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There's Democracy For You

September 09, 2008 06:38 +0000  |  Canada Conservatives Democracy Green Party Liberals NDP Politics 7

The old white men have spoken. They don't want Elizabeth May kicking their asses in the debates, so they threatened to pull out completely if she was permitted to participate:

The Consortium approached the parties to explore the possibility of including the Green Party in all or part of the Leaders' Debates. However, three parties opposed its inclusion and it became clear that if the Green Party were included, there would be no Leaders' Debates. In the interest of Canadians, the Consortium has determined that it is better to broadcast the debates with the four major party leaders, rather than not at all.

For further information: Jason MacDonald, Spokesperson for the Network Consortium, T (416) 482-1357, C (647) 205-4744, macdonald@veritascanada.com

Or to use Adriane Carr's words: "Five men can agree with three men to exclude the only female national leader in Canada."

The lines split like so: the Liberals were cool with her inclusion, The Bloc were on the fence, and Conservatives where dead against it. But I reserve my foulest bitterness for our "Champions of Electoral Reform": the NDP, who like the Conservatives, flat out said that they would not attend if she were permitted to participate. Shame on them. ...and people wonder why I ditched those cowards when I did.

If their platform wasn't enough to compell you to vote Green, maybe the blind rage appropriate for this situation will. They didn't even offer a challenge this time, instead they just said that they'd take their toys and go home if they had to play with the new kid.

How juvenile.

May said that she'd go after them in court over this and I hope she does. If we can't have our democracy in the debates, then I can only hope that we can take it back through the courts.

Like It Or Not, The Green Party Is Now Legit.

September 02, 2008 18:09 +0000  |  Canada Environment Green Party Politics 14

For those who haven't yet heard, Canada's Green Party is now an official parliamentary party. Blair Wilson, the MP for West Vancouver has defected from the Federal Liberal party to the Green Party of Canada. This move pretty much solidifies the Green Party's right to enter the debates for the upcoming election, and believe me when I tell you that Elizabeth May will rip the other four to shreds.

This election is likely to be a lot more fun than I initially expected.

City For Sale

August 20, 2008 22:47 +0000  |  Activism Politics Public Space The Toronto Public Space Committee Toronto Transit 13

In 2006, Jane Pitfield, one of Toronto's mayoral candidates had mentioned the possibility of selling naming rights to subway stations as a way to help fund the system. As insane as it may sound to some, this idea did gain traction among some supporters in council and the media. At the time, I'd toyed with the idea of creating a corporate-sponsored subway map to raise some awareness around this woman's position, but as it became clear that she was unlikely to win, my interest faded.

However, the idea didn't die with Pitfield's campaign. Toronto City Hall has continued to toy with the idea of selling off the naming rights of public spaces to corporations, so Jayme Turney and Jonathan Goldsbie from the Toronto Public Space Committee started work on a campaign called City for Sale -- an advocacy campaign to raise awareness about the result of this line of thinking as well as push council on considering other options. When I heard about this, I contacted Jonathan to let him know that I had a fun idea in mind that might help them out, and after roughly a week of off-hours toying with Inkscape, and lots of help from the City For Sale volunteers with logo acquisition, "The Wrong Way" was born:

ITMFA

July 23, 2008 06:33 +0000  |  Politics The United States 4

Don't laugh. He's doing it.

I only hope that he has the chance to make history before the miserable failure retires and gets to spend the rest of his life being referred to as "Mr. President".

The Vancouver Folk Fest 2008

July 20, 2008 04:21 +0000  |  Politics Self Reflection Socialism 5

Notes on Pacifism (2008-07-19 21:21:00)

I've discovered that I'm incensed by pacifists. They approach the concept of violence with such dismissive superiority, like it's some kind of old idea who's day has come and gone. As if somehow, if a few of us were to decide not to commit an act of violence, the rest of the world will somehow agree to follow suit.

What foolishness is this?

No intelligent person would argue that violence can solve everything, but similarly, no rational person can argue that every problem can be solved without it.

Some conflicts not only call for violence, but outright require it. In fact, I would submit that anyone who would advocate non-violent resistance for all conflicts is just as naive as those who think that every problem is solveable at the barrel of a gun.

In Summary (2008-07-20 13:21:00)

Strolling trough this park has been like walking through my memory. At every turn, I'm reminded of a happy moment, but strangely enough, the memory isn't very specific. In other words, I remember a peace and happiness associated with being here, but for the life of me, I can't determine the source. In fact, my feelings toward the festival presently are quite the opposite to what they were before I left for Ontario back in 2001.

In a way, it's as if my politics have changed, while those of the festival haven't, and somehow we both seem to think that we're still on the same "side".

We both want:

  • Peace
  • A healthy planet
  • Equality
  • Affordable housing

But our definitions of these ideals, not to mention the forms in which we'd like to see these things take place differ considerably:

The concensus here for dealing with homelessness seems to be substantial rent controls and treating heroin addiction and alcoholism like a disease. I just can't follow that line of reasoning. Where they see thousands out of work, I see a labour shortage and where they see a need for legislative rent controls, I see acres of underdeveloped land that could be cultivated to drive down the cost of living through competition. We need to increase density and improve sustainability while developing a scavenger class for the emerging market of reusable containers. Ideas like these are met with considerable opposition here.

There's a focus on pacifism, like it's some sort of magic panacea, and there's also a kind of reverence for panhandlers and bums (their term). As if vagrants are living some kind of idealised life. I never used to bat an eye at comments like these, but now they grate against my skin and I'm not convinced that this is a bad thing.

For so many of the people here, things like working and bathing are optional, and there are children everywhere. Screaming, oozing children, the blistering sun and rap music! -- I've not been in a happy place all day.

It's important to note that I don't condemn this lifestyle, far from it. Some of the happiest people I know live and breathe this kind of life. I support their choice and right to this life but... I just don't think that it's the kind of life I want anymore. At one time, yes, but not anymore.

Not Alex

July 03, 2008 20:48 +0000  |  Politics The United States 2

Found initially on One Good Move, this 30second spot really made an impression on me:

Increase Your Political Knowledge

June 28, 2008 23:22 +0000  |  Politics 0

I'm doing a quiz over at The Political Compass which has some surprising answers. If you've got 10minutes, sift through and answer a few. It'll give you an interesting, if not disturbing outlook on how the world really works.

Here are some examples:

  • Who granted several audiences to, and received a donation of more than $1 million from Shoko Asahara, leader of the Supreme Truth cult of Japan, and spreader of sarin gas in the Tokyo subway?
    1. The Dalai Lama
    2. Pope John Paul II
    3. George Carey, as Archbishop of Canterbury
    4. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
  • Who said: "I am strongly in favour of using poisonous gas against uncivilised tribes ... to spread a lively terror?"
    1. Albert Schweizer
    2. Winston Churchill
    3. Princess Diana
    4. Ché Guevara
  • Who said: "I do not consider Hitler to be as bad as he is depicted. He is showing an ability that is amazing and seems to be gaining his victories without much bloodshed?
    1. Winston Churchill
    2. Albert Einstein
    3. Mahatma Gandhi
    4. George Orwell

The answers, in order are: The Dalai Lama, Winston Churchill and Mahatma Gandhi.

For those questions and more like them, check out The Political Compass: Iconochasms.

Finally, Some Movement on Net Neutrality

March 28, 2008 18:43 +0000  |  Net Neutrality Politics Technology 0

A lot of people are still lost as to what Net Neutrality is, let alone why it's important. I posted about it a while back, so I won't reiterate here.

What's new and exciting on the Neutrality front however seems to be the brewings of a perfect storm of sorts. Just as the CBC announced plans to release some of it's programming via bittorrent, Rogers decided to put new bandwidth caps on it's downloads, and Bell started throttling bittorrent traffic to all of it's users as well as all of the companies reselling Bell service without their knowledge or consent.

The result is that the general public is finally starting to wake up to the fact that ISP consolidation and their willingness to abuse their power for their own profit might be a problem. More importantly, we're all starting to feel like there might be a solution. Say it with me boys and girls: Regulation.

I just found out today that the an NDP MP is taking up this issue, and the Council of Canadians has issued a press release on the subject. There's also been considerable media coverage on the mess from mainstream sources like The Globe and Mail. Small beginnings to be sure, but you'll forgive me if I'm just a little hopeful :-)

The Mother of Ascent

February 25, 2008 05:58 +0000  |  Politics The United States 2

He's doing it again, Ralph Nader is running for President and gods bless him. No one currently running for president under either the Democrat or Republican banners wants to do for America what Nader knows he can do.

He announced his candidacy on MSNBC's meet the press today and when asked if he'd be running he gave the following response:

Let me put it in context, to make it a little more palatable to people who have closed minds. Twenty-four percent of the American people are satisfied with the state of the country, according to Gallup. That's about the lowest ranking ever. Sixty-one percent think both major parties are failing. And, according to Frank Luntz's poll, a Republican, 80 percent would consider voting for a independent this year. Now, you take that framework of people feeling locked out, shut, shut out, marginalized, disrespected and you go from Iraq to Palestine/Israel, from Enron to Wall Street, from Katrina to the bungling of the Bush administration, to the complicity of the Democrats in not stopping him on the war, stopping him on the tax cuts, getting a decent energy bill through, and you have to ask yourself, as a citizen, should we elaborate the issues that the two are not talking about? And the--all, all the candidates--McCain, Obama and Clinton--are against single payer health insurance, full Medicare for all. I'm for it, as well as millions of Americans and 59 percent of physicians in a forthcoming poll this April. People don't like Pentagon waste, a bloated military budget, all the reports in the press and in the GAO reports. A wasteful defense is a weak defense. It takes away taxpayer money that can go to the necessities of the American people. That's off the table to Obama and Clinton and McCain.

The issue of labor law reform, repealing the notorious Taft-Hartley Act that keeps workers who are now more defenseless than ever against corporate globalization from organizing to defend their interests. Cracking down on corporate crime. The media--the mainstream media repeatedly indicating how trillions of dollars have been drained and fleeced and looted from millions of workers and investors who don't have many rights these days, and pensioners. You know, when you see the paralysis of the government, when you see Washington, D.C., be corporate-occupied territory, every department agency controlled by overwhelming presence of corporate lobbyists, corporate executives in high government positions, turning the government against its own people, you--one feels an obligation, Tim, to try to open the doorways, to try to get better ballot access, to respect dissent in America in the terms of third parties and, and independent candidates; to recognize historically that great issues have come in our history against slavery and women rights to vote and worker and farmer progressives, through little parties that never ran--won any national election. Dissent is the mother of ascent. And in that context, I have decided to run for president.

The guy from One Good Move said it best:

For those Democrats upset by another Nadar run for the presidency let me remind you that it might have been avoided if you'd had the wisdom to vote for John Edwards.

The world needs more leaders like Nader, and Fates willing, he'll get his chance... probably not, but I can hope.

A Reddish Orange?

February 19, 2008 21:37 +0000  |  Liberals NDP Politics 6

I received an email today from the Federal NDP with a most extraordinary statement enclosed. Siting the mass failings of the Liberal party to collectively stand up to the Conservatives on crucial subjects like Afghanistan and Kyoto, (choosing instead to abstain from the vote rather than risk an election), the President of the New Democratic Party has offerend the following:

I'm making an extraordinary appeal to all New Democrat supporters to invite their Liberal friends to join our party right now -- the only national party not in favour of three more years of war and the only national party standing up to Stephen Harper's agenda.

Just like we did nearly 50 years ago when we formed the NDP, it's time to build a new political coalition in Canada -- a coalition that will stand up to Stephen Harper and put forward a vision of prosperity, fairness and peace in the world.

Could this be the beginnings of a United Left in Canada? Does the NDP smell death on backs of the Liberal party?

I have no love for the Liberals, and even less respect for them lately in their capitulation to the Conservatives out of fear. I'm not saying that the NDP have everything right, but at the very least, they're standing up for the people who elected them. To all of the Liberal supporters who voted red to keep a balance in the house: how does it feel to know that the people you elected are doing nothing to represent you?