Saturday, August 6, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Kai Nagata
A young man here in Canada has recently caused quite a stir. I'm pretty jealous, since my own blog here has been mostly read by Americans, even though I've been trying to get the word out to Canadians that our country is in serious trouble right now.
Kai Nagata is a young reporter (only a little older than me), so I guess he has a bit more exposure on his side here in Canada than I do.
He decided he had to quit his job, at 24, on principal, based on what he saw going on in Canada's main newsmedia. Real, important journalism that brings the people of this country what they need to know, like the fact that the crime rate has been decreasing even though Harper is building more and bigger prisons, has been suborned on TV to cheesy entertainment.
Kai explained his resignation in a long, 3000 word blogpost, describing the sorry state of the media here and the problems of the country that he was not allowed to report on.
Luckily, his words have reached a multitude of Canadians. His explanation is long (a habit I share when posting stuff online), but VERY worth reading in its entirety.
Right here: http://kainagata.com/2011/07/08/why-i-quit-my-job/
I posted on these exact issues several days ago (I started writing the post on June 30th, hoping to post on Canada Day, but couldn't get it done until July 4th).
Right here: http://kainagata.com/2011/07/08/why-i-quit-my-job/
I posted on these exact issues several days ago (I started writing the post on June 30th, hoping to post on Canada Day, but couldn't get it done until July 4th).
Friday, July 8, 2011
DECADE OF BIODIVERSITY, PART 1
“Biodiversity, the planet’s most valuable resource, is on loan to us from our children.”
- Edward O. Wilson
As I wrote about last year, 2010 was the International Year of Biodiversity. 2011 is the International Year of Forests. Unfortunately, the International Year of Biodiversity it seems failed to educate the majority of people as to the importance of biodiversity and the extremely critical situation it is in, so now 2011-2020 has been declared the International Decade of Biodiversity.
Here's a summary:
Biodiversity simply means the diversity of species on Earth.
Our world has an astonishing variety of life. The diverse multitudes of different kinds of life forms slowly evolved over billions of years, leading to the vast array of different species that exist on our planet. As far as we know, this makes the Earth unique in the universe.
Loss of biodiversity means increased endangerment and extinction of species.
Human alteration of the global environment has led to what has become the sixth major extinction event in the history of life on Earth. It is well known that biodiversity is disappearing at an alarming rate, and that this is due to human activities. Human environmental impacts have reached global proportions.
We need biodiversity to survive.
The different species that have evolved ineract to form intricate ecological networks. The diversity of species is what makes up ecosystems, and is essential for their functioning. Ecosystems, in turn, provide the individual species with the resources that they depend on to survive, including ourselves. These are generally known as "Ecosystem Services", and they include: oxygen, water filtration, air filtration, climate regulation, productive soil, food, medicine, materials, and even storm reduction and protection.
The industrial system we live in and depend on today is unsustainable, and is destroying ecosystems. Industrial agriculture, for example, has produced more food for an increasing population (almost at 7 billion people), but it has compromised the ecological integrity of the food production. Our crops are genetically altered, covered in pesticides, herbicides, and industrial fertilizers, and are mostly in the hands of the Agribusiness and Biotechnology industries. As a result, soils throughout the world are degrading and eroding and becoming barren wastelands.
Environmental issues today are becoming increasingly complex. Yet few issues are as multi-levelled and as intricate as loss of biodiversity. This is why biodiversity loss (among other things like climate change) is hard for people to get their heads around. A good resource is Sustainablog's 'Metaguide to Biodiversity'.
The main fact is that species are disappearing!
One of the most important things we can do is act. There are numerous ways that we can help biodiversity.
A great first step is to Go Green. Greening up your lifestyle, your neighbourhood, and your community is actually super fun! You can read more on how right here.
Another thing one can do is engage their community. Go to your local zoos, insectariums, arboretums, botanical gardens, and /or natural history museums, and talk to some of the people working there about nature conservation.
They can probably help refer you to like-minded people and organizations and activities.
Look up local initiatives that you can get involved with, such as the Nature Conservancy of Canada.
Most importantly, find out what's going on that is threatening wilderness. For example, there is a petition on Avaaz.org right now regarding a formerly secret proposed mega-quarry in Ontario that will pose a threat of poisoning to aquifers and rivers. Hydro-Quebec has been fighting conservationists in order to build the Great Whale dam system, that would destroy vast areas. Alberta's rich wilderness is being threatened by Tar Sands, oil, and coal development. And as I posted a few days ago, Kinder Morgan is trying to get approval for their "firm service" application that would quadruple the number of oil tankers trafficing barrels of crude along the ecologically rich, fragile West Coast.
The thing you can do is to sign petitions, and write letters and emails to politicians and policy makers to get them to ACT! One can get involved and campaign for such causes, or else one can at least support them, and get the word out, and try to live sustainably.
So just realize that these things DO make a difference, and the more people who are proactive about it, the bigger a difference we can make, and the better things will get.
Also, educate yourself - don't just believe me, check the FACTS.
Some good causes that one can support are: World Land Trust
Among issues facing us today, the rapid and continuing decline in global biodiversity has some of the widest impacts and implications. Diversity of species helps to regulate ecosystems, as well as global systems. Loss of species leads to rapid ecosystem simplification, which affects ecosystem health and functioning, and the balance of global biotic and abiotic systems. This threatens the resilience and productivity of these systems, and as a result, affects an already changing climate, disrupts and changes the composition of aquatic ecosystems (coral reefs being one of the most diverse and most highly threatened), and increases the occurence of invasive species, extreme weather events, and global pandemics. These impacts are the principal concerns, among aplethora of consequences that result from rapid biodiversity decline. Due to the complicated, multifaceted, and multi-scale nature of these systems, there may be other less immediate impacts of which we are not aware.
Rapid biodiversity decline threatens: the food chain, food security, the global climate balance, water security, soil productivity, agricultural sustainability, the availability and regeneration of resources, and also human health.
While we here in North America are disproportionately wealthy and comfortable, the poorest nations in the world are disproportionately affected by biodiversity decline, especially since they rely most directly on the services that ecosystems provide.
According to Michael Renner:
"[T]he unplanned and rapid depletion of natural systems is an important source of insecurity and stress in many societies, whether in the form of reduced food-growing potential, the worsening health of residents, or diminished habitability. Although desertification, soil erosion, deforestation, water scarcity, and the decline of fisheries are worldwide phenomena, some regions are more severely affected than others. The stress is most pronounced in regions that encompass fragile ecosystems […] and that have an economy heavily geared to agriculture. Unchecked, environmental degradation has the potential to impoverish people and undermine the long-term habitability of an area. In extreme cases, natural support systems may be weakened so severely that people have little choice but to move."
(Renner, 1996)
The diversity of an ecosystem is what determines that ecosystem's resilience. The higher a system's biodiversity, the greater its ability to withstand disturbances or shocks, or reach a new equilibrium. Global biodiversity has slowly evolved over billions of years, and continually increases in diversity, resulting in the immensely intricate ecological networks we see today. The complexities of ecological systems are the result of ever-increasing diversification of life-forms, and these systems in turn are reinforced and enhanced by diversity.
These ecosystems, composed of various species, are adversely affected by diversity decline because increasingly simplified ecosystems are less productive and increasingly vulnerable to disturbances.
The ecosystem services we depend on fall into four general categories: provisioning, supporting, regulating, and cultural services. Provisioning services are the products and resources that we obtain from ecosystems, such as food, fresh water, fuel, fibers, biochemicals for medicines, and genetic resources. Supporting services are ecosystem functions that are necessary for the production of all other ecosystem services. These services affect people more indirectly, yet are fundamental to our survival, such as soil formation, nutrient cycling primary production, photosynthesis, and water cycling. Regulating services are the ecosystem processes that regulate local, regional, and global systems, both biotic and abiotic. These services are immensely valuable, such as climate regulation, air quality regulation, natural hazard regulation, water purification and regulation, erosion regulation, disease regulation, pollination, pest regulation, and waste treatment. Some services fall into more than one category, such as pollination, which can be considered a supporting and regulating service. Ecosystems also offer humans non-material benefits, which are called cultural services. These services include recreation and ecotourism, as well as cultural, aesthetic, educational, and spiritual values. These are being increasingly studied by scientists as the connection between biodiversity and human well-being becomes better recognized and understood.
According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA), these ecosystem services are generally in global decline. Approximately 60% of the services evaluated in the assessment were being degraded or used unsustainably. Certain services in the assessment are considered to be thriving, such as the provisional services of crops, livestock, and aquaculture. However, in many ways, industrial agriculture is contributing to the degradation of ecosystems. Industrialized food production and distribution has led to the use of unnatural fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides, and has decreased the diversity of crop species through selective cultivation and biotechnology. Also increased land conversion to agriculture is destroying a large amount of natural habitat and ecosystems. Ultimately, these provisions have increased, yet they have increased due to unsustainable agricultural practices that have contributed to biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation. To say that these ecological services are increasing or doing well is really to say that the ecological costs are not being felt.
For the majority of countries, the decline in biodiversity and ecosystems has provided substantial benefits, but at certain environmental costs. Many of the most significant changes made to ecosystems have been to provide benefits for human well-being and national development, and have been essential to meeting growing needs for food and water, among a rapidly growing human population. Agriculture, forestry, and resource exploitation have been the maistays of strategies for economic and social development for centuries.
However, such gains come at a great cost to the natural environment, and the cost and the impacts of biodiversity decline will inevitably fall on us. Some of the costs are not only the degradation of ecosystems and ecosystem services, pollution, and loss of species and habitat, but also growing inequities and disparities among groups of people. These costs are growing as populations and demand for resources, and for revenue, increase.
The ecosystem services we depend on fall into four general categories: provisioning, supporting, regulating, and cultural services. Provisioning services are the products and resources that we obtain from ecosystems, such as food, fresh water, fuel, fibers, biochemicals for medicines, and genetic resources. Supporting services are ecosystem functions that are necessary for the production of all other ecosystem services. These services affect people more indirectly, yet are fundamental to our survival, such as soil formation, nutrient cycling primary production, photosynthesis, and water cycling. Regulating services are the ecosystem processes that regulate local, regional, and global systems, both biotic and abiotic. These services are immensely valuable, such as climate regulation, air quality regulation, natural hazard regulation, water purification and regulation, erosion regulation, disease regulation, pollination, pest regulation, and waste treatment. Some services fall into more than one category, such as pollination, which can be considered a supporting and regulating service. Ecosystems also offer humans non-material benefits, which are called cultural services. These services include recreation and ecotourism, as well as cultural, aesthetic, educational, and spiritual values. These are being increasingly studied by scientists as the connection between biodiversity and human well-being becomes better recognized and understood.
According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA), these ecosystem services are generally in global decline. Approximately 60% of the services evaluated in the assessment were being degraded or used unsustainably. Certain services in the assessment are considered to be thriving, such as the provisional services of crops, livestock, and aquaculture. However, in many ways, industrial agriculture is contributing to the degradation of ecosystems. Industrialized food production and distribution has led to the use of unnatural fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides, and has decreased the diversity of crop species through selective cultivation and biotechnology. Also increased land conversion to agriculture is destroying a large amount of natural habitat and ecosystems. Ultimately, these provisions have increased, yet they have increased due to unsustainable agricultural practices that have contributed to biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation. To say that these ecological services are increasing or doing well is really to say that the ecological costs are not being felt.
For the majority of countries, the decline in biodiversity and ecosystems has provided substantial benefits, but at certain environmental costs. Many of the most significant changes made to ecosystems have been to provide benefits for human well-being and national development, and have been essential to meeting growing needs for food and water, among a rapidly growing human population. Agriculture, forestry, and resource exploitation have been the maistays of strategies for economic and social development for centuries.
However, such gains come at a great cost to the natural environment, and the cost and the impacts of biodiversity decline will inevitably fall on us. Some of the costs are not only the degradation of ecosystems and ecosystem services, pollution, and loss of species and habitat, but also growing inequities and disparities among groups of people. These costs are growing as populations and demand for resources, and for revenue, increase.
(More to come.....)
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
HARPER AND ALBERTA ARE COVERING UP THE FACT THAT THE TAR SANDS ARE KILLING PEOPLE
This is yet another documentary on the Tar Sands, called "To the Last Drop." This video just about sums it up. I've also posted a short little preview of another really good documentary, titled "Crude Sacrifice." The Alberta Tar Sands are a truly gigantic industrial operation, that creates an unbelievable amount of toxic waste and is adversely affecting the environment and the people in Alberta, while government officials continually claim that there is no problem, no damage to the environment, and that there are no toxins in the water. These are pure, unmitigated lies.
Monday, July 4, 2011
HAPPY FUCKING CANADA DAY
'Our country sinks beneath the yoke; it weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash is added to her wounds.'
- Shakespeare's "Macbeth"
Friday was Canada Day, July 1st, when we celebrate the 144th anniversary of the British North America Act, and this is my first post since the election. In the meantime I've really needed rest as our country goes down the tubes. Most recently, the government made a controversial move to cutoff Summerworks Theatre and Music Festival from federal funding. The Tories have often expressed their contempt for the arts in Canada, somehow believing that the majority of Canadians are unintelligent and unemotional and share their contempt for culture. They repeatedly refer to artists and art patrons and enthusiasts as "elitists", and believe that the arts should not receive federal funding (even though the amount that the government spends on the arts is pitiful, whereas polluting multinational corporations receive massive subsidies and tax breaks).
The axing of the Summerworks Festival's funding however was due to a play entitled "Homegrown," which was written by a lawyer and playwright named Catherine Frid. The play was about her meeting and subsequent friendship with a man in prison, one of the convicted members of the Toronto 18 terrorist plot.
The Tories reacted to what they called a play that "glorifies terrorism." An analysis in The Globe and Mail of the play itself says otherwise: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/theatre/no-terror-glorification-here-just-an-unfortunate-pollyannaism/article1663835/
While in the play the woman may be gullible and willing to believe that the terrorist, Shareef Abdelhaleem, is innocent, the play in no way professes his innocence or glorifies any terrorism. It does, however,
"...raise many worthwhile questions about the fairness of Mr. Abdelhaleem's arrest and trial: his long period spent in solitary confinement; the glacial speed of the wheels of justice; over-the-top secrecy that led to publication bans about publication bans; and, most troublingly, the prosecution’s reliance on the testimony of a $4-million informant who admitted he bore a pre-existing grudge against Mr. Abdelhaleem.
While Ms. Frid’s play left me concerned about the sweeping powers of the Canadian Anti-Terrorism Act, it didn’t persuade me that Mr. Abdelhaleem is wrongly imprisoned."
Shortly thereafter, there was an interview on Sun News TV of dance legend Margie Gillis. Back in February, I posted petitions to try and fight a measure being passed by the CRTC that would ease broadcast standards, thereby unleashing the fucking Sun News TV right wing propaganda onto the airwaves. The muzzling of a theatre festival for putting on a play about a man in prison that questions the Canadian system over things such as Terrorist profiling, publication bans, lack of transparency or due process, and miscarriages of justice allowed under the Anti-Terrorism Act, (and remember the Harper government is involved in extraditing its own citizens to torture centers in Syria and Guantanamo Bay under "suspicion of being terrorists" without a shred of evidence) is in the same vein of media control and propaganda as the Sun News TV channel, which is government subsidized and mandatorily included in people's tv packages.
The Tories have attempted to silence the voice of dissent before (remember during the election when some first-time voters were ejected from Tory rallies for being suspected "opposition sympathizers"?)
On this very blog I had a little logo on the side that read "On the Environment: Canadians Care, Harper Doesn't." Then, during the election, it suddenly disappeared, as if the Government had shut down the site where I got it from. These tactics are infringements of our fundamental rights and of the legitimacy of our former democracy; tantamount to an autocratic totalitarian state.
Also (though not until after the election), the government was exposed by Postmedia News for deliberately excluding data indicating a 20 per cent increase in annual pollution from Canada’s oilsands industry in 2009 from a recent 567-page report on climate change that it was required to submit to the United Nations. The details on the rise in emissions for the sector were left out of the inventory report on greenhouse gas emissions, but were then slowly revealed after the election through a series of emails in response to questions from Postmedia News.
"…The department (Environment Canada) declined all interview requests, except for one with a department official that was cancelled at the last minute without explanation.
Throughout this period, the department was communicating also with industry officials and environmental groups about its calculations.
….The absolute annual emissions have almost tripled since 1990, according to the numbers released by Environment Canada.
….The data about the oilsands industry has garnered international media coverage at a time when Canada is trying to promote the sector in jurisdictions such as the United States and Europe.
It has also prompted frustration among both industry representatives and environmental groups who were struggling to find out why the government decided to exclude separate breakdowns for oilsands emissions after including them in the inventory report submitted last year."
This is certainly not the first time the Harper government has tried to greenwash the tar sands, nor manipulated Environment Canada into hiding information. In fact, Canada is one of the worst for hiding information from the public, as well as destroying the environment and impeding international progress; Canada was named by the Climate Action Network International (CAN-I) as the single worst country in the industrialized world for blocking climate negotiations.
(http://www.researchforum.ca/research-topics/environment/19-canada-and-environment/13-canada-human-development-index-is-great-but-on-environment-it-is-international-laggard > also contains data on who's on target with the Kyoto Protocol, and who's failing - Canada is dead last.)
Recently, the government rejected Health Canada's own data and recommendations with regards to asbestos, and now, Canada alone prevented the United Nations from adding chrysotile asbestos to the global list of hazardous substances.
Oh, Canada, how I weep for thee.
Around election time, it was refreshing to see all the national ferment from the 60% of Canadians who are pissed off at Harper's government. Now, with the muzzling of a theater festival that is allegedly "glorifying terrorism" (I'm sure none of the officials saying that have even seen the play), a debate about government funding to cultural events and initiatives has sparked.
Then, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council has apparently received twice as many complaints over one interview than it usually receives per annum. The interview was that of Margie Gillis on Sun News TV, the FOX NEWS of the North. (You can watch the whole interview here.) This is the drama of propaganda and information control in Canada.
I am personally glad to see that people are taking offense and speaking up about it. Yet, meanwhile, attention is being diverted from other big issues.
A couple of months ago, the Obama administration began to question and think critically about whether or not to proceed with the Keystone XL Pipeline, which would run from the Alberta Tar Sands, through Canada, then down the East Coast of the U.S. to Texas (and construction has already begun.) Then, last week, a U.S. Congressional panel passed legislation requiring a decision by Nov. 1.
Meanwhile, another pipeline is "Slipping in the back door", according to the Vancouver Sun. The story however is about a pipeline that already exists, the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline. The pipeline transports 300,000 barrels of oil per day to the coast of BC and Washington. According to the article,
"The Trans Mountain pipeline is currently the subject of a National Energy Board application to secure "firm service," which seems innocuous enough - authorize long-term contracts for shippers so that the company has more certainty and can plan for the future.
But what is the future? Well, if Kinder Morgan has its way, the future is four times as many tankers in Burrard Inlet, Georgia Strait and beyond than we saw last year. Kinder Morgan estimates that in 2010, 71 tankers came and went from its Westridge Terminal in Burnaby. By 2016, the company hopes to have 288 tankers travelling to and from the terminal, which would mean 576 tanker trips through Burrard Inlet each year.
By the end of a 2016, the company hopes to ship 700,000 barrels per day, two-thirds of which would go to tankers waiting in Burrard Inlet."
This increased tanker traffic poses an insane risk to the fragile coastal ecosystems of British Columbia, home to diverse and already declining endemic species, as well as the coastal communities of British Columbia. Yet the federal government doesn't have a clear response system to handle a potential spill. In a report released late last year, the auditor-general's office identified gaps and inadequacies in Canada's system of responding to oil spills from ships.
You may or may not remember the Terra Nova Oil Spill, in November of 2004. This was an accidental spill from an extraction platform owned by Petro-Canada, caused by "mechanical failure." 170 000 liters of oil spilled off Nova Scotia, covering 60 km². It was the largest spill ever on the east coast of Canada.
The response was absurd: nothing was done. Biologists didn't arrive on site until 6 days later!
According to Ian. L. Jones, (Memorial University of Newfoundland) the conclusions that can be drawn from the Terra Nova spill:
Canadian government's short term response : inadequate
Release of information: inadequate
Monitoring of chronic oil pollution from offshore oil and gas activity in general: inadequate.
Seabirds and other migratory birds: dying, and have no clearly defined legal protection.
What were the consequences for Petro-Canada?
$120,000 to federally administered Environmental Damages Fund.
$100,000 for environmental science merit scholarships at Memorial University and its Sir Wilfred Grenfell College campus.
$70,000 fine
Petro Canada's third quarter 2005 profits: $614 million
According to Ian. L. Jones:
Fine for the Terra Nova spill: ridiculously low.
Offshore oil and gas developers: unaccountable for damage they cause.
Canada's environmental policies related to preventing damage from offshore oil and gas extraction: product of negligence and incompetence.
However, this shouldn't be news to anyone. Stephen Harper and his cronies are well known for intolerance of dissent or disagreement, trying to manipulate or silence any science that is not in line with what they want to hear, and advance corporate agendas (especially environmentally destructive resource extraction, especially mining). As far as Sun TV is concerned, if you believe in freedom of speech, then you can't really call for censorship of it. However, Fox News is now the main source of "news" for most Americans; this makes them some of the most misinformed people on the planet. Sun TV is the creation of Stephen Harper himself, and was put on a fast track towards becoming a basic inclusion as a TV channel along with other news networks; it is federally funded, while the rude, loud "interviewer" is asking why should arts and culture get any funding as opposed to pure unmitigated neoconservative propoganda; and the government had to have the CRTC pass legislation making it easier to just straight up lie on the airwaves before they could introduce the Sun News TV channel.
Harper himself said before that he doesn't like the CBC, and would rather do away with it. This was before he seriously cut their funding.
News media in Canada in general is in a bad way, and the result is that the people are not informed on issues and decisions that affect them, their neighbours, their communities, and their countries, and therefor cannot exert meaningful control over the political process as citizens in a (formerly) democratic society.
Yet we the people know full well that Harper has no trouble lying to the public (just Google search "harper lies"). And now that the election has come and gone (and there's evidence that he won because we are in drastic need of electoral reform), the people have returned to complacency, instead of taking the power back.
Happy Canada Day, a fun time was had by all.
Though it's still a fucking shame.
You may or may not remember the Terra Nova Oil Spill, in November of 2004. This was an accidental spill from an extraction platform owned by Petro-Canada, caused by "mechanical failure." 170 000 liters of oil spilled off Nova Scotia, covering 60 km². It was the largest spill ever on the east coast of Canada.
The response was absurd: nothing was done. Biologists didn't arrive on site until 6 days later!
According to Ian. L. Jones, (Memorial University of Newfoundland) the conclusions that can be drawn from the Terra Nova spill:
Canadian government's short term response : inadequate
Release of information: inadequate
Monitoring of chronic oil pollution from offshore oil and gas activity in general: inadequate.
Seabirds and other migratory birds: dying, and have no clearly defined legal protection.
What were the consequences for Petro-Canada?
$120,000 to federally administered Environmental Damages Fund.
$100,000 for environmental science merit scholarships at Memorial University and its Sir Wilfred Grenfell College campus.
$70,000 fine
Petro Canada's third quarter 2005 profits: $614 million
According to Ian. L. Jones:
Fine for the Terra Nova spill: ridiculously low.
Offshore oil and gas developers: unaccountable for damage they cause.
Canada's environmental policies related to preventing damage from offshore oil and gas extraction: product of negligence and incompetence.
However, this shouldn't be news to anyone. Stephen Harper and his cronies are well known for intolerance of dissent or disagreement, trying to manipulate or silence any science that is not in line with what they want to hear, and advance corporate agendas (especially environmentally destructive resource extraction, especially mining). As far as Sun TV is concerned, if you believe in freedom of speech, then you can't really call for censorship of it. However, Fox News is now the main source of "news" for most Americans; this makes them some of the most misinformed people on the planet. Sun TV is the creation of Stephen Harper himself, and was put on a fast track towards becoming a basic inclusion as a TV channel along with other news networks; it is federally funded, while the rude, loud "interviewer" is asking why should arts and culture get any funding as opposed to pure unmitigated neoconservative propoganda; and the government had to have the CRTC pass legislation making it easier to just straight up lie on the airwaves before they could introduce the Sun News TV channel.
Harper himself said before that he doesn't like the CBC, and would rather do away with it. This was before he seriously cut their funding.
News media in Canada in general is in a bad way, and the result is that the people are not informed on issues and decisions that affect them, their neighbours, their communities, and their countries, and therefor cannot exert meaningful control over the political process as citizens in a (formerly) democratic society.
Yet we the people know full well that Harper has no trouble lying to the public (just Google search "harper lies"). And now that the election has come and gone (and there's evidence that he won because we are in drastic need of electoral reform), the people have returned to complacency, instead of taking the power back.
Happy Canada Day, a fun time was had by all.
Though it's still a fucking shame.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Saturday, April 30, 2011
STRATEGIC VOTING - WHY ONE SHOULD VOTE NDP
I didn't think it would succeed, but Jack Layton has managed to pull a liberal upset. He has officially overtaken Ignatieff and the Liberal Party as the official opposition, according to the polls, and his support is growing. According to the polls I just checked, NDP is at 33%, Harper is at 37%, and the Liberals are down to 19%. Yesterday, it was NDP at 30%, Harper at 38%, and Liberals at 20%. Amazing.
I for one support the platforms of both the NDP and the Green Party. However, I vote NDP because a) they are comprehensive, organized, and they are who I'd like to see in power, and b) because they have more of an influence than the Green Party does yet. The NDP platform basically has everything I want to see. Some of the initiatives that would encourage sustainability could go farther, like they do in the Green Party platform. But in terms of economics, reforms, healthcare, etc., the NDP have the right idea. An excellent article on the NDP and their policies is this one, from the CBC.
However, as if there weren't enough good reasons to vote NDP, there's now an excellent reason to vote NDP if we want to oust Harper; that is STRATEGIC VOTING! (I thought I'd never see this day).
If we can get as many people as possible to defect over to the NDP, if we're lucky, we could even end up with an NDP government!
Removing Harper from power is imperative. Here's some more good reasons:
http://www.conservative.ca/policy/platform_2011/
http://federalelectionblog.ca/2011/04/27/harpers-attack-on-democracy-itemized-by-lawrence-martin/
http://puzzledcat.blogspot.com/2011/04/harper-blows-it-and-dipper-layton-leads.html
http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/warren_kinsella/2011/04/15/18012231.html
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/smoke-mirrors-and-a-harper-majority/article1960537/
http://thetyee.ca/News/2011/04/27/CarsonOilSands/
http://peacefulseeds.blogspot.com/2011/04/fact-that-conservative-partys.html
http://peacefulseeds.blogspot.com/2011/04/there-is-canadian-election-going-on.html
Now, we have a fighting chance. In order to oust Harper, an NDP minority would actually be the most preferable thing. While there is alot of vote swapping going on, amongst people trying to maximize the impact of their vote, the surge in NDP support indicates that more people have newfound faith in that party. Strategic voting would then mean throwing all of our support behind this party in order to seriously challenge Harper. Harper is looking like he's not going to get that majority government, though he's fucking close. Re-election of the Conservative Party should be stopped. Strategic voting generally works when people are trying to stop something, and are united in their opposition to a party or a policy. Harper likely won't get a majority, since 33% NDP, 19% Liberal, 6% Bloc Quebecois, and 4% Green adds up to 62% of the population that doesn't support the Conservatives. I am currently in Quebec, and it's fairly safe to say that the support for the Bloc, the NDP, and the Liberals very much outweighs the support for the Conservatives here. Which makes me concerned for the rest of Canada. I want to see a Federal Government that is anything but a Conservative government. If we really want to oust Harper, and I certainly do, then I think we have a fair shot if we vote strategically for the party that has the best chance of defeating Harper. For once, it's actually the NDP instead of the Liberals. The Liberals have a good platform, however, I think that it doesn't go far enough. Ignatieff has flip-flopped on the Climate and the Tar Sands issues. In this case, the situation of voting strategically for the Liberals because they are the only ones who can defeat the Conservatives has been reversed. It's the same logic, but now the NDP are the ones who can defeat Harper. I therefor encourage all Canadians who care about their country and democracy to go out and vote, and vote NDP (though of course, it's up to you, people).
A good site to help vote strategically is Catch 22 Campaign. It can help identify certain target ridings to help vote strategically. The poll that really matters is election day. If we can deny the Harper Government even a minority re-election, than AWESOME. However, we do need more defectors to the NDP.
I envision an election where enough people can get behind Jack Layton so that we can pull a REAL upset, and vote in either a minority NDP government, or at least a coalition government. Anything but the Conservatives.
Think about it.
However, as if there weren't enough good reasons to vote NDP, there's now an excellent reason to vote NDP if we want to oust Harper; that is STRATEGIC VOTING! (I thought I'd never see this day).
If we can get as many people as possible to defect over to the NDP, if we're lucky, we could even end up with an NDP government!
Removing Harper from power is imperative. Here's some more good reasons:
http://www.conservative.ca/policy/platform_2011/
http://federalelectionblog.ca/2011/04/27/harpers-attack-on-democracy-itemized-by-lawrence-martin/
http://puzzledcat.blogspot.com/2011/04/harper-blows-it-and-dipper-layton-leads.html
http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/warren_kinsella/2011/04/15/18012231.html
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/smoke-mirrors-and-a-harper-majority/article1960537/
http://thetyee.ca/News/2011/04/27/CarsonOilSands/
http://peacefulseeds.blogspot.com/2011/04/fact-that-conservative-partys.html
http://peacefulseeds.blogspot.com/2011/04/there-is-canadian-election-going-on.html
Now, we have a fighting chance. In order to oust Harper, an NDP minority would actually be the most preferable thing. While there is alot of vote swapping going on, amongst people trying to maximize the impact of their vote, the surge in NDP support indicates that more people have newfound faith in that party. Strategic voting would then mean throwing all of our support behind this party in order to seriously challenge Harper. Harper is looking like he's not going to get that majority government, though he's fucking close. Re-election of the Conservative Party should be stopped. Strategic voting generally works when people are trying to stop something, and are united in their opposition to a party or a policy. Harper likely won't get a majority, since 33% NDP, 19% Liberal, 6% Bloc Quebecois, and 4% Green adds up to 62% of the population that doesn't support the Conservatives. I am currently in Quebec, and it's fairly safe to say that the support for the Bloc, the NDP, and the Liberals very much outweighs the support for the Conservatives here. Which makes me concerned for the rest of Canada. I want to see a Federal Government that is anything but a Conservative government. If we really want to oust Harper, and I certainly do, then I think we have a fair shot if we vote strategically for the party that has the best chance of defeating Harper. For once, it's actually the NDP instead of the Liberals. The Liberals have a good platform, however, I think that it doesn't go far enough. Ignatieff has flip-flopped on the Climate and the Tar Sands issues. In this case, the situation of voting strategically for the Liberals because they are the only ones who can defeat the Conservatives has been reversed. It's the same logic, but now the NDP are the ones who can defeat Harper. I therefor encourage all Canadians who care about their country and democracy to go out and vote, and vote NDP (though of course, it's up to you, people).
A good site to help vote strategically is Catch 22 Campaign. It can help identify certain target ridings to help vote strategically. The poll that really matters is election day. If we can deny the Harper Government even a minority re-election, than AWESOME. However, we do need more defectors to the NDP.
I envision an election where enough people can get behind Jack Layton so that we can pull a REAL upset, and vote in either a minority NDP government, or at least a coalition government. Anything but the Conservatives.
Think about it.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
HARPER AND THE ABUSE OF POWER
The fact that the Conservative party's adminstration (officially the Harper Government) was found in contempt of Parliament is actually a big deal. They are the first government in Canadian and in Commonwealth history to be legally found in contempt. And they were actually two verdicts of this.
This is a really good article about why and how exactly they were found in contempt. They refer to the incidents that led to the rulings as examples of the Tories' "games". Last week, I made a post outlining a number of those conservative party games. Ultimately, the Harper government has shown absolute disdain for the real issues, for accountability, transparency, for the voices of real Canadian people, and for the actual values and meaning of democracy. There's plenty of evidence to support this.
Not only are they completely scornful towards the democratic process and democratic values, they are highly contemptuous towards the environment. The Harper government's greenwashing campaigns have been extensive, yet not even good enough. Canada is not only one of the environmentally worst industrialized countries in the world (thanks in large part to Stephen Harper deciding to chuck out the Kyoto Protocol), Canada has in fact been blocking climate-change deals and pressuring other countries to follow suit!
According to one article:
"Canada’s position is widely believed to be driven by its powerful industry lobby, which is keen to exploit oil reserves in the country’s tar sands. “These people are very outspoken, aggressive lobbyists,” said Dr Robert Falkner, a specialist in international relations at the London School of Economics. “They are gung-ho about rising oil prices and want to exploit that.”"
Which comes as no surprise.
The Tories' games know no bounds. That's why now more than ever Canadians should be incensed and enraged at the duplicitous nature of their supposedly democratically elected government, which does not truly
act in their interest, but in the interest of rich, greedy, authoritarian elites. As the first article I referred to above said, "This ought to be a serious call on Canadians to remove this government from the power it has perpetually mishandled."
However, that last word shouldn't be "mishandled". It should be "abused", or "miscarried".
The article closes with "With the Conservatives’ unapologetic disrespect for our institutions, it’s time that voters restore respect to our democracy and move Harper’s Conservative party out of power." Let's hope so. For I for one believe that the Conservative government has truly lost it's legitimacy, and that Canadians should have risen up in a social revolution against it long ago. Alas for Canadians.
On May 2nd, if we don't vote the Conservatives out, they will continue to erode our rights, freedoms, interests, reputation, and our participation in the improvement of the world. They will support corporations and extractive, destructive industries, both at home and abroad. For example, mining; the Toronto Stock Exchange is where 80% of the world's mining investment is. This translates into Canada's destructive tendencies in South/Central America and Africa (Bill C-300 unfortunately didn't make it, thanks to the lobbyists.) They will continue to emit greenhouse gases and avoid pursuing sustainability, and continue to abuse power, erode our democracy, our institutions (such as they are), and pursue their neoconservative agenda.
For some reason, the image I had up on this blog for over a year is no longer working. It showed Stephen Harper's face and said: "On the Environment: Canadians Care, Harper Doesn't". Now, I have always been opposed to the Conservatives and their policies, and this blog certainly makes no secret of that. So what gives? It's HTML, yet it's no longer working. Surely Harper's government hasn't gone so ludicrously far as to actually start eliminating all the anti-Harper tags out there on the internet?
Probably not. But it could be. If I go to one of his rallies, will I be intercepted and kicked out? (Almost definitely).
Probably not. But it could be. If I go to one of his rallies, will I be intercepted and kicked out? (Almost definitely).
I personally am glad to see the NDP getting more support. They represent the opposite of the Conservative agenda, and actually would like to serve the people. But how will it all play out on May 2nd? We shall see. (DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!! AGAINST HARPER!!)
Thursday, April 21, 2011
THERE IS A CANADIAN ELECTION GOING ON
Hello, blogosphere. I am just here to say the only reason I haven't blogged in awhile is I've been busy. I should be studying for my last exam right now.
Everything is insane right now though. This election stuff is getting out of hand. The Tories have been running the same well-scripted, highly controlled and image-based campaign that they always have, and which first got our current king Stephen Harper elected and re-elected. Lately, the NDP has been gaining support; whether or not they can overtake the Liberals remains to be seen. The question of whether either the Liberals or the NDP can overtake Harper, that is the question.
I personally hope to god that Harper can finally be ousted. I especially hope that the guy does not get a majority. Here's why:
Do you remember back when a foreign service officer blew the whistle on the Canadian military handing over detainees to Afghan security forces, in violation of international humanitarian law? And then the government tried to destroy him and refused to give documents to a parliamentary inquiry?
Harper got elected on promises for GREATER TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY, if you remember. Which is of course a grotesque joke. Having come into office on campaign promises of greater transparency and accountability, Harper has silenced civil servants and diplomats, cynically published guidelines on how to disrupt hostile parliamentary committees, and suppressed research that contradicts ideologically-driven policy, for example data that show crime rates to be falling, or that the Tar Sands aren't environmentally devastating.
Following rulings by Speaker Peter Milliken, for the first time in Canadian history, the government and a minister were found to be in contempt of parliament for withholding information and misleading the house.
International Cooperation minister Bev Oda told parliament she did not know who had altered a document that cut funding to a foreign aid group. Later, she admitted to ordering the changes, but did not know who had carried out the order. This is called lying to parliament.
Former Integrity Commissioner Christiane Ouimet failed to uphold a single one of more than 200 whistle-blowing complaints, which it was her job to do. Forced out of office by the ensuing public outcry, she was awarded a $500,000 (CAN) severance package on condition that neither she nor the government talk about it.
That is, a public servant paid by the taxpayer was financially gagged by yet more taxpayer money to stop taxpayers finding out what was going on.
In 2008, Harper was re-elected right after the economic collapse and right before the U.S. Presidential Election. He was re-elected by continually pointing at Canada's being relatively unscathed after the collapse, touted his financial policies as being safe and sound, and that he was running on a platform of continued economic stability and good policy. Which was a lie; Stephen Harper completely mismanaged the budget, resulting in what we have now, which is the largest deficit in Canadian history. The current election was sparked when all of the other parties rejected Harper's budget, which offered more tax cuts for corporations and powerful rich elites, expansion of the prison system and the military, and offered far too little for health care, average Canadians, and the environment.
And yesterday, an article from the Toronto Star said "The only thing worse for the environment than a harper minority is a Harper majority."
With regards to his platform: "In the thin environment section of their platform, the Conservatives boast they aligned Canada’s emission targets with those of the United States — which sounds great, except the American target was lower. They also say they’ve introduced regulations on carbon-spewing coal-fired power plants. This is not true. They’ve promised to do so, but so far the regulation exists only deep in the computer of some dispirited Environment Canada employee, if at all.
And, no surprise, there is no mention of addressing emissions from the oil sands."
Back in November, after the people clearly voted in the Climate Change Accountability Act, the Tories convened a secret Senate session just to shut it down and not pass it. The bill, Bill C-311, was voted on when it had been put before the Senate more than half a year before. The Senate held a surprise vote in the middle of the night without notice and without debate, so that many of the Senators who would have voted for the bill wouldn't be able to vote on it. This filthy trick was a direct assault on real democracy in this country.
After the last elections, when the opposition parties were close to agreement on a coalition majority government, rather than face the house in a vote of confidence, Harper talked the governor-general into shutting down parliament for a month until he shored up his own support. Proroguing Parliament for me was personally enraging, and resulted in a surge of outrage from concerned Canadians ('Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament' is still the largest ever Canadian Facebook group). It also was in fact a direct stifling of our country's democracy. In 2008, according to Statistics Canada, 58.8% of Canadians voted. Harper's minority government got in with only 37.7% of that vote.
In a democracy (Rule by the People), we need the people to participate. Therefor, on May 2nd, 11 days away as of writing this, we need people to ACTUALLY COME OUT AND VOTE. There are many out there who hold this notion that the political process is extremely flawed, corrupt, doesn't really represent them, presents a total lack of choice, or voting doesn't matter and won't change anything. In many ways, especially nowadays, there is some truth to some of these points. There are those who say that by not voting, they are using that as their voice, in protest of the perceived flaws or corruption of a system from which they feel alienated. I however think that is bullshit. By not voting, your non-participation is affecting nothing, and is counter-productive. If you want to protest your alienation from the political process, then in that case you should actually make your voice heard. This can be done through protests, civil disobedience, engaging the media, and all sorts of ways. Hell, if you're really alienated from the political process, then run for office, or start your own party. Non-participation, however, is basically opting out of your responsibilty as a citizen, and therefor your rights as a citizen, your right to have a say in how your country is run and in making decisions, and really your position as a citizen. Non-participation, in fact, furthers those problems with the political process, and further erodes our positions as citizens in a democracy, and contributes to the reduction of our involvement. If you want to refrain from voting, you shouldn't. But if you're going to refrain from voting as some supposed way of indicating your opposition to the problems in this country, then at least actually do something to try and change things, as well.
Not voting amounts to exactly nothing.
Not voting amounts to exactly nothing.
For more on why Harper shouldn't be re-elected, a really good list is presented here, on a really awesome blog called 'Driving the Porcelain Bus'.
Back at the end of March, there was an article in The Australian, called "Canada Watches Its Democracy Erode." It laid out some of the general points mentioned above, as well as lamented the situation around here, saying:
"Edmund Burke noted that all that was necessary for evil to triumph was for good men to do nothing. Canadians are certainly good and worthy folks, but they suffer an excess of civil obedience, politeness and lack of civic rage that could be harnessed to combat political atrophy. At a time when Arabs risk life and limb for political freedoms, Canadians seem largely apathetic about the erosion of their democracy.
The centralisation of power in the hands of the prime minister and political staffers - with the resulting diminution of the role and status of cabinet, parliaments and parliamentarians - is common to Anglo-Saxon democracies in Australia, Britain, Canada and the US, but the extent to which constitutional conventions, parliamentary etiquette and civil institutions of good governance have been worn away in Canada is cause for concern.
...Judges who rule against the pet causes of the government's ideological base are not immune to attacks from cabinet ministers. Civil society groups that criticise any government policy or ideology risk loss of funding and hostile takeovers by boards stacked with pro-government ciphers.
Little wonder Globe and Mail columnist Lawrence Martin describes the government's "arc of duplicity" as "remarkable to behold". What remains unclear is whether this adds up to an indictment of Canadians' indifference to democratic rights being curtailed or of the opposition parties, which have failed to harness the silent majority's outrage.
As Canadians head for the polls in early May, it remains to be seen whether Liberal Party charges of the Harper government being obsessed with secrecy, control, spin and attack ads will resonate with voters. Until then, Oh Canada, we cry our hearts for thee."
For all Canadians: PLEASE GO OUT AND VOTE!
and
PLEASE LET'S GET RID OF STEPHEN HARPER!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
URGENT! LESS THAN 48 HOURS TO SAVE CANADIAN NEWS MEDIA
In the United States, our strange neighbour to the South, the so-called Fox News is really a right-wing lie factory. A few months ago, there was a battle to keep that kind of shit out of our Canadian news media. The Harper government was pushing for a network called 'Sun TV', aka 'Fox News North', which would be government-subsidized and mandatorily included in people's TV packages, no matter what the provider (thanks to the CRTC). I was one of a multitude of Canadians who fought this travesty; Canadians protested the conduct of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's communications director and prevented government funding for our own version of Fox News. However, Sun TV is still in the works. Now, apparently, 48 hours from sometime this morning, the CRTC is hoping to pass a loophole to Canada's broadcast journalism standards, making it officially easier for anyone to lie to Canadians all they want over the airwaves. This proposed change to the regulations of Canadian news media comes just before the arrival of Sun TV, giving ultraconservative propagandists free reign to spread lies and misinformation to the public.
WE HAVE TO FIGHT THIS!
If you are Canadian, please sign this petition:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/canada_fair_and_balanced/?vl
AND SPREAD THE WORD! SAVE YOUR OWN COUNTRY!
From Avaaz
"Dear friends across Canada,
Public protections against false and misleading news coverage could be destroyed by the CRTC -- paving the way for "Fox News North" to spread false information to the Canadian public that supports their political agenda. We have just two days to raise a national outcry and urge the CRTC to protect Canadian journalism!
In 48 hours, public protections against false news coverage could be destroyed. The CRTC may pass a huge loophole to the “fair and balanced” rule that currently prevents media from outright lying to the public.
Canada's broadcast journalism standards are an impediment to the new "Fox News North" (Sun TV) network being set up by Prime Minister Harper's cronies, which promises to mimic Fox News -- the poisonous US propaganda network. The CRTC rule change, which allows false news to be blasted across Canadian airwaves, comes just as SunTV is about to launch.
We can stop this -- last year, we prevented Harper cronies from pressing the CRTC to fund "Fox News North" with public money. Now, we have just two days to raise another national outcry to save the standards of Canadian journalism, and our democracy. Sign the petition below, and tell everyone:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/canada_fair_and_balanced/?vl
The proposed changes to regulations protecting Canadian airwaves would require any complaint to include proof that the broadcaster knew that the news was false AND that the lies spread could endanger the lives, health or safety of the public -- so a journalist could tell any lie they liked as long it didn't kill or sicken anyone. Proponents within the CRTC are claiming that this change is in reaction to a Supreme Court decision, but that ruling was made fifteen years ago and has almost nothing to do with TV news standards.
Television news is regulated by the CRTC precisely because news that spreads lies degrades public discourse and destroys the ability of Canadians to cast an informed vote. These kinds of lies may not directly threaten our lives or personal security, but they do threaten our country and our democracy.
Avaaz, along with hundreds of other media advocates, has already submitted a detailed legal argument explaining why the “fair and balanced” rule is necessary to protect Canadian democracy. A national call to keep the news honest will focus CRTC attention on the legitimate objections to their dangerous plan.
Just a few months ago, Canadians prevented government subsidies for "Fox News North" and helped expose the unethical conduct of its director Kory Teneycke, Prime Minister Harper's former Communications Director. Now Harper's cronies are back, and hacking at an essential pillar of our democracy, the standards that help prevent media from outright lying to the public. In the next two days we join a long tradition of Canadians who have built and sustained our democracy in the face of all kinds of threats. Let's do that tradition proud.
With hope,
Emma, Ricken, Laryn and the rest of the Avaaz team
Sources:
CRTC plan to lift ban on false news prompts political investigation:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/crtc-plan-to-lift-ban-on-false-news-prompts-political-investigation/article1898147/
CRTC notice of consultation on fair and balanced rule:
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2011/2011-14.htm
CRTC receives thousands of comments on 'false and misleading news' amendment:
http://www.wirereport.ca/reports/content/11955-crtc_receives_thousands_of_comments_on_false_and_misleading_news_amendment
Avaaz submission to the CRTC - Feb. 9, 2011
http://www.scribd.com/doc/48882523/Avaaz-Re-BNC-2011-14
(Support the Avaaz community! We're entirely funded by donations and receive no money from governments or corporations. Our dedicated team ensures even the smallest contributions go a long way)."
Public protections against false and misleading news coverage could be destroyed by the CRTC -- paving the way for "Fox News North" to spread false information to the Canadian public that supports their political agenda. We have just two days to raise a national outcry and urge the CRTC to protect Canadian journalism!
In 48 hours, public protections against false news coverage could be destroyed. The CRTC may pass a huge loophole to the “fair and balanced” rule that currently prevents media from outright lying to the public.
Canada's broadcast journalism standards are an impediment to the new "Fox News North" (Sun TV) network being set up by Prime Minister Harper's cronies, which promises to mimic Fox News -- the poisonous US propaganda network. The CRTC rule change, which allows false news to be blasted across Canadian airwaves, comes just as SunTV is about to launch.
We can stop this -- last year, we prevented Harper cronies from pressing the CRTC to fund "Fox News North" with public money. Now, we have just two days to raise another national outcry to save the standards of Canadian journalism, and our democracy. Sign the petition below, and tell everyone:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/canada_fair_and_balanced/?vl
The proposed changes to regulations protecting Canadian airwaves would require any complaint to include proof that the broadcaster knew that the news was false AND that the lies spread could endanger the lives, health or safety of the public -- so a journalist could tell any lie they liked as long it didn't kill or sicken anyone. Proponents within the CRTC are claiming that this change is in reaction to a Supreme Court decision, but that ruling was made fifteen years ago and has almost nothing to do with TV news standards.
Television news is regulated by the CRTC precisely because news that spreads lies degrades public discourse and destroys the ability of Canadians to cast an informed vote. These kinds of lies may not directly threaten our lives or personal security, but they do threaten our country and our democracy.
Avaaz, along with hundreds of other media advocates, has already submitted a detailed legal argument explaining why the “fair and balanced” rule is necessary to protect Canadian democracy. A national call to keep the news honest will focus CRTC attention on the legitimate objections to their dangerous plan.
Just a few months ago, Canadians prevented government subsidies for "Fox News North" and helped expose the unethical conduct of its director Kory Teneycke, Prime Minister Harper's former Communications Director. Now Harper's cronies are back, and hacking at an essential pillar of our democracy, the standards that help prevent media from outright lying to the public. In the next two days we join a long tradition of Canadians who have built and sustained our democracy in the face of all kinds of threats. Let's do that tradition proud.
With hope,
Emma, Ricken, Laryn and the rest of the Avaaz team
Sources:
CRTC plan to lift ban on false news prompts political investigation:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/crtc-plan-to-lift-ban-on-false-news-prompts-political-investigation/article1898147/
CRTC notice of consultation on fair and balanced rule:
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2011/2011-14.htm
CRTC receives thousands of comments on 'false and misleading news' amendment:
http://www.wirereport.ca/reports/content/11955-crtc_receives_thousands_of_comments_on_false_and_misleading_news_amendment
Avaaz submission to the CRTC - Feb. 9, 2011
http://www.scribd.com/doc/48882523/Avaaz-Re-BNC-2011-14
(Support the Avaaz community! We're entirely funded by donations and receive no money from governments or corporations. Our dedicated team ensures even the smallest contributions go a long way)."
Saturday, February 12, 2011
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLES DARWIN
"How paramount the future is to the present when one is surrounded by children."
Charles Darwin
He also said: "Man tends to increase at a greater rate than his means of subsistence.", and "Animals, whom we have made our slaves, we do not like to consider our equals."
And also: "If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin."
He was a wise man.
Happy 202nd birthday to one of the greatest naturalists, scientists, and intellectuals of all time. He spent more time travelling travelling and obsessively studying the natural world than anyone else, save for one other guy - his friend/rival Alfred Russell Wallace.
Here's a re-posting of Sir David Attenborough's documentary on Darwin's truly seismic discovery.
Charles Darwin
He also said: "Man tends to increase at a greater rate than his means of subsistence.", and "Animals, whom we have made our slaves, we do not like to consider our equals."
And also: "If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin."
He was a wise man.
Happy 202nd birthday to one of the greatest naturalists, scientists, and intellectuals of all time. He spent more time travelling travelling and obsessively studying the natural world than anyone else, save for one other guy - his friend/rival Alfred Russell Wallace.
Here's a re-posting of Sir David Attenborough's documentary on Darwin's truly seismic discovery.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Check out this Documentary: Food Inc.
This is part 1 of an epic documentary. You must see this. Unfortunately, though, I can't seem to find a link that actually has the full movie right now. I'll keep trying. My apologies.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Lord of the Ants
Here's an awesome documentary on one of the greatest biologists ever, E. O. Wilson.
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