, and has since done everything possible to make sure that won't happen, going so far as to claim that Canadians don't want it changed.
  He might have valid reasons for other policy decisions, but there is no way this one passes the smell test.
  The big difference between Pierre and Justin Trudeau is that Pierre didn't try to please everyone or suck at the teat of political correctness during the FLQ bombings, kidnappings, and murder. (@5:44)
  
  Trudeau: "There are a lot of bleeding hearts around who just don't like to see people with helmets and guns. All I can say is 'Go on and bleed' It's more important to keep law and order in society than to be worried about weak-kneed people who don't like the looks of ..."
  Reporter (uinterrupting) "At any cost? How far would you go with that?"
  Trudeau: "Well, just watch me."
  And then he suspended civil liberties under the War Measures Act (@9:16).
  The separatists hated him for it, but hey, if you don't like it, just leave - but you don't get to take anything more than you brought into the country when you joined (Quebec was a lot smaller when it became, with Ontario and parts of the maritimes, Canada). And if Canada is divisible, so is Quebec, so parts that don't want to separate will remain part of Canada. That would have left a few small "independent duchies" of separatists completely cut off from each other, and from the majority of Quebec and Canada (and the US as well). And no access to the St Lawrence, since the federal government has sovereignty over all land within 200' of any body of water.
  In short, a big "fuck you" to the FLQ and separatists, based on law and logic.
  Huge difference between father and son. You might like Justin, but like him or hate him, you had to respect Pierre.
  Now back on topic - the "Hour of Code" is bullshit. Why not have an "Hour of Electricity" to help people learn that you can't plug both the kettle and the toaster into the same electrical circuit? Or the "Hour of Plumbing" to to learn how to replace the washer in a leaky tap? The "Hour of Cooking" so that the "microwave pizza pocket generation" can lean how to make a grilled cheese sandwich without f*cking it up or causing a fire? And how about the "Hour of RTFM" to teach people the importance of reading instructions BEFORE they break something? To save the health care system money, why not the "Hour of Evolution" so that people understand why giving antibiotics for every runny nose will lead to superbugs?
  All of these are more important than any "Oh look I sort of - kind of - well not really but don't burst my bubble - coded a game."
  
  --
  "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
5. Re:Nice to see he has focus! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 05:38 · Score: 0
  
  I'd rather him do this than continuing to support the most stringent police raids ever on marijuana dispensaries. He's making Stephen Harper look good (which, frankly, is what I expected--dynasties never turn out well!)
  Only promise he has kept to date was to raise my taxes (And not because I'm rich, I earn less than average for my area). LOL! Then again, maybe it's for the best he just coasts the country for another couple of years. Less damage this way.
6. Re: Nice to see he has focus! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 08:22 · Score: 0
  
  Hour of RTFM will quickly turn into Hour of Sleep.
7. Re: Nice to see he has focus! by BarbaraHudson · 2016-12-07 09:20 · Score: 1
  
  Well, precious snowflakes need their nappy time after they've had their nappy changed. :-)
  
  --
  "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
8. Re: Nice to see he has focus! by Anonymous+Cow+Ward · 2016-12-07 09:30 · Score: 2
  
  I really don't like Trudeau, but I also can't really fault him for this. It's encouraging education, especially self-driven education, which is actually pretty cool.
  
  --
  Examine even your most deeply held beliefs. Nobody is always right.
Yey! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-06 22:19 · Score: 1

https://studio.code.org/c/298948598
holy crap. Within 1 min my computer is lagging to shit.
Worst game ever...I love it!
1. Re:Yey! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-06 22:30 · Score: 0
  
  Pucking spam! I can't even see the ice, there are so many pucks.
2. Re:Yey! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-06 23:43 · Score: 0
  
  https://studio.code.org/c/298948598/edit
  what the FUCK is that?
  was Zuckerberg helping him.
3. Re:Yey! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-06 23:43 · Score: 0
  
  "Coding is easy"
  --Justin Trudeau
  LOL. What a fucking moron. How much do you want to bet he used some kind of game creator instead of actually writing code? And even with someone else doing all of the heavy lifting, his hockey "game" is simplistic crap reminiscent of the kinds of things I was doing on my C64 when I was 5 years old.
4. Re:Yey! by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2016-12-07 00:26 · Score: 1
  
  "Coding is easy"
  It is, if you learn from proper books.
  
  --
  Ezekiel 23:20
5. Re:Yey! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 01:19 · Score: 0
  
  In my 35 years of experience programming, I call bullshit. I always face new challenges when writing code. Maybe if you just rewrite one thing over and over it's easy.
6. Re:Yey! by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2016-12-07 01:37 · Score: 1
  
  Uh, if you're not facing new challenges over time in what you're doing, you're probably not doing it correctly no mather what that activity is.
  
  --
  Ezekiel 23:20
7. Re:Yey! by GameboyRMH · 2016-12-07 01:50 · Score: 1
  
  Works fine for me (in Chromium). Less than 1% CPU usage.
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
8. Re:Yey! by TheRaven64 · 2016-12-07 02:21 · Score: 0
  I thought the game looked okay (especially for a one-hour thing), but then I saw what he'd actually had to do. The things that were done for him:
  
  Drawing the game board.
  
  Collision detection between ball and player, goal, and walls
  
  The bounce logic.
  
  Events delivered for the buttons.
  
  The mechanic for introducing a new ball into the game.
  
  The score management. This is like those lego sets that have about half a dozen pieces and can be quickly assembled into a single design of spaceship. Yes, sure, you've built something, but there was little creativity or effort involved. It's not a bad learning tool (and for something that expects people with no programming experience to get something done in an hour, it's fine) but if he doesn't realise how much harder all of the pre-defined bits were to write than the simple logic for gluing them all together then he's now dangerously ignorant.
  --
  I am TheRaven on Soylent News
9. Re:Yey! by vel-ex-tech · 2016-12-07 02:59 · Score: 0
  
  Meh, whether it's draggy-droppy or more traditional coding, all the elements are there. But, how may I drill down into "when ball hits wall" or "when ball in goal"?
  I mean, I'm assuming Scratch must have some sense of OOP and these are calling methods on the parent "Bounce Game" class. Hopefully I don't assume too much.
  An environment I use for my primary job responsibility is a limited, proprietary drag-and-drop coding environment. For simple things it's ok. Anything other than simple, it's a fucking pain in the ass. I suppose Scratch is appropriate for a very high level introduction to programming.
  Based on my experiences with that, however, the draggy-droppy-ness proves to be such of an utter fucking pain in the ass that it actually turns women off to coding! Their initial excitement about making the things it was designed to make easy happen quickly melts when they learn how much fucking dragging and dropping they need to do to do anything it wasn't designed to do. And don't even get me started on needing to open up properties dialogs to figure out what an element is actually doing. Women aren't capable of keeping information in their minds that isn't currently showing on the screen, so this is a brick wall that a regular text editor doesn't have.
  At least, I'm sure as hell hoping that "when ball hits wall" and "when ball in goal" have underlying Scratch "code." I mean, they're not just opaque Javascript blobs, are they?
  I mean, if I want to add powerups like multiple sticks/paddles, paddles that can leave the bottom of the screen, and other things like that old DOS game Krypton Egg, how may I do that with this editor?
  (Back in my day, we had to test if (bx 80) then let dx = -dx because we only got two letters for variable names and that's how we liked it! Then these pussies started putting REM statements to explain that bx was ball's x position and dx was ball's delta x/velocity. Pansies!)
10. Re:Yey! by Script+Cat · 2016-12-07 03:09 · Score: 1
  
  Can't we say this about any libraries though? But, I see your point. So many "coding" toys teach what programming isn't. Like this lump of gold.
  http://www.meccano.com/meccano...
  It's not even Touring complete. All of its "programming" is just sequencing. It's as much of a robot as Teddy Ruxbin.
  To actually program with this you have to replace the controller with an Arduino.
11. Re:Yey! by BarbaraHudson · 2016-12-07 03:58 · Score: 1
  
  "Coding is easy" --Justin Trudeau
  If it was so easy, then why is the final game so shitty? Makes me want flash games back - at least they're far more responsive.
  
  --
  "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
12. Re:Yey! by vel-ex-tech · 2016-12-07 04:02 · Score: 1
  
  Those look like some good references to this inferior assigned male.
  What's important, though, is that those be useful to women. If they read too much like Newton's Principia Mathematica, it's no good, since that's a rape manual. Remember, we need to be sensitive to the needs of women, who, despite being superior beings, have fragility in this area due to intersectionalities. According to Ari Schlesinger, an ideal programming language should
  
  be built around a non-normative paradigm that represents alternative ways of abstracting. The intent is to encourage and allow new ways of thinking about problems such that we can code using a feminist ideology.
  Those references look like they might "[reify] normative subject object theory," which is fundamentally incompatible with feminism. Those books may be a dead end for summoning women programmers from the aether. I understand that the ritual must not last longer than 60 minutes in total.
13. Re:Yey! by BarbaraHudson · 2016-12-07 04:02 · Score: 1
  
  Can't we say this about any libraries though? But, I see your point. So many "coding" toys teach what programming isn't. Like this lump of gold.
  http://www.meccano.com/meccano...
  It's not even Touring complete. All of its "programming" is just sequencing. It's as much of a robot as Teddy Ruxbin. To actually program with this you have to replace the controller with an Arduino.
  Even worse, it's also not Turing complete :-) And Teddy Ruxpin is a mite offended - or he would at least be able to pretend he was if he were able to be properly programmed. But kids loved him - my sisters included. Of course, crappy cassette player embedded in him tended to eat tapes ...
  
  --
  "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
14. Re:Yey! by vel-ex-tech · 2016-12-07 04:34 · Score: 1
  
  It seemed pretty responsive for me on Vivaldi 1.5. Be careful, though. The goal of code.org and the hour of code is to research the necessary ritual for summing womyn-born-womyn programmers from the aether. Demanding things like optimizations instead of using the pre-programmed Javascript blob blocks might turn womyn-born-womyn off to programming, and the ritual would fizzle yet again.
15. Re:Yey! by Script+Cat · 2016-12-07 04:38 · Score: 1
  
  I just type, Speeling happens if it hapens.
16. Re:Yey! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 04:54 · Score: 0
  
  Learn to read. Facing new challenges is precisely why coding isn't easy.
17. Re: Yey! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 08:25 · Score: 0
  
  It was always fun to use Teddy as a music player. My how I miss the days of loading a NWA or 2LiveCrew tape into Teddy.
18. Re:Yey! by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2016-12-07 19:50 · Score: 1
  
  By this definition, very few things worth doing are easy. Therefore, the word loses its informative value altogether.
  
  --
  Ezekiel 23:20
Bill Clinton did it better by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-06 22:24 · Score: 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AU9jn7pU8mg
Those Canadians Can Hang Their Heads High! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-06 22:48 · Score: 0

This is truly a great accomplishment for their country.
Canada Rules by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-06 23:15 · Score: 0

When the game defeats you, You Win.
1. Re:Canada Rules by codeButcher · 2016-12-07 01:31 · Score: 2
  
  Does it apologize for winning?
  
  --
  Free, as in your money being freed from the confines of your account.
2. Re:Canada Rules by vel-ex-tech · 2016-12-07 09:24 · Score: 2
  
  No, instead it gets vindictive and spawn two pucks. There's some kind of weird delay from the "throw ball" code blob to when the puck actually appears. So basically if you miss, you immediately get thrown another puck. Then about a second or two later a second puck spawns. Eventually you're overrun by pucks!
  I'm guessing there are two "throw ball" elements in a row because that makes the first puck spawn without the delay. Just... that little exponential consequence of spawning two pucks per one that goes off the bottom of the screen...!
3. Re:Canada Rules by unixisc · 2016-12-07 09:40 · Score: 1
  
  In which case, we've won. Most chess AIs can beat most of us
Justin Trudeau, destroying Canada by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-06 23:18 · Score: -1

one day at the time.
1. Re:Justin Trudeau, destroying Canada by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 00:10 · Score: 0
  
  How so? For an external observer like me he looks a darn sight better than the last lot you had.
2. Re:Justin Trudeau, destroying Canada by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 00:16 · Score: 2
  
  Its funny how two countries next door to each other could elect such different leaders, a young inspitrational quality human for Canada, and a corrupt to the hilt bankrupt both morally and finacially, demented old man with a bad hairdo for the US.
  Come to think of it, thats basically the difference between the two.
  Now, lets watch the Trumplthinskin trolls come out and blame Hillary.
3. Re:Justin Trudeau, destroying Canada by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 00:27 · Score: 0
  
  Ah, another person who judges people by their external appearance. I am sure he "inspires" you. Why not just elect an underwear model?
4. Re:Justin Trudeau, destroying Canada by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 01:14 · Score: 0
  
  Ah, another person who judges people by their external appearance. I am sure he "inspires" you. Why not just elect an underwear model?
  Justin Beiber was busy that day. LOL
5. Re:Justin Trudeau, destroying Canada by fluffernutter · 2016-12-07 02:18 · Score: 2
  
  We're supposed to judge people by their ability to grab some pussy?
  
  --
  Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
6. Re:Justin Trudeau, destroying Canada by PopeRatzo · 2016-12-07 02:28 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Why not just elect an underwear model?
  She's first lady.
  
  --
  You are welcome on my lawn.
7. Re:Justin Trudeau, destroying Canada by meta-monkey · 2016-12-07 02:45 · Score: 1
  
  We're supposed to judge people by their ability to grab some pussy?
  What's wrong with grabbing pussy?
  
  --
  We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
8. Re:Justin Trudeau, destroying Canada by mark-t · 2016-12-07 03:31 · Score: 1
  
  Technically nothing, but bragging about it is nothing less than highly juvenile, and while Trump has since apologized for those particular statements, his general behavior and attitude today does not convince me that he has since acquired any great amount of maturity since the time that he made the remark. So as far as I can tell, the USA has basically elected someone with the maturity of a 14 year old as their president, and the next 4 years could be... uhmm... very interesting.
  
  --
  File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
9. Re:Justin Trudeau, destroying Canada by mark-t · 2016-12-07 03:38 · Score: 1
  
  Considering how low the bar was set with Harper, that does not say much.
  
  --
  File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
10. Re:Justin Trudeau, destroying Canada by meta-monkey · 2016-12-07 03:47 · Score: 1
  
  I see him as a Henry V type character. We'll see whether or not he conquers France.
  
  --
  We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
11. Re:Justin Trudeau, destroying Canada by ChrisMaple · 2016-12-07 07:42 · Score: 1
  
  Take a look at J.T.'s praise of that murderous, corrupt thief, Fidel Castro.
  
  --
  Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
12. Re:Justin Trudeau, destroying Canada by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 08:09 · Score: 0
  
  Well Fidel Castro is Justin Trudeau's real father.
13. Re: Justin Trudeau, destroying Canada by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-08 18:43 · Score: 0
  
  Technically nothing? Uninvited grabbing of pussy is technically sexual assault. Many men have been sued for less.
Lovely...with no pressing issues... by Mashiki · 2016-12-06 23:26 · Score: 3, Informative

And with no pressing issues in Canada, all is safe. With energy costs(from gasoline, electricity to natural gas) that are going through the roof in nearly every province. Never mind that Canada is teetering either on a deflationary spiral or hyperinflation spiral(depending on which way the housing market goes). A housing market so hot that it makes the late 1980's housing market seem like a balmy day, and CHMC(think freddie-fanie) mortgages arrears and foreclosures are increasing. Serious regional unemployment numbers, but believes importing *more* people is a great plan--especially TFW's who could be hired at any job(unlike H1B's which are limited to one area) with wanting to have a population in Canada of 100m in 50 years. His pay-for-play access scandal. A carbon tax that's going to jack the prices of everything up by around 20%, a declining service and manufacturing industry. Rampant debt and overzealous expenditure projects that in the previous government would have every left-wing media publication screaming from the rooftop about how we can't afford it.
And has decided that he wants to spy on every single Canadian, and pass a bill just like the snoopers charter in the UK. With mandatory decryption, backdoors, subscriber info and retention logging But he's got time to make a video game....so we're all safe.

--
Om, nomnomnom...
1. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-06 23:53 · Score: -1
  
  Heil Canada, the Northern Islamist State of America.
  Have you built the Wall yet, to contain islamist virus?... Take obama with you.
2. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by TimothyHollins · 2016-12-07 00:23 · Score: -1, Troll
  
  Had Canadians wanted to deal with real issues they wouldn't have elected a feminist government.
3. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by Mashiki · 2016-12-07 00:53 · Score: 2
  
  Had Canadians wanted to deal with real issues they wouldn't have elected a feminist government.
  Well it sure worked out well for Sweden. On top of that, he's done a great job of showing everyone how much he dislike meritocracy and is pro-sexism he really is with his "diversity cabinet."
  
  --
  Om, nomnomnom...
4. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by Minupla · 2016-12-07 01:27 · Score: 1
  
  Had Canadians wanted to deal with real issues they wouldn't have elected a feminist government.
  Seriously? With all the various legitimate criticisms of the government, you went with THAT?
  I have no words.
  Min
  
  --
  On the whole, I find that I prefer Slashdot posts to twitter ones because I don't get limited to 140 chars before
5. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by c · 2016-12-07 01:38 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  And with no pressing issues in Canada, all is safe.
  I won't argue that this hour of code stuff isn't a frivolous waste of time, but I do have to say that Trudeau has a couple hundred thousand employees plus an entire Cabinet of supposedly competent politicians who's collective job is to sort that stuff out and generally keep things running.
  If the PM is so critical that all that it all falls apart should he divert his attention elsewhere for a few hours, then we're fucked.
  
  --
  Log in or piss off.
6. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 02:15 · Score: 0
  
  He's an evil piece of filth, as demonstrated by his fellatial tribute to a loathsome murdering dictator. His desire to increase the government's spying powers shows just how much he and his dear departed friend have in common. Makes me ashamed to say I'm from the same country as the mindless cretins who elected him.
  The bastard should have tried writing a game in which you're a Cuban dissident attempting to dodge Castro's thugs and make your way by raft to Florida.
7. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by Mashiki · 2016-12-07 02:19 · Score: 0
  
  Seriously? With all the various legitimate criticisms of the government, you went with THAT?
  I have no words.
  What? You mean besides everything else. Or should I also toss in the illegal immigrant he put into a cabinet position as well? Personally I have a problem with anybody that believes that traits you're born with are more important then your skills and ability. Trudeau however prefers his sexism to include the unskilled and unrefined to boot.
  
  --
  Om, nomnomnom...
8. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by Mashiki · 2016-12-07 02:27 · Score: 2
  
  but I do have to say that Trudeau has a couple hundred thousand employees plus an entire Cabinet of supposedly competent politicians who's collective job is to sort that stuff out and generally keep things running.
  Check that cabinet again. Most of those people don't have the skills for those positions, let alone any experience in the areas that they're assigned to. Which is why the policy decisions by them are so broadly out of touch, and backwards(immigration, heritage, trade, industry canada, etc). This is the same cabinet and group of people that wanted "electoral reform" and stomped their feet that "they didn't need a referendum because they knew best." Then tried stacking the committee full of Liberals and activists who were donors to the Liberals. Until the Conservatives, NDP and Parti Quebecois started talking about filing a federal suit against the Liberals. Suddenly those minority parties were included, and again so suddenly decided that well...really...we should have a referendum. That's being the kindest that you can apply to them. You can toss the illegal immigrant on there to boot if you want.
  
  --
  Om, nomnomnom...
9. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by Eloking · 2016-12-07 02:28 · Score: 1
  
  And with no pressing issues in Canada, all is safe. With energy costs(from gasoline, electricity to natural gas) that are going through the roof in nearly every province. Never mind that Canada is teetering either on a deflationary spiral or hyperinflation spiral(depending on which way the housing market goes). A housing market so hot that it makes the late 1980's housing market seem like a balmy day, and CHMC(think freddie-fanie) mortgages arrears and foreclosures are increasing. Serious regional unemployment numbers, but believes importing *more* people is a great plan--especially TFW's who could be hired at any job(unlike H1B's which are limited to one area) with wanting to have a population in Canada of 100m in 50 years. His pay-for-play access scandal. A carbon tax that's going to jack the prices of everything up by around 20%, a declining service and manufacturing industry. Rampant debt and overzealous expenditure projects that in the previous government would have every left-wing media publication screaming from the rooftop about how we can't afford it.
  And has decided that he wants to spy on every single Canadian, and pass a bill just like the snoopers charter in the UK. With mandatory decryption, backdoors, subscriber info and retention logging But he's got time to make a video game....so we're all safe.
  While it'll probably take way too long to discuss all the cited issue pro and con and the reasoning of Canada's prime minister behind those decision, a quick 3-hour codding + tweet to promote studding and codding is a pretty efficient move by the Prime minister don't you think?
  
  --
  Elok
10. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by Mashiki · 2016-12-07 02:35 · Score: 1
  
  While it'll probably take way too long to discuss all the cited issue pro and con and the reasoning of Canada's prime minister behind those decision, a quick 3-hour codding + tweet to promote studding and codding is a pretty efficient move by the Prime minister don't you think?
  Sure, why don't you explain how a snoopers charter is beneficial to Canada and how it doesn't violate S.1 of the Charter of Rights and freedoms while ignoring all previous legal precedent. Including the SCC's more recent affirmation that even exigent circumstances is too broad of a power to allow the police to use.
  
  --
  Om, nomnomnom...
11. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by meta-monkey · 2016-12-07 02:50 · Score: -1
  
  "Feminism" is a good proxy for everything wrong with leftist thinking. They want to smash the patriarchy (i.e., western civilization) but they don't really have a good idea of what they want to replace that patriarchy with. Certainly not something that works and propagates the culture and people into the future, like children, common culture, and common defense. The end result of feminism is national death.
  
  --
  We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
12. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 02:51 · Score: 0
  
  I truly wonder if the act is the problem or the person, because I think if it was "your guy" you would be praising him as a great leader promoting valuable skills, but since this is not the case, he is wasting time.
  The problem is not the problem, your attitude concerning the problem is the problem!
13. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by Piata · 2016-12-07 02:53 · Score: 1
  
  No there shouldn't be a referendum. Our electoral system needs to be updated and the average Canadian either doesn't care enough to do the research or is too easily swayed by political propaganda to make effective decisions. We need some form of proportional representation with run off ballots so we don't get another shit head like Harper elected because the Liberal / NDP / Green voters (who are the majority of Canadians) aren't stuck with a party and a prime minister that only acquired ~40% of the vote. I also don't see how the Liberal policy decisions are more out of touch than the Conservatives who basically bet everything on big oil, silenced scientists, implemented policies that made the rich richer and tried to bend, break and bully their way through everything that stood in there way, including the Canadian Judicial system. I'm only saying this about the Federal Liberals though. In contrast, I think the Ontario Liberals should serve jail time for the gross incompetence they've displayed.
14. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by Mashiki · 2016-12-07 03:07 · Score: 1
  
  No there shouldn't be a referendum. Our electoral system needs to be updated and the average Canadian either doesn't care enough to do the research or is too easily swayed by political propaganda to make effective decisions.
  So you're saying that the government should operate as a fiat of the prime minster and the cabinet. National issue, national debate. Otherwise it's no different then a dictator. It didn't fly with the Quebeckers tried to leave Canada and tried pushing it through the MLA either. But it would be the same with attempting to amend the Charter.
  
  We need some form of proportional representation with run off ballots so we don't get another shit head like Harper elected because the Liberal / NDP / Green voters (who are the majority of Canadians) aren't stuck with a party and a prime minister that only acquired ~40% of the vote.
  Remember that part about the right not to vote is also guaranteed? But we'll come back to some other parts of what you just said.
  
  . I also don't see how the Liberal policy decisions are more out of touch than the Conservatives who basically bet everything on big oil, silenced scientists, implemented policies that made the rich richer and tried to bend, break and bully their way through everything that stood in there way, including the Canadian Judicial system.
  
  You mean those Conservative policies that the Liberals had equally enforced when they were in power? But those scientists only complained when the Conservatives were in power? Or that "everything on oil" which wasn't the case(FYI real estate is by far the biggest GDP item in Canada). And it was the Liberals who started Canada down that path in the 1970's with the NEP. The same NEP that was so messed up that Trudeau Sr., had to implement wage and price controls. Or that almost all PM's have gained national party standing by the same methods.
  
  including the Canadian Judicial system.
  
  Reminder that it was the Liberals that revoked the right to property ownership in Canada, when patriation was in the works. And some of the greatest and most egregious charter violations happened under the Liberals watch, with the GC pushing for them.
  
  I'm only saying this about the Federal Liberals though. In contrast, I think the Ontario Liberals should serve jail time for the gross incompetence they've displayed.
  That I can 100% agree with. But let me know when you get Toronto to stop voting for them, and between 23-30% of the province is directly employed by them.
  
  --
  Om, nomnomnom...
15. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by Mashiki · 2016-12-07 03:09 · Score: 1
  
  I truly wonder if the act is the problem or the person, because I think if it was "your guy" you would be praising him as a great leader promoting valuable skills, but since this is not the case, he is wasting time.
  Why don't you go and check my posts over the last decade and change. I'll wait while you make an ass out of yourself.
  
  --
  Om, nomnomnom...
16. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by mark-t · 2016-12-07 03:13 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Maryam Monsef, Trudeau's cabinet minister in question, was quite young when her family went to Afghanistan from Iran, and as she grew older, she had forgotten about the relocation and believed that Afghanistan was where she was originally from. Her parents did not correct this matter when she filled in "Afghanistan" as her place of birth on her application form for refugee status, and at the time, this was true to the best of her knowledge. When her mother since admitted to her that she was actually born in Iran, it would certainly have invalidated her otherwise legitimate status as a refugee on a technicality, since there was false information declared on the application form. Trudeau, however, saw the matter differently, saying that people should conflate this situation with "very deliberate acts of omission or dishonesty in trying to get Canadian citizenship through fraudulent declarations or attestations." Monsef could be considered extraordinarily lucky in this regard, however, because it is certainly the case that some people's citizenship has been revoked for the exact same reasons.... and it is inarguably unfair to those other people in that regard, but by all standards in Canada, Monsef herself is *not* an illegal immigrant.
  So, unfair, most certainly... but not against the law. If being unfair were actually illegal, the world would be extraordinarily different from what it is.
  
  --
  File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
17. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by c · 2016-12-07 03:27 · Score: 1
  
  Most of those people don't have the skills for those positions, let alone any experience in the areas that they're assigned to.
  They rarely do... I'd say Finance is the only one where the minister usually has a solid background and skillset for the job.
  The politicians generally are there to handle the politics, PR, take the flack for the bureaucrats who do the day-to-day stuff, and be an interface between Cabinet and the appointed deputy ministers who take care of keeping a department running. Even at the DM level there's rarely a department-specific skillset... they get shuffled around so much that their primary skill is in running departments. It's not until you get down to the ADM level that I'd even think to make assumptions about specialisation.
  
  --
  Log in or piss off.
18. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by BarbaraHudson · 2016-12-07 03:36 · Score: 1
  
  Come on, our minister of defense is a real bad-ass.
  
  Sajjan joined the The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own) in 1989 as a trooper and was commissioned in 1991. He eventually rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He was deployed overseas four times in the course of his career: once to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and three times to Afghanistan.
  Sajjan was wounded during his service in Bosnia. Sajjan began his 11-year career as an officer of the Vancouver Police Department after returning from his Bosnian deployment. He ended his career with the VPD as a detective with the department's gang crimes unit specializing in drug trafficking and organized-crime investigator.
  Sajjan's first deployment to Afghanistan was right before Operation Medusa in 2006, during which he took leave from his work in the Vancouver Police Department's gang squad. He deployed with the 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group in Kandahar and worked as a liaison officer with the Afghan police. His fluency in Punjabi, his first language, allowed him to be understood by Urdu-speaking Afghans without translators, especially by village leaders who were invaluable to his intelligence gathering. Sajjan found that corruption in the Afghan government was driving recruitment to the Taliban and managed to uncover most Taliban defensive positions in the Kandahar region. After reporting these findings to Brigadier General David Fraser, Sajjan was tasked with helping the general plan aspects of Operation Medusa.
  During Operation Medusa, four Canadian soldiers under Sajjan's command were killed in the fighting. Fraser evaluated Sajjan's leadership during the operation as "nothing short of brilliant." When Sajjan returned to Vancouver, Fraser sent a letter to the police department calling Sajjan “the best single Canadian intelligence asset in theatre,” and stated that his work saved “a multitude of coalition lives.”
  Upon his return, Sajjan left his position with the Vancouver Police, but stayed as a reservist and started his own consulting business that taught intelligence gathering techniques to Canadian and American military personnel. He also consulted for US policy analyst and Afghanistan expert Barnett Rubin, which began as a correspondence over Sajjan's views on how to tackle the Afghan opium trade and evolved into a collaboration as advisers to American military and diplomatic leaders in Afghanistan.
  Sajjan returned to Afghanistan for another tour of duty in 2009, taking another tour of leave from the VPD to do so. Having already taken two leaves of absence, Sajjan had to leave the VPD for his third tour of duty in 2010, during which he was assigned as a Special Assistant to then Major-General James L. Terry, the commander of American forces in Afghanistan.
  It's only politics that is causing problems with fighter jet procurement. Other countries have had run-off contests between manufacturers in less than a year.
  As for the rest of the cabinet, saying I'm underwhelmed is being charitable.
  
  --
  "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
19. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by BarbaraHudson · 2016-12-07 03:43 · Score: 1
  
  Get over it. Castro was better than the American-backed Batista he replaced. Despite the embargo (which has been voted against by all but 2 countries 24 times in the UN as a violation of human rights), Cubans have universal health care that is on a par with the US in terms of things like life expectancy and infant mortality.
  In the face of the embargo, the best way to ensure survival as an independent country was a dictatorship. That's reality.
  Besides, if you want to talk about murdering leaders, take a gander at Obama's kill list. Or the more than 600 assassination attempts the US made on Castro.
  Castro was a man of his time, no more, no less. Acknowledging that he wasn't the 100% evil demon that he's been painted as is something adults can do. As for you and the rest of the Anonymous Coward crowd, I'd tell you to grow up, but you wouldn't understand the concept.
  
  --
  "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
20. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by Eloking · 2016-12-07 03:50 · Score: 1
  
  I truly wonder if the act is the problem or the person, because I think if it was "your guy" you would be praising him as a great leader promoting valuable skills, but since this is not the case, he is wasting time.
  Why don't you go and check my posts over the last decade and change. I'll wait while you make an ass out of yourself.
  Well, you did convince me of something. Considering your attitude, I'll certainly be a fool to try that.
  
  --
  Elok
21. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 04:02 · Score: 0
  
  So you're saying that the government should operate as a fiat of the prime minster and the cabinet. National issue, national debate. Otherwise it's no different then a dictator.
  
  Exaggerate and fight strawmen much?
22. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by BarbaraHudson · 2016-12-07 04:09 · Score: 1
  
  The real problem is that both "feminism" and "patriarchy" are in opposition to what people really want when they use the term "feminism" - equality. Real equality doesn't have or need quotas, or create privileges as a counter to other perceived privileges past or present, doesn't say "check your privilege at the door" as a passive-aggressive way to avoid real debate, doesn't need "safe spaces" that imply that women are too afraid to tell someone "fuck off" openly, so they need to vent with other weak-kneed sisters, and doesn't encourage people to hide in safe spaces rather than get off their fat asses and change things.
  Kind of ironic that Trudeau came out with feminism as a central theme soon after 3rd-wave feminism died. Come on Justin, "Because it's 2015" was so 1999.
  
  --
  "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
23. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by Curtman · 2016-12-07 04:20 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Word of warning to non-Canadians who don't recognise the hyperbole: Alberta is a strange land that desperately wants to be Texas. Its politics produce strange ideas like this. It's clearly something in the water that does this, you see people move there from elsewhere in Canada, and it takes them months sometimes years to become normal again when they come back home. What your experiencing here is someone who has been brainwashed and is suffering a level of butthurt as a result of having a Liberal mayor in Calgary, Socialist government at the provincial level, and a Liberal federal government. Its spectacular to watch.
  
  Carry on Mashiki. Tell us more about how the last decade of Conservative incompetence didn't create this housing bubble and the current economic instability.
24. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by BarbaraHudson · 2016-12-07 04:23 · Score: 1
  
  The average elector has the right to decide what form of government they live under. That's the whole purpose of elections. Also, historically, the best Canadian governments have been minority governments, specifically because, not having a majority, they need to be more inclusive to obtain enough support from other points of view if they wanted to stay in power. You clearly have no understanding of how politics works in Canada, or it's history.
  Proportional representation, done right, will almost always produce a minority government that will have to take into account the various regions and groups that make up this country.
  But to say that "the average Canadian either doesn't care enough to do the research or is too easily swayed by political propaganda to make effective decisions" is bullshit. English Quebecers voted for the Bloc Quebecois in large enough numbers to really fuck both the Bloc (who now as official opposition couldn't blame everything on the feds) and turf the Mulroney Conservatives from power.
  And whenever the provincial liberal government has taken English votes for granted and ignored them, the English have helped vote the Parti Quebecois into power, to remind the Liberals not to ignore them if they want to hold office.
  It's called strategic voting, instead of being sheeple. Maybe where you're from people just follow the party line, but don't paint everyone as being equally stupid and unsophisticated.
  
  --
  "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
25. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by BarbaraHudson · 2016-12-07 04:34 · Score: 1
  
  Actually, the Diefenbaker Conservatives have prior claim - the destruction (literally) of the Avro Arrow (the most advanced fighter of the time) at the behest of the US government because the Bomarc nuclear SAM missiles would supposedly make the Avro obsolete (funny how we still need jet fighters and bombers more than half a century later, isn't it).
  Also, when real estate is the largest part of your economy, you're in trouble. See what happened to the US with their bubble, or Toronto when their bubble collapsed decades earlier, with some properties losing 90% of their value. As housing prices rise, they suck capital from new buyers, reducing their ability to spend and stimulate other parts of the economy. Without those new buyers, resale prices cannot be supported, and without a resale market, the new homes market also falls. Housing should never exceed inflation, especially since buildings do deteriorate and have a limited economic life span without major work.
  
  --
  "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
26. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by meta-monkey · 2016-12-07 04:44 · Score: 1
  
  No one wants "equality," though, they just want power.
  Ultimately the point is moot. If America were settled by "gender equal" colonies, there would be no US or Canada. The colonists would get off the boats and each generation produce fewer children than the generation before, dying out. The evil patriarchy, though, where men do man stuff and women do woman stuff would (and did) get along just fine and dominate the continent.
  Today as well, the conservative religious communities (mormons, catholics, etc) are still popping out kids and doing just fine. It's the liberals who aren't having kids. They will die and their ideology with them. The problem is we just have to make sure they don't replace themselves with hostile foreigners through mass immigration as they die.
  
  --
  We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
27. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 05:15 · Score: 0
  
  The average elector has the right to decide what form of government they live under. That's the whole purpose of elections.
  The average elector has absolutely no idea what they're voting for, what policy the people they vote for advocate, what impact those policies will have on the goals they want to achieve. The average voter is uninformed and irrational, albeit well-intentioned.
  The average elector has no business voting and should stay home. Because by not staying home they force their irrationally and uninformed decisions upon the rest of us.
28. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by Yaztromo · 2016-12-07 05:23 · Score: 1
  
  Actually, the Diefenbaker Conservatives have prior claim - the destruction (literally) of the Avro Arrow (the most advanced fighter of the time) at the behest of the US government because the Bomarc nuclear SAM missiles would supposedly make the Avro obsolete (funny how we still need jet fighters and bombers more than half a century later, isn't it).
  I have to correct you on that there, as the CF-105 wasn't designed as a fighter -- it was designed as an interceptor. Interceptors (and in particular the CF-105) weren't designed for areal dogfighting with other fighter aircraft -- they were designed to take down larger aircraft such as bombers.
  The purported reason for cancelling the Arrow project was that the world was moving away from nuclear capable bombers towards ICBMs. The threat that the CF-105 was designed for was Russian bombers flying over our northern coast, but the advancement of technology was making the need to fly bombers unnecessary, hence a straight-on interceptor was no longer necessary.
  Indeed, today very few countries design or purchase straight-up Interceptor aircraft for their air defence. Fighter jets became advanced enough back in the 60's and 70's to take on the role of both fighter and interceptor as needed. A multi-role fighter-interceptor was a much better investment for a smaller country like ours.
  You are also somewhat incorrect concerning the BOMARC missiles. While the US designed them to be nuclear capable, and the initial intention was to have Canada's inventory equipped with nuclear warheads, in the end Died the Chief caved into public pressure, and the nuclear option was scrapped. Eventually, of course, all of the BOMARC missiles were scrapped -- the mission they were intended for (destroying bombers flying towards the DEW line) evaporated in the face of ICBMs.
  Today we face relative little danger from bombers from Russia flying over the north pole, and even should that happen we have modern advanced middles to take care of them. There really is no place for dedicated interceptors anymore, and there hasn't been for decades. Now none of that is to say that Diefenbaker was right to scrap the CF-105s -- the way the completed jets and all of their plans was dismantled/discarded/destroyed is a national disgrace. My family knows very well how this went down and the pain it caused -- my grandfather was a mechanic at AV Roe who worked on the Arrow project, and who became unemployed at the projects termination. His pride in the Arrow project and his regret at its destruction (and general anger towards Diefenbaker and his cabinet for causing it to happen) lasted until the last of his days.
  Yaz
29. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by a_mari_usque_ad_mare · 2016-12-07 05:52 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  This is probably the most professionally experienced and accomplished cabinet we've ever had. We have a doctor as health minister, a climate change researcher as environment minster, a former Olympian as minister of sport (granted its a BS ministry, but a good example of this pattern). This isn't to say they'll do a good job, but saying they're unskilled is nonsense.
  Its even more striking to compare this bunch to the Harper gang. His ministers were chosen for being toadies and yes men. What was Joe Oliver's particular expertise? Chris Alexander? Paul Calandra? Maxime Bernier? The current leadership race is such a farce as no one knew what they were doing with Boss Harper gone.
  
  --
  The map is not the territory.
30. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by a_mari_usque_ad_mare · 2016-12-07 06:05 · Score: 2
  
  I actually think feminism is more important for our society then ever. In the US people looked at an overqualified woman and a complete buffoon of a man and thought it was a tough choice. Implicit bias was a part of this failed decision making.
  You can't get over your personal biases without a correction, and the Liberal cabinet is a great example of that. People claim that having a quota would lead to picking mediocre women over qualified men, because they don't see their own biases actually give mediocre men a leg up. The result is the most professionally qualified* cabinet we've had, and certainly head and shoulders above the previous cabinet.
  * Not necessarily going to lead to results, but we'll see.
  
  --
  The map is not the territory.
31. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by a_mari_usque_ad_mare · 2016-12-07 06:25 · Score: 2
  
  ...
  
  I'm only saying this about the Federal Liberals though. In contrast, I think the Ontario Liberals should serve jail time for the gross incompetence they've displayed.
  That I can 100% agree with. But let me know when you get Toronto to stop voting for them, and between 23-30% of the province is directly employed by them.
  You might be surprised at how easily the conservatives could win in Ontario, especially given how bad things have gone at that level. I voted for the Liberals last time, in Ontario and federally, and I know alot of other people in Ottawa and Toronto who would vote Ontario PC given the chance. The margins were very small last time, so a small shift could do it. This would be my two point plan:
  - Stop the right-wing identity politics crap (gay marriage, shutting down the CBC, etc). This is unnerving and loathsome to the average voter, and the fanatics will vote conservative anyways. What else are they gonna do, vote Christian Heritage and let Wynne get in again?
  - Come up with a detailed and carefully considered plan that will actually improve the economy for average people. Just saying tax cuts will do it is not enough, but if you really do make things better for everyone people will keep voting you in.
  
  --
  The map is not the territory.
32. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 06:36 · Score: 0
  
  Arguing that he wasn't quite as bad as Batista or Obama or Darth Vader doesn't make him any less of a murdering dictator. It just means he'll just have plenty of company in hell.
  Arguing that a socialist dictatorship was required as the best way of coping with an arms embargo brought in because, well, the country was at risk of becoming a socialist dictatorship is curious logic; some ways removed from "reality". (Yes, yes: it already was a dictatorship under Batista. See above.)
  As for Cuba's much vaunted health care and education systems, even if one were to grant for the sake of argument that these were and are every bit as wonderful as we've been told, and to agree that these are in any way legitimate functions of a government (I do not), and to overlook the fact that all of it was possible only because it was propped up by the Soviet Union and later Venezuela (and, to a lesser degree, China) -- are these things really worth giving up every last vestige of your political and economic freedom? A prison with an excellent school and hospital is still a prison.
  Finally, "a man of his time": I'll give you that one, considering that his time included such beacons as Mao Zedong, Kim Il-sung, Suharto, Enver Hoxha, Nikita Khrushchev, François Duvalier... the list goes on and bloody on. Good riddance to them all.
33. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 06:45 · Score: 0
  
  What are "codding" and "studding"? Something to do with fishing and, um construction? Animal husbandry?
34. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by ChrisMaple · 2016-12-07 07:50 · Score: 1
  
  Unfortunately, those smart enough to go to college are subjected to the propaganda of the leftist majority of college professors. A large portion of students with insufficient intellectual armor are converted into leftists by college, some of which students become the new generation of professors.
  
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35. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by ChrisMaple · 2016-12-07 08:01 · Score: 1
  
  The average elector has the right to decide what form of government they live under.
  Nobody has the right to decide that a murderous thugocracy is the form of government they'll live under, because there are also other people who will have to live under that government. The purpose of elections is to provide a check against otherwise unlimited government. Alas, that check is not always successful.
  
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36. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by ChrisMaple · 2016-12-07 08:08 · Score: 1
  
  The high quality Cuban healthcare was available to only the most politically powerful, and even that wasn't as good as many other countries. Everyone else had 2 choices: lousy healthcare and no healthcare.
  Batista was evil, but nowhere near as evil as Castro.
  Castro was responsible for at least 10,000 deaths and quite possibly more than 100,000. Assassinating him would have been a gift to the whole world.
  
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37. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by ChrisMaple · 2016-12-07 08:10 · Score: 1
  
  Codding has to do with codpieces, so the relation to studding is obvious.
  
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38. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by BarbaraHudson · 2016-12-07 08:32 · Score: 1
  
  And who determines who should be allowed to vote? Just look at the last election - the vast majority of voters voted for one of two candidates who should never have been in a position to run. Paradoxically, so far Trump has proven to be better for the economy than Clinton would have been. Those 50,000 jobs from China gotta count for something. He promised to do it, and he's doing it. Clinton, on the other hand, had NO economic policy. It was all "look at the scary orange orangutan." Oh wait, she did have an economic policy - 2 in fact - one for the public, and a private one when speaking to Wall Street and bankers.
  
  --
  "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
39. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by BarbaraHudson · 2016-12-07 08:44 · Score: 1
  
  Contrary to what you believe, the nuclear weapons were delivered. This was revealed at one point when the secrecy of the underground control site near Dorval Airport (entrance gained by a CTV technician I had gone to school with years before in a case of mistaken identity) as well as the barracks-cum-launcher silo on the south shore military base were compromised (guy flew through restricted airspace and got an eyeball on them when the "roof" was retracted during maintenance). The government has admitted Canada had nuclear weapons, though they didn't give real numbers, for obvious reasons.
  The election of the Parti Quebecois made it pretty much urgent to remove all such weapons from politically sensitive areas "just in case."
  
  --
  "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
40. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by SuiteSisterMary · 2016-12-07 08:44 · Score: 1
  
  It's a problem that Harper won with ~40 percent of the vote. It's a problem that Trudeau did the same. It's a problem that the NDP won in Alberta due to vote splitting between the Wild Rose party, and the PC party.
  This is why we need something other than FPTP.
  
  --
  Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
41. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 08:47 · Score: 0
  
  doesn't need "safe spaces" that imply that women are too afraid to tell someone "fuck off" openly
  Most women ARE too afraid to tell someone to fuck off openly. Guess why that is? Couldn't be that most women are at risk of rape and assault even from acquaintances and friends and threats of violence from total strangers...
42. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 08:49 · Score: 0
  
  The Albertans are moving to Ontario. I see more and more Alberta plates here. And with the liberal government ripping this province apart with their ineptitude, to the point that most liberal supporters are disgusted with them, I forsee an *extreme* majority Conservative lead in the most populous province in Canada next election. Ontario needs another purge. We need another Mike Harris. Bring it on! Only the left can create men like him through utter incompetence.
  Remember, when he tears your preciously expensive social programs apart, you only have yourself to blame for hurting everyone to get what you want.
43. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by BarbaraHudson · 2016-12-07 09:08 · Score: 1
  
  The most professionally qualified? Like Jane Philpott, who gave contracts to a campaign volunteer and then lied about it in the commons? It's true that the attacks on Bardish Chagger for not knowing which country she was born in are unfair - she only knew what her parents told her; nevertheless she has failed in her stated goal of a more transparent and open government.
  
  In her first appearance as the House leader, Chagger seemed excited, repeating her commitments to open government and transparency but offering few answers on what she would specifically bring to the role.
  And let's not forget that all the junior positions went to women. Tokenism is the exact opposite of equality.
  
  --
  "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
44. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by BarbaraHudson · 2016-12-07 09:13 · Score: 1
  
  I didn't argue that "the country was in danger of becoming a socialist" anything. Take a look around - the only country in the G7 that isn't socialist is the US. In the G8, the US has the dubious honor of sharing that spot with Russia.
  BTW, a "prison with an excellent school and hospital" is far better than what many Americans experience.
  
  --
  "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
45. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by BarbaraHudson · 2016-12-07 09:14 · Score: 1
  
  Not true. If the majority elect a thugocracy, that is a democratic choice that must be respected. Same as when the US elected a kleptocracy.
  
  --
  "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
46. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by BarbaraHudson · 2016-12-07 09:19 · Score: 1
  
  You are so full of shit when it comes to Cuban health care.
  
  Cuba trains young physicians worldwide in its Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM). Since its inception in 1998, ELAM has graduated more than 20,000 doctors from over 123 countries. Currently, 11,000 young people from over 120 nations follow a career in medicine at the Cuban institution. According to Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the UN, ELAM is “the world’s most advanced medical school.” He also praised the Cuban doctors working around the world, including those in Haiti: “They are always the first to arrive and the last to leave. They remain in place after the crises. Cuba can be proud of its health care system, a model for many countries
  On a bang for the buck basis, the US is the 3rd-world country.
  
  --
  "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
47. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by Anonymous+Cow+Ward · 2016-12-07 09:38 · Score: 1
  
  Men are far more likely to be victims of assault. Not a great argument there, bud.
  
  --
  Examine even your most deeply held beliefs. Nobody is always right.
48. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by BarbaraHudson · 2016-12-07 09:42 · Score: 1
  
  And as long as women don't stand up, the behavior is seen as consequence-free. Not too smart, is it?
  
  --
  "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
49. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by Anonymous+Cow+Ward · 2016-12-07 09:53 · Score: 1
  
  I don't think it's accurate to say housing should never exceed inflation. It should if, for instance, there's a significant increase in the quality of dwellings that are newly built, or it becomes much easier to refit older buildings to gain significant advantages. In most cases, you're right though - it shouldn't exceed inflation for very long, or there are consequences.
  
  --
  Examine even your most deeply held beliefs. Nobody is always right.
50. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by Mashiki · 2016-12-08 23:30 · Score: 1
  
  Monsef herself is *not* an illegal immigrant.
  
  Immigration law actually says this is *not* true. Her parents filed incorrect information, she willingly filed the incorrect information and didn't correct it either. There is an actual process before Immigration Canada that's offered as a clemency when a parent illegitimately files the wrong country of origin. The only difference between her and someone else? She's got political leverage because she's in cabinet. It was still illegal, and Trudeau waved his hands over it along with the media.
  
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  Om, nomnomnom...
51. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by mark-t · 2016-12-09 03:05 · Score: 1
  
  Obviously the only difference between her and someone else is because of her political leverage, but while that is most definitely not fair to others who may have had something similar happen and had to deal with the lengthy process that you had just mentioned, no actual laws were broken with Trudeau's hand-waving of the matter as it were, and she was therefore not an illegal immigrant.
  
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  File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
52. Re:Lovely...with no pressing issues... by robinsc · 2016-12-13 00:52 · Score: 1
  
  But did Hillary Clinton lose because she's a woman or because she is Hillary ?
  Having a quota sucks. We have it here in India. for everything. People ended up committing suicide over reservations.
  
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Cult of personality by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-06 23:28 · Score: 0

Justin Trudeau is a master of public-image manipulation. He knows the tricks about appealing to young, inexperienced hyper-liberals, but can do little to divert people's attention from his abysmal track record on matters such as appeasing to the oppressive and aggressive Chinese regime, appeasing to the criminal family of Ibn-Saud, and oppression of First Nations. He self-consciously cultivate his own hero-worship, but he's just politician.
By now, anyone still falling for such cheap PR stunts and gimmicks?
1. Re:Cult of personality by Curtman · 2016-12-07 04:59 · Score: 1
  
  By now, anyone still falling for such cheap PR stunts and gimmicks?
  Yep. Pretty much everyone is. It's like the Cons haven't figured out that their chicken-little politics isn't working anymore. Keep it cooky cons, and get comfy in opposition. :)
  
  Liberals hold on to honeymoon gains in national polls
  Justin Trudeau's Liberals continue to enjoy more support today than they did in the 2015 federal election and have yet to see their poll numbers take a negative turn.
  ...
  The Conservatives are down almost uniformly in most parts of Canada since the election. They have slipped 3.1 points in Alberta, 3.5 points in both Ontario and Quebec, 3.6 points in B.C. and 4.4 points in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Yeah, and I made a car too! by Viol8 · 2016-12-06 23:30 · Score: 0

All I had to do was attach the wheels conveniently laid out next to the hubs for me already and it was done!
Seriously, I'm getting tired of the reduction of the art programming in the public eye down to something any idiot can do. Any idiot can't do it - what they can do is plug some coloured preprogrammed very high level game blocks together on screen to produce some piss awful "game" whose gameplay would have been embarrasingly simple on an Atari 2600.
1. Re:Yeah, and I made a car too! by mwvdlee · 2016-12-06 23:36 · Score: 1
  
  You're vastly overestimating what Trudeau actually did here.
  The wheels and hubs were already fully attached.
  What he did was choose the color for the wheels and hubs.
  
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2. Re:Yeah, and I made a car too! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-06 23:53 · Score: 0
  
  plug some coloured preprogrammed very high level game blocks together on screen to produce some piss awful "game" whose gameplay would have been embarrasingly simple on an Atari 2600.
  You've described the modern AAA gaming industry.
3. Re:Yeah, and I made a car too! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 00:05 · Score: 0
  
  That is also what iOS has been updated to do - flat featureless blocks.
  Millennials are retarded to the point they won't tell the difference between an Atari game and a GTA. They grew up to think in 4th dimensional concepts, in colored blocks,... out of Zuckerbergs stupid ass.
4. Re:Yeah, and I made a car too! by MayeulC · 2016-12-07 00:43 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  I think that what's the most important here is not how simple or complex coding actually is; but rather getting people to know what it is, and not to fear it.
  I often meet people (students, most of the time), that are frightened by the idea of creating a project bigger than a couple of C files. The trick in this case is to progressively increase the size or the complexity of the projects they are working on, developing their abstraction, design, and overview skills (as well as testing, documentation, etc.). But, of course, you have to start somewhere. And those projects are a perfect opportunity to do so.
  
  I believe that I more or less started coding the day I started changing .ini files for some game configurations. Then I changed the .bat launchers a bit (in order to load different config files, for example). And increasingly complex, to the Linux kernel and beyond. And in my experience, the same is true for pretty much any field I am interested in (as well as the others).
  To reuse your example, say, Lego cars, can probably (indirectly, as a starter) bring someone into mechanical engineering.
5. Re:Yeah, and I made a car too! by fisted · 2016-12-07 01:04 · Score: 1
  
  Lego cars, can probably (indirectly, as a starter) bring someone into mechanical engineering.
  Indi-fucking-rectly?
  
  --
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6. Re:Yeah, and I made a car too! by dinfinity · 2016-12-07 02:07 · Score: 0
  
  To me it's about the naming. Making LEGO cars is not called 'mechanical engineering', it's called playing with fucking LEGO.
  Toylike programming does not have a toylike name. 'Hour of code' does not sound like 'Hour of building LEGO cars'.
7. Re:Yeah, and I made a car too! by fisted · 2016-12-07 02:24 · Score: 1
  
  Why no IRC?
  
  --
  CLI paste? paste.pr0.tips!
8. Re: Yeah, and I made a car too! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 02:48 · Score: -1
  
  It should be called the "Hour of Participation Trophies"
9. Re:Yeah, and I made a car too! by mwvdlee · 2016-12-07 04:05 · Score: 1
  
  People actually still use IRC.
  
  --
  Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
10. Re:Yeah, and I made a car too! by BarbaraHudson · 2016-12-07 04:36 · Score: 1
  
  It would be more impressive if his game also did email. Every program should grow until it can do email. Until then, it's incomplete :-)
  
  --
  "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
11. Re:Yeah, and I made a car too! by fisted · 2016-12-07 04:47 · Score: 1
  
  That's my point. Or was your point that people don't use AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text? Because I do use ICQ, Jabber (both gatewayed to IRC, but still) and Mobile Text.
  
  --
  CLI paste? paste.pr0.tips!
12. Re:Yeah, and I made a car too! by fisted · 2016-12-07 04:48 · Score: 1
  
  ??? What game?
  
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  CLI paste? paste.pr0.tips!
Sweet game by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-06 23:40 · Score: 0

Is it a blowjob simulator where you fellate the rotting corpse of fidel castro?
Pretty cool by 110010001000 · 2016-12-07 00:25 · Score: 1

This just proves anyone can code. How does $8.50 an hour sound?
1. Re:Pretty cool by Joe_Dragon · 2016-12-07 00:46 · Score: 1
  
  I think the min is at least $10-$11 /hr there.
2. Re:Pretty cool by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 01:16 · Score: 0
  
  It varies a little from place to place, but I think the lowest min wage limit in Canada is $10.70/hour.
3. Re:Pretty cool by Mashiki · 2016-12-07 02:40 · Score: 1
  
  Depends on where you are. FYI: If you live in Toronto, ON., you're not going to survive on $10-11/hr. If you live in Innerkip, ON., you'll be just fine. In turn, if you're in Edmonton, AB., $12.60 will get you far if you're smart. But you'll be turning to the food bank or a local church if you're in Grande Cache, AB. Especially at $6/gal for milk and $8/loaf of bread.
  
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  Om, nomnomnom...
4. Re:Pretty cool by BarbaraHudson · 2016-12-07 04:50 · Score: 1
  
  $6 a gallon is cheap compared to Quebec. Milk is about double the price of Ontario for a 4-liter bag.
  
  --
  "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
5. Re:Pretty cool by WillAffleckUW · 2016-12-07 06:38 · Score: 1
  
  It's in Canadian dollars, so you're both right. $11 an hour Canadian is around $8.50 an hour US.
  
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  -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
OMG by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 00:46 · Score: 0

I need to stop reading /.
A white male programmer?!? by elrous0 · 2016-12-07 00:57 · Score: -1, Troll

I demand he be replaced with an immigrant, woman, or minority!

--
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1. Re:A white male programmer?!? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 01:25 · Score: 0
  
  No, I demand he be replaced with someone who's father did the same job !
Fight against Kinder Morgan by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 01:02 · Score: 0

http://act.350.org/letter/reje...
It's a shame by Sean · 2016-12-07 01:22 · Score: 2

He could have written online voting system to elect MPs using Rock Paper Scissors.
Did it ... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 01:51 · Score: 0

... involve sending Cuban dissidents to political prison?
From the leader of a gov by future+assassin · 2016-12-07 03:20 · Score: 1

that wants this http://www.tomshardware.com/ne...

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by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
you fail xIt by Anonymous Coward · 2016-12-07 03:20 · Score: -1, Flamebait

]said. 'screaming
He calls that a game? by jez9999 · 2016-12-07 03:40 · Score: 1

Um, yeah... "coding is easy" if your idea of coding is moving a few speech bubbles around to reskin some incredibly lame Pong/Arkanoid clone.

--
== Jez ==
Do you miss Firefox? Try Pale Moon.
well, this is how elections work by qQ7eBMsfM5gs · 2016-12-07 05:07 · Score: 1

Well, this is how elections work: Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal voted him into the office, how everybody pays for it.
Excellent! by WillAffleckUW · 2016-12-07 06:37 · Score: 1

Now if only he'd done a curling game, we'd be on fire!

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-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
"Coding" by DarthVain · 2016-12-08 06:51 · Score: 1

Depends what you define as "coding".
I'd say generally speaking coding is easy, it's understanding the problem and designing a solution that is hard. I'd say other than in rather rare instances is really "inspired" code required. So if you count requirements comprehension and solution design as part of "coding" then ya, not always so easy.
Then there are getting those requirements from clients that don't always know what they want and having to tease out of them what is actually required can also be hard to do, but is that part of coding?
Lastly I'd say another thing that seems to be hard to do is doing all the above, whilst not breaking some totally unrelated part of the system no one will bother to test so it will pass UAT flawlessly, but bombs in production.
I say all that from sitting at multiple sides of the software table.
That said it was just the other day I was evaluating a project and came across a part where I couldn't help thinking the line "Clever Girl..." (from Jurassic Park Aussie accent and all) about the developer and particular tricky requirement. However wasn't (as said rarely) the code that particularly clever but the design, which usually results from coming at the problem from a totally different angle.