1 THE HARPER MAJORITY TAKES OVER Canada’s new Conservative majority government, the preferred choice of most Saskatchewanians (56 per cent), is back in session. On the to-do list: trashing democracy by killing the vote subsidy, trashing the wheat board against the wishes of most Prairie farmers (karma’s a bitch, innit?), passing a pile of expensive and dumb tough on crime laws we don’t need including bringing in the same kind of impractical mandatory sentencing laws that have helped bankrupt so many U.S. states by increasing jail populations,  building more jails to house all these new prisoners, cutting programs we DO need to fight the structural deficit they caused by cutting taxes recklessly, ignoring environmental problems, muzzling any critics they can and generally being short-sighted, pro-business, mean-spirited goons that only a fool or a sociopath could support. More here, here and here.

2 THE TEA PARTY WUVS MILLIONAIRES U.S. President Barack Obama stands by his no cuts without tax increases on millionaires plan while Republican toadies whine about class warfare. “This is not class warfare, it’s math,” says the president. Word.

3 YEMEN PROTESTER KILLAPALOOZA Yemen’s government sucks.

4 MULCAIR WON’T DECLARE NDP Deputy Leader Thomas Mulcair isn’t sure there’s any point running for the NDP leadership, since the party organization in Quebec is pretty much non-existent.

5 REMEMBER THE BRITISH PHONE HACKING SCANDAL? British police are using (i.e. abusing) the country’s Official Secrets Act in an attempt to force The Guardian, the newspaper that exposed phone hacking to the public,  to reveal its sources. This is pure evil–you don’t use legislation designed to bust spies to expose newspaper sources who embarrassed you.

6 IMPORTANT NEWS I DIDN’T BLOG ABOUT YET BECAUSE I’M BUSY, YOU GUYS Brad Wall and co. aren’t happy with the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, scientists have found dinosaur feathers preserved in amber (!!!),  an NHL training camp opened in Winnipeg for the first time in 16 years and an editorial says a Palestinian state is a moral right.

VIDEO! An oldie but a goodie. You’ll never listen to Billy Joel the same way again.