Please watch this when you have a spare half hour. The other half hour is questions from the audience so if you have a spare hour even better.
Why the Magnitsky Act Matters
By the way, all that twittering about Ivanka trying to run with the bigwigs at the G20? I think she's there as a kompromat gathering device employed by the Russian mob.
So, you know, a prostitute.
I also think she was groomed for this role by her first pimp - Donald J. Trump, President of the United States of America.
Sunday, June 30, 2019
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Andrew Scheer
This is appalling to me, that Andrew Scheer would tweet this out for the world, so China, to read.
What a dangerous politician he is. Crazy. And stupid.
Andrew Scheer: "Please Don't Elect Me Prime Minister - I'm Hideous"
What a dangerous politician he is. Crazy. And stupid.
Andrew Scheer: "Please Don't Elect Me Prime Minister - I'm Hideous"
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Young Things
I bet a lot of Canadians didn't and still don't think Justin Trudeau is old enough to be Prime Minister.
But he's actually pretty close to the age Pierre was when he became Prime Minister. And he's already married and has three kids and is world traveled and liberal and way the fuck more normal than the old man was. Or lots of other men, quite frankly. Certainly he's way more normal than most other politicians.
And yet the NDP has Jagmeet Singh, 38, and the Conservative Party has Andrew Scheer, 38.
I get why the Conservatives are running a 38 year old know nothing, because whoever pulled Harper's strings will just do a reach around to pull Scheer's.
But the NDP running Jagmeet Singh, a 38 year old newlywed, is just stupid.
Also, he doesn't want to be Prime Minister - not of Canada, anyway.
Ba da boom!
No, I didn't forget Old Lady May.
Kidding!
But seriously, all our pensions and RRSPs and mutual funds are invested in Canadian oil and gas prospects. What we don't need - especially now when it's not possible to make any real money unless you already have it - is everybody losing their shirt.
The Nazis are on the move.
But he's actually pretty close to the age Pierre was when he became Prime Minister. And he's already married and has three kids and is world traveled and liberal and way the fuck more normal than the old man was. Or lots of other men, quite frankly. Certainly he's way more normal than most other politicians.
And yet the NDP has Jagmeet Singh, 38, and the Conservative Party has Andrew Scheer, 38.
I get why the Conservatives are running a 38 year old know nothing, because whoever pulled Harper's strings will just do a reach around to pull Scheer's.
But the NDP running Jagmeet Singh, a 38 year old newlywed, is just stupid.
Also, he doesn't want to be Prime Minister - not of Canada, anyway.
Ba da boom!
No, I didn't forget Old Lady May.
Kidding!
But seriously, all our pensions and RRSPs and mutual funds are invested in Canadian oil and gas prospects. What we don't need - especially now when it's not possible to make any real money unless you already have it - is everybody losing their shirt.
The Nazis are on the move.
Saturday, June 22, 2019
Detention Camps
See what I did there? I said it's not "detention centers" or "concentration camps". It's "Detention Camps". And that wasn't even hard. All I did was take "detention" from "detention centers" and "camps" from "concentration camps".
Detention Camps.
Good enough.
That's what we in the real world say when we want to get something done, by the way. No, not Detention Camps, although... We say "good enough".
When we don't really care about getting something done, we argue about something else.
Please, people, if you're going to argue on Twitter, argue about whether it's good or bad that the US is handling (not very many people) arriving from more southern countries to the US border - by taking their children away from them - FOREVER.
And they're doing this before the real humanitarian crisis hits our part of the world (too) and people living in more southern regions start moving north because they can't stay put due to changes in weather cause by greenhouse gas emissions.
No. Stop it. It doesn't matter if it's man-made or not. It is, but it's the humanitarian crisis we need to be arguing about now.
And listen up, Canadians who vote for Conservatives, and also you stupid fuckwits at Postmedia and even stupider fuckwits at the Sun - you may not have a problem with Detention Camps south of that unprotected border we share with a population ten times our own, half of whom are armed to the teeth and so crazy for a straight white after life that they want to kill us all now - but the rest of us do.
And we will grind this economy to a complete goddamned halt so that you and the rest of us lose everything - everything - so we're ALL pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps to survive - if you push this bullshit too far.
And you're really fucking close to too far.
Detention Camps.
Good enough.
That's what we in the real world say when we want to get something done, by the way. No, not Detention Camps, although... We say "good enough".
When we don't really care about getting something done, we argue about something else.
Please, people, if you're going to argue on Twitter, argue about whether it's good or bad that the US is handling (not very many people) arriving from more southern countries to the US border - by taking their children away from them - FOREVER.
And they're doing this before the real humanitarian crisis hits our part of the world (too) and people living in more southern regions start moving north because they can't stay put due to changes in weather cause by greenhouse gas emissions.
No. Stop it. It doesn't matter if it's man-made or not. It is, but it's the humanitarian crisis we need to be arguing about now.
And listen up, Canadians who vote for Conservatives, and also you stupid fuckwits at Postmedia and even stupider fuckwits at the Sun - you may not have a problem with Detention Camps south of that unprotected border we share with a population ten times our own, half of whom are armed to the teeth and so crazy for a straight white after life that they want to kill us all now - but the rest of us do.
And we will grind this economy to a complete goddamned halt so that you and the rest of us lose everything - everything - so we're ALL pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps to survive - if you push this bullshit too far.
And you're really fucking close to too far.
Puppet Politicians
It occurred to me today that the other mobsters must have a shit ton of kompromat on Doug Ford.
And that's when it all fell into place.
If you look closely, you can see the strings being pulled.
What makes me nervous is that Doug Ford, at least, wants to be liked.
The mobsters running the show behind him don't give a shit. They just want our money. All of it.
And then they'll finish what Mike Harris started and Stephen Harper continued.
Privatize our prisons, eliminate legal aid, criminalize poverty.
Conservatives aren't conservatives.
They're fascists.
And that's when it all fell into place.
If you look closely, you can see the strings being pulled.
What makes me nervous is that Doug Ford, at least, wants to be liked.
The mobsters running the show behind him don't give a shit. They just want our money. All of it.
And then they'll finish what Mike Harris started and Stephen Harper continued.
Privatize our prisons, eliminate legal aid, criminalize poverty.
Conservatives aren't conservatives.
They're fascists.
Wednesday, June 19, 2019
A Look in the Mirror
So I'm coming out as a Big "L" Liberal. It's not a partisan thing because I'll probably (continue to) vote ONDP as it's now a stronger party than the OLP, and since there's no difference between the two that I care about, here's hoping Ontario elects Premier Horvath next go 'round.
Horwath?
I am NOT googling that spelling again. I've googled it a bazillion times already and I still can't remember the correct spelling of Andrea's last name. Clearly, the problem is hers.
It was so maddening, the last Ontario election, trying to figure out which candidate was the better bet to win in my riding - which is why Ontario is stuck with Premier Doug Ford - of all unimaginable fuckups.
Almost as bad as Alberta going from Premier Notley to Premier Kenney.
Worse?
Same as?
The only variance in political parties that matters to me is that which separates Conservative parties and the BC Liberals from better parties to occupy public office. That's because, essentially, Conservative politicians want to further privatize public space, dilute our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and Republicanize our justice system, and I want more public space, reinforcement of our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and an Indigenous model justice system.
They're old testament. I'm new testament.
But that's not really what this entry is about because this entry is about the Liberal government of Canada declaring a climate emergency AND approving a pipeline for construction.
For my more partisan NDP and Green and even some anti-Trudeau Liberal friends the pipeline approval cancels out the declaration of a climate emergency. But for me it accurately reflects Canada and Canadians and how we actually live our lives.
You know, as opposed to how we think everybody else should be living theirs, er, NDP and Green friends. (And none of this is to imply that I don't think you should be NDP or Green, that you, too, should be Big "L" Liberals. No, this is just about me and who I am - at this time, anyway.)
I don't really have Conservative friends but I think it's fair to say from the reaction of the politicians Conservatives vote for that Conservatives think declaring a climate emergency is... pandering to... the climate?
So to my point. A while ago I realized that I haven't made any personal sacrifices at all with regard to reducing my carbon footprint. I don't own a car, but I don't need to own a car and in fact don't want to own a car. Our little row house takes up less space than a single detached home in the country, but we're still taking up more room than we need. Or even want, to be honest. BUT, we don't want to rent out a room - or, more nobly, give someone a room for free - either. We love living together - alone. Not even one of my three adult children, who exist because I wanted them, do we want living with us. And by the way, the sacrifice for me would have been to NOT have any children at all. Or even just two. In fact, I wanted four but my co-creator of children, who was overwhelmed with three - didn't. And we have a dog, a hound/lab/beagle/? who eats and therefore poops. I don't travel much, as such, but travel is stressful for me anyway and I'd really like to give myself a year to not do anything much or go anywhere far following the recent physician assisted dying of my mother.
Speaking of which, I don't produce any medical waste but only because I've been fortunate enough so far to not encounter any health issues. (And this is why I don't often engage in discussions around privilege, who has it and who doesn't, because I know that if I had any medical issues of note I'd resent anybody who didn't telling me that I'm privileged - and on behalf of other people not even in on the discussion, ffs.) I rarely eat out but it's because I'm naturally frugal and know how to cook. Also, going out is increasingly falling into the travel category, in that it feels like something I should do more than it's something I want or need to do.
I don't shop retail for clothes but I can even buy swimsuits from the thrift shop now and they're the only items that seem to wear out. Even when I have a job I mostly wear my own version of a uniform, interchanging a couple of pairs of pants with a few shirts and a pair of dress shoes that look so classy I can run out the clock in any assignment just by staring at them for hours.
And so on and so forth and more of the same etc etc.
The thing is, though, that unlike an overwhelming majority of Canadians recently polled who claim to be on board with their government doing something about climate change because it's a real and increasingly (and exponentially so!) urgent problem, I would absolutely pay $100 (extra) per year to help out with mitigation efforts. And so would you because, like me, you wouldn't even consider that a sacrifice, you'd consider it an opportunity to do a bit of your bit. But we're apparently just 1 out of 4 Canadians - who otherwise share our view of climate change - who would.
And that's why I'm a Big "L" Liberal now.
Horwath?
I am NOT googling that spelling again. I've googled it a bazillion times already and I still can't remember the correct spelling of Andrea's last name. Clearly, the problem is hers.
It was so maddening, the last Ontario election, trying to figure out which candidate was the better bet to win in my riding - which is why Ontario is stuck with Premier Doug Ford - of all unimaginable fuckups.
Almost as bad as Alberta going from Premier Notley to Premier Kenney.
Worse?
Same as?
The only variance in political parties that matters to me is that which separates Conservative parties and the BC Liberals from better parties to occupy public office. That's because, essentially, Conservative politicians want to further privatize public space, dilute our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and Republicanize our justice system, and I want more public space, reinforcement of our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and an Indigenous model justice system.
They're old testament. I'm new testament.
But that's not really what this entry is about because this entry is about the Liberal government of Canada declaring a climate emergency AND approving a pipeline for construction.
For my more partisan NDP and Green and even some anti-Trudeau Liberal friends the pipeline approval cancels out the declaration of a climate emergency. But for me it accurately reflects Canada and Canadians and how we actually live our lives.
You know, as opposed to how we think everybody else should be living theirs, er, NDP and Green friends. (And none of this is to imply that I don't think you should be NDP or Green, that you, too, should be Big "L" Liberals. No, this is just about me and who I am - at this time, anyway.)
I don't really have Conservative friends but I think it's fair to say from the reaction of the politicians Conservatives vote for that Conservatives think declaring a climate emergency is... pandering to... the climate?
So to my point. A while ago I realized that I haven't made any personal sacrifices at all with regard to reducing my carbon footprint. I don't own a car, but I don't need to own a car and in fact don't want to own a car. Our little row house takes up less space than a single detached home in the country, but we're still taking up more room than we need. Or even want, to be honest. BUT, we don't want to rent out a room - or, more nobly, give someone a room for free - either. We love living together - alone. Not even one of my three adult children, who exist because I wanted them, do we want living with us. And by the way, the sacrifice for me would have been to NOT have any children at all. Or even just two. In fact, I wanted four but my co-creator of children, who was overwhelmed with three - didn't. And we have a dog, a hound/lab/beagle/? who eats and therefore poops. I don't travel much, as such, but travel is stressful for me anyway and I'd really like to give myself a year to not do anything much or go anywhere far following the recent physician assisted dying of my mother.
Speaking of which, I don't produce any medical waste but only because I've been fortunate enough so far to not encounter any health issues. (And this is why I don't often engage in discussions around privilege, who has it and who doesn't, because I know that if I had any medical issues of note I'd resent anybody who didn't telling me that I'm privileged - and on behalf of other people not even in on the discussion, ffs.) I rarely eat out but it's because I'm naturally frugal and know how to cook. Also, going out is increasingly falling into the travel category, in that it feels like something I should do more than it's something I want or need to do.
I don't shop retail for clothes but I can even buy swimsuits from the thrift shop now and they're the only items that seem to wear out. Even when I have a job I mostly wear my own version of a uniform, interchanging a couple of pairs of pants with a few shirts and a pair of dress shoes that look so classy I can run out the clock in any assignment just by staring at them for hours.
And so on and so forth and more of the same etc etc.
The thing is, though, that unlike an overwhelming majority of Canadians recently polled who claim to be on board with their government doing something about climate change because it's a real and increasingly (and exponentially so!) urgent problem, I would absolutely pay $100 (extra) per year to help out with mitigation efforts. And so would you because, like me, you wouldn't even consider that a sacrifice, you'd consider it an opportunity to do a bit of your bit. But we're apparently just 1 out of 4 Canadians - who otherwise share our view of climate change - who would.
And that's why I'm a Big "L" Liberal now.
Tuesday, June 18, 2019
Tough Gig
Now you've done it, people. Doug Ford was for you, for the people, remember?
He gave you booze.
But you repaid him with boos.
He gave you booze.
But you repaid him with boos.
Saturday, June 15, 2019
You're Not IN Traffic - You ARE Traffic
Truer words we never think apply to us, eh?
So our street has become a temporary thruway while the usual thruway street one up from us is undergoing some sort of tearing asunder to do with below ground infrastructure.
It may or may not have to do with a private property development. I almost don't want to know, I'm so done with the cost of private profit for the rest of us.
Anyway, it's really shocking to witness how entitled drivers are to public space. It's like the families outside their buildings, trying to enjoy a bit of summer, are invisible to them. They honk their horns impatiently at each other, yell obscenities out their windows, blast their dismal choice of hate radio muzak.
Oh, and suddenly veer out of the gas guzzler line to speed down the narrow space between it and the parked cars such that if anybody in them were to exit they'd be killed instantly.
Small blessings, I guess.
But Ottawa's such a mess of public transportation woes (private/public partnerships are bullshit from start to delayed and over-budget finish but so it goes in politics now - everybody's a bizz whizz) that when I alert our councilor to this mayhem it's likely to land on quite a stack of more pressing woes.
I'm afraid, though, that since drivers appear to leave their humanity behind on the curb when they enter their gas guzzling tank of choice and take over our public space like it's their private speedway, someone really is going to be killed. We already don't have sidewalks and a lot of the residents here are more recent arrivals with children who play outside. And a lot of us don't have cars so when we leave our residences it's to navigate our neighbourhood on foot.
It's so unconscionable, how people behave behind the wheel. Please think about others when you drive. Really, slow down, calm down, and be aware that you're taking up more than your fair share of public space when you add your vehicle to it.
So our street has become a temporary thruway while the usual thruway street one up from us is undergoing some sort of tearing asunder to do with below ground infrastructure.
It may or may not have to do with a private property development. I almost don't want to know, I'm so done with the cost of private profit for the rest of us.
Anyway, it's really shocking to witness how entitled drivers are to public space. It's like the families outside their buildings, trying to enjoy a bit of summer, are invisible to them. They honk their horns impatiently at each other, yell obscenities out their windows, blast their dismal choice of hate radio muzak.
Oh, and suddenly veer out of the gas guzzler line to speed down the narrow space between it and the parked cars such that if anybody in them were to exit they'd be killed instantly.
Small blessings, I guess.
But Ottawa's such a mess of public transportation woes (private/public partnerships are bullshit from start to delayed and over-budget finish but so it goes in politics now - everybody's a bizz whizz) that when I alert our councilor to this mayhem it's likely to land on quite a stack of more pressing woes.
I'm afraid, though, that since drivers appear to leave their humanity behind on the curb when they enter their gas guzzling tank of choice and take over our public space like it's their private speedway, someone really is going to be killed. We already don't have sidewalks and a lot of the residents here are more recent arrivals with children who play outside. And a lot of us don't have cars so when we leave our residences it's to navigate our neighbourhood on foot.
It's so unconscionable, how people behave behind the wheel. Please think about others when you drive. Really, slow down, calm down, and be aware that you're taking up more than your fair share of public space when you add your vehicle to it.
Thursday, June 13, 2019
#TimesUpForNo#MeTooInProSports
Oh how I loathe and despise hockey and don't care for baseball or that new girl in town - basketball, either. Also football and bowl, er, curling.
But I do enjoy that the Stanley Cup may or may not be over (so that CBC news is reliably available over the public airwaves) and I don't even know who won because it's all "Raptors, Raptors, Raptors."
Of course, the joke's on whoever won the Stanley Cup anyway because, haha, we're all winners now that Donald Trump is President of the United States.
#MAGAbitchezzz
But I do enjoy that the Stanley Cup may or may not be over (so that CBC news is reliably available over the public airwaves) and I don't even know who won because it's all "Raptors, Raptors, Raptors."
Of course, the joke's on whoever won the Stanley Cup anyway because, haha, we're all winners now that Donald Trump is President of the United States.
#MAGAbitchezzz
Tuesday, June 11, 2019
Pam Palmateer Responds to Public Opinion
This column in Macleans by Pam Palmateer is so good: Shut Your Festering Gob, Settler
She's much more generous here than I would be, though:
Jesus Christ, Angus Reid. Shut your festering gob, already.
She's much more generous here than I would be, though:
Even Angus Reid himself seems to have difficulty accepting the racist undertones of his poll’s findings; he says he does not consider the Canadians who hold these ideas to be “racist,” but instead “hardliners” who don’t think more money is the answer to growing poverty in First Nations. It’s a surprising conclusion given the over-abundance of research and data that shows just the opposite.
Jesus Christ, Angus Reid. Shut your festering gob, already.
Monday, June 10, 2019
Friday, June 7, 2019
Lordy, I Hope There Are Tapes
I don't mean to brag but I swam outside yesterday and today. The water was almost as cold as ice (hey Randy, my Saturday night CBC radio man - ice is a great theme for a show) but I'm sixty so it didn't matter.
Cold? You call this cold, Nature Under the Influence of Climate Change? Don't make me laugh.
I went through a winter in Sault Ste. Marie wearing red (suede) addidas and a jean jacket.
But my big news - because I know you want it, the real deal, not that fake shit from the gliberal media - is that last night our members elected a new committee to run our housing association so I could finally resign from it as I've wanted to for some six or seven years now.
Litigious people, I think, are the worst people in the world.
And that's why we don't like lawyers until we want to sue somebody.
Kidding. I'm a woman. I can't imagine having that kind of time and money to waste. Baby's gotta eat. That's why I didn't want to be on our committee anymore. It's a volunteer position from which I benefit not at all, and in fact endure an incredible amount of stress, and yet, there's always one asshole member of an association who just wants to sue somebody for something.
I mean I benefited absolutely zero. Sure, there are committee members who enjoy this or that perk, maybe if it's just strutting around the 'hood believing yourself to be important. But I didn't even have that. Instead, I didn't want to go outside.
The people who most caused my distress? Conservatives, of course - AND - the people the NDP thinks are NDP but who are actually Conservatives.
And that's why I'm voting Liberal (federally) for the rest of my life unless I move to B.C. or maybe Alberta.
So don't call or write, federal NDP and CPC.
You can write, Green Party, but I probably won't read it.
And finally, because it's Friday night and Heartbeat will be on TVO at 9, CBC's website has an article today whereby Eric Grenier, its pollster, reports on Doug Ford's popularity/lack thereof, and a paid shill from Doug Ford's campaign says don't believe your lying eyes, anybody reading this, because everybody loves Doug Ford now and everybody will love him even more by the end of next year.
Oh, and not to be... gossipy, but, I think Justin Trudeau and Emmanuel Macron are in love with each other. For reals. Like... I want you in me plus I love you because you are me kind of in love.
It's a love that can ONLY exist between two men, by the way. Sorry, but give it up, straight couples. It's never going to be like that for us.
Seriously, watching those two hug each other actually grew my inner penis about three inches.
Feel free to comment.
No don't. I celebrated 4/20 today.
Oh. My. Gord. Free at last, free at last, free at last.
Some day I'll write a book about being on a housing association committee and you can buy it.
Make me rich.
Cold? You call this cold, Nature Under the Influence of Climate Change? Don't make me laugh.
I went through a winter in Sault Ste. Marie wearing red (suede) addidas and a jean jacket.
But my big news - because I know you want it, the real deal, not that fake shit from the gliberal media - is that last night our members elected a new committee to run our housing association so I could finally resign from it as I've wanted to for some six or seven years now.
Litigious people, I think, are the worst people in the world.
And that's why we don't like lawyers until we want to sue somebody.
Kidding. I'm a woman. I can't imagine having that kind of time and money to waste. Baby's gotta eat. That's why I didn't want to be on our committee anymore. It's a volunteer position from which I benefit not at all, and in fact endure an incredible amount of stress, and yet, there's always one asshole member of an association who just wants to sue somebody for something.
I mean I benefited absolutely zero. Sure, there are committee members who enjoy this or that perk, maybe if it's just strutting around the 'hood believing yourself to be important. But I didn't even have that. Instead, I didn't want to go outside.
The people who most caused my distress? Conservatives, of course - AND - the people the NDP thinks are NDP but who are actually Conservatives.
And that's why I'm voting Liberal (federally) for the rest of my life unless I move to B.C. or maybe Alberta.
So don't call or write, federal NDP and CPC.
You can write, Green Party, but I probably won't read it.
And finally, because it's Friday night and Heartbeat will be on TVO at 9, CBC's website has an article today whereby Eric Grenier, its pollster, reports on Doug Ford's popularity/lack thereof, and a paid shill from Doug Ford's campaign says don't believe your lying eyes, anybody reading this, because everybody loves Doug Ford now and everybody will love him even more by the end of next year.
Oh, and not to be... gossipy, but, I think Justin Trudeau and Emmanuel Macron are in love with each other. For reals. Like... I want you in me plus I love you because you are me kind of in love.
It's a love that can ONLY exist between two men, by the way. Sorry, but give it up, straight couples. It's never going to be like that for us.
Seriously, watching those two hug each other actually grew my inner penis about three inches.
Feel free to comment.
No don't. I celebrated 4/20 today.
Oh. My. Gord. Free at last, free at last, free at last.
Some day I'll write a book about being on a housing association committee and you can buy it.
Make me rich.
Wednesday, June 5, 2019
The Age of Stunt Politics
So yeah, we're well into the Age of Stunt Politics, but I'm hopeful it will soon be on the wane soon.
I don't know why I'm hopeful, but I am. I may just be losing my mental faculties. Certainly it wouldn't be surprising after two and a half years of Donald Trump sucking all the oxygen out of the world.
This isn't really a political post, although it kind of is, I guess, but I wanted to share a thread on Twitter I came across this morning, pointing out the opening line of a speech by Andrew Scheer that was supposed to reassure us the Conservative Party of Canada isn't the party of White Incel Nationalists.
Hey - WIN.
The speech was the result of an improv performance by one Michael Cooper at a justice committee hearing the other day examining online hate. I'm not sure what his point was, beyond personifying the problem for everyone by behaving like a typical rightwing troll, but enter Andrew Scheer to...?
Well you be the judge as Norlaine Thomas on Twitter breaks it down from the opening salvo, "We are all children of God": Okay, you fuck off now, hear?
As far as I can tell, Scheer's a member of a Conservative Christian sect that pretends to be under attack by others/us because of the religious beliefs of its adherents, when what's actually happening - and Scheer knows this - is that others/we are objecting to discrimination by the state that's almost entirely due to the embedded influence of Conservative Christianity in politics and society.
For whatever reason or lack thereof, Scheer et al don't like the prospect of everybody living free of discrimination from the state. I honestly don't know why they don't like it, but they clearly don't. And I believe, if he becomes Prime Minister of Canada, Scheer will devote his efforts to shoring up that embedded influence in ways both seen and unseen, while doing what all Conservative politicians do now as a matter of course, which is to eliminate public space by privatizing it.
And maybe I'm misreading his lips but it seems to me he's giving us a pretty good heads up on his intentions.
I don't know why I'm hopeful, but I am. I may just be losing my mental faculties. Certainly it wouldn't be surprising after two and a half years of Donald Trump sucking all the oxygen out of the world.
This isn't really a political post, although it kind of is, I guess, but I wanted to share a thread on Twitter I came across this morning, pointing out the opening line of a speech by Andrew Scheer that was supposed to reassure us the Conservative Party of Canada isn't the party of White Incel Nationalists.
Hey - WIN.
The speech was the result of an improv performance by one Michael Cooper at a justice committee hearing the other day examining online hate. I'm not sure what his point was, beyond personifying the problem for everyone by behaving like a typical rightwing troll, but enter Andrew Scheer to...?
Well you be the judge as Norlaine Thomas on Twitter breaks it down from the opening salvo, "We are all children of God": Okay, you fuck off now, hear?
As far as I can tell, Scheer's a member of a Conservative Christian sect that pretends to be under attack by others/us because of the religious beliefs of its adherents, when what's actually happening - and Scheer knows this - is that others/we are objecting to discrimination by the state that's almost entirely due to the embedded influence of Conservative Christianity in politics and society.
For whatever reason or lack thereof, Scheer et al don't like the prospect of everybody living free of discrimination from the state. I honestly don't know why they don't like it, but they clearly don't. And I believe, if he becomes Prime Minister of Canada, Scheer will devote his efforts to shoring up that embedded influence in ways both seen and unseen, while doing what all Conservative politicians do now as a matter of course, which is to eliminate public space by privatizing it.
And maybe I'm misreading his lips but it seems to me he's giving us a pretty good heads up on his intentions.
Sunday, June 2, 2019
Stranger Things
It's funny, I'm not normally a fan of Elizabeth May, although I'm probably most suited to the Green Party, but I really like her idea that we (Canada) ban all foreign oil imports (and I assume Canadian oil exports? exception the US?) and go all in on Canadian oil production for Canadians.
I know, I know, climate change, eco-collapse, blah blah blah. But while we await doom it would be really good for Canadian unity, I think. Because what we're doing now isn't working and we need to take the wind out of the sails of Conservative politicians who capitalize on social divisions.
It's an ironic world, baby.
I know, I know, climate change, eco-collapse, blah blah blah. But while we await doom it would be really good for Canadian unity, I think. Because what we're doing now isn't working and we need to take the wind out of the sails of Conservative politicians who capitalize on social divisions.
It's an ironic world, baby.
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