The Enlightened Savage: The Week Ahead

Monday, December 17, 2007

The Week Ahead

Nation, the week ahead is going to be a busy one for yours truly in the blogosphere. Here's what you can expect in the next 7 days (in no particular order)...

Coverage of, and reaction to, RCMP Taskforce recommendations
What Calgarians can't afford to ignore until the next civic election, part 1: Snow Removal
The last word on Chandler's Egmont play until at least February
The Harper Conservatives: Reasonable environmental policy presented in excessively stupid ways
The first of my analysis of the Alberta political parties ahead of an expected early 2008 election - Wildrose: Ready to blossom, or withering on the vine?

Ambitious? Sure. But compared to 6 weeks of near-daily posting on every municipal ward and race in Calgary, it'll be a piece of cake. :)

Going out to buy Red Bull, and uninstalling Eastside Hockey Manager and Civ4 from my computer...

- E.S.

4 comments:

Allie Wojtaszek said...: OMG Not Civ4!!!!!!; Dec 17, 2007, 2:47:00 p.m.
Enlightened Savage said...: Sadly, yes.

A swift "double click" of that icon, and all my good intentions for the week's blogging will put on the back-burner awaiting that old battle-cry of Civ addicts everywhere:

"One... more... turn..."; Dec 17, 2007, 5:13:00 p.m.
Kirk Schmidt said...: I was about to say the same thing as Allie before I saw her comment...

Just remember, ES. It can always be reinstalled... which is why I hid my World of Warcraft discs after uninstalling...; Dec 17, 2007, 8:57:00 p.m.
Allie Wojtaszek said...: EXIT TO DESKTOP

"Are you Sure?"

No... of course not!!!! Why would you ask me that!!! Now I have to keep playing!!!!; Dec 18, 2007, 11:53:00 a.m.

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Who Is The Enlightened Savage?

The Enlightened Savage (Joey Oberhoffner) is a 40 year-old, life-long Albertan with one foot in each of the private (small business owner) and public (provincial public service) sectors. He is a self-confessed political junkie/policy wonk, with a sometimes disturbing affinity for Montreal Smoked Meat, gadgets, and well-written television.

Joey began blogging in late 2006 under the nom de plume of "The Enlightened Savage", and rapidly became well-known as an even-handed analyst of municipal and provincial political issues. He offered in-studio commentary on CBC Radio One for Municipal Election Night 2007, did analysis for the 2010 Municipal Election and the 2011 Federal Election, and appeared in-studio on CityTV for analysis of the results on Provincial Election Night 2008.

Joey also writes at and is a founding contributor for CalgaryPolitics.com.

Hate-mail, love letters, and offers of support for his campaign to change politics for the better can be sent to amishbuggyracing (at) gmail (dot) com.

All opinions expressed on this blog are those of the author himself, and are not meant in any way to reflect the opinions of any organization for which he either works or volunteers.

Joey O's Policy Points

"This guy is obviously a raging leftist - how can he possibly call himself a conservative?"

THIS is how. Because the public policies I advocate for are conservative - and I don't have to support your chosen right-wing politician or pet issue to be allowed to use the name "conservative".

- Fixed Provincial Election Dates (I'm leaning towards the second Monday of May, every 4 years. Would VERY rarely come into contact with a late Easter, otherwise it's smooth sailing...)

- Full Disclosure of Donors and their Contribution amounts at all levels of elected office, including internal party races, BEFORE the votes are cast - we deserve to know who's funding the war chests of our would-be leaders. And none of this "numbered corporation" crap either.

- A fully funded and independent Auditor General

- Economic diversification. Even a five-year old knows it's a bad idea to carry all your eggs in one basket.

- Making Alberta's Oilsands the standard bearer for environmental sensitivity while also making them the most sought-after business opportunity for large and mid-size operators in North America.

- Getting our energy products to market and getting a global price for them by working with our neighbours, rather than throwing tantrums and accomplishing nothing.

- Promotion of eco-tourism as a way to showcase the unique character of Alberta's landscape and people and boosting local economies.

- Capping government program spending increases from year to year at the rate of inflation plus population growth.

- Making the MLA "Tax-Free Allowance" just that - an allowance. Anything that isn't spent on expenses related to their work (e.g. rent in Edmonton, vehicular or transportation costs, hospitality) should be returned to the provincial treasury, or taxed as income.

- More recorded votes and fewer in camera sessions at all levels of government. The work of our governments should be public and indexable unless there is a clear reason why it shouldn't be.

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Monday, December 17, 2007

The Week Ahead

4 comments: