I’ve had some fun slipping the occasional non-politics related post into this politics blog like some of my old piano recordings or the newer Tech on the Side series. Covering politics and politics only doesn’t always do good things for my blood pressure, and so here goes for the inaugural Hockey on
Continue readingAuthor: bazie
Progressive Proselytizing: Thoughts on Crimea
As the world prepares to accept the near inevitability of Crimea becoming part of Russia, the dominant feeling around the world is one best described as impotency. With the referendum coming in at 95% pro Russian, even if it skips over any official process and was boycotted by opposition groups,
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: PM Plays Pot Politics Perfectly
Whatever else one might be tempted to say about Harper, nobody is going to claim he is not politically savvy. His latest move – considering changing marijuana laws to include a ticketing system – is tactically brilliant. Consider the context: Justin Trudeau has adopted the brave stance to support marijuana
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Vic Toews’ horrible and hypocritical judicial appointment
When the Conservatives where in opposition they raised – as they often did – a legitimate point about the patronage within the then Liberal government. At the front of the pack was Justice Critic Vic Toews, who – quite rightly – decried the partisan appointments themselves and the process by
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: The "Fair" Elections Act isn’t just bad, its being implemented in a bad way
Changes to our electoral system – changes, that is, to the very core of our democracy – are not to be taken lightly. Regardless of where you lie on the political spectrum, we should be able agree on process. We should be able to agree that such changes must be
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Apparently I’m not the only one who doesn’t like the idea of $10,000 TFSAs…
…neither does the economist who came up with the idea of TFSAs. And for pretty much the same reasons I spelled out a few years ago when it was first floated. It is just way too regressive, significantly helping the richest Canadians (those who can afford to put $20,000 as a
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: How to get involved in politics
Politics can be a deeply disenfranchising experience for many people. For an individual, it seems like we have no power, no way of influencing what is going on. So we can grumble around the dinner table about what the politicos are doing in Ottawa and Washington, or we can ignore
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Tech on the Side: Business Models vs Capabilities
One of the most fascinating aspect of following technology is not just the speed at which the technologies themselves change. It is that the shifts are so large and so fast that business models need to get changed on the fly. Many of the biggest battles in tech are not
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Canadian Blog Awards: Help Progressive Proselytizing Win Best Political Blog
Click here: Canadian Blog Awards. Four years and a quarter million views later, my humble political blog is still going strong. If you have enjoyed my writing, I’d love a vote. Also, check out the other participants. Independent blogging is a valueable part of the national conversation – one that
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Predicting a timeline for Senate reform
Historically, big changes in governance often occur in a period of rapid debate and change, following a long period of relative inaction while structural pressures build. For the Senate, the problems regarding the institution have been clear for a long time, but prospects for change have been dim. Complaints about
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Proselytizing on Pipeline Politics
The controversial Keystone XL pipeline has received a big bolster of support by a US State Department report finding that the pipeline won’t create a significant increase in greenhouse gases, effectively ensuring that Barack Obama will OK the proposal. A huge amount of momentum in the environmental movement was tied
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: A brilliant tactical move: Justin Trudeau kicks out Liberal Senators
Sometimes you have to give credit where credit is due: Justin Trudeau just pulled a brilliant tactical move with his unexpected and unceremonious dumping of all former Liberal Senators from the Liberal caucus. As a political analyst, I often am rather unimpressed by the blunders and lack of political acumen
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Does the Left have a corresponding great lie?
Yesterday, I gave a pretty harsh critique on the self contradicting core conservative talking point of cutting debt and taxes to create jobs. What I argued was that if your vision is a dramatic reduction in the size and scope of government, then be honest about it and run on
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: The Great Conservative Lie
Virtually all incidences of modern Conservatism – Canada and the US, federally, state/provincially and municipally, from politician to politician – has a consistent central theme. Campaign planks comes and go, but this is the frame of the Conservative movement. It is also a lie, known by all who say it
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Merry Christmas, fellow atheists…
…and everyone else too, of course. There seems to be a lot of rather silly commentary on what holiday greeting should and should not be utter in various equations. I’m one who does think terminology and rhetoric and symbolism are important in society. But sorry, I just don’t see this
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Prostitution is like abortion: you can’t stop it
With the Supreme Court striking down Canada’s prostitution laws, they have forced the issue into the public sphere. Within a year, Parliament has to decide to pass new laws regarding prostitution, or decide not to. Undoubtedly this is going to be a highly politicized topic and much like the Liberals
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Tech on the Side: Lessons from HDDVD vs Blu-ray
My first real foray into the world of following tech news came with the epic HDDVD vs Blu-ray fight. This was more than a little odd. At the time, I didn’t even have an HDTV, and had no intention of getting a next gen optical media player let alone a
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: A relentless call for donations: The last 65 emails from the Liberals
Starting the day that Justin Trudeau was elected as the leader of the Liberal Party, I have received 65 emails from the LPC’s main bulk email account, most with Trudeau’s name attached. Of that 65, 52 of them have been calls for donations, in under eight months. December has been
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: The Morality of Online Poker
For years, I have engaged in a rather profitable side hobby: online poker. Poker is a fascinating game with layers upon layers of complexity, and I love the challenge, the excitement, and the competition of it. It is also very profitable, even for someone like me who doesn’t intend to
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Tech on the Side: Apple’s tablet upgrade cycle problem
On this blog I like to cover the big issue facing our planet, issues dramatically affecting millions or billions of people: war, conflict, global warming, poverty, economics, rights and freedoms, etc. Okay, okay, sometimes I like to get bogged down in the personalities and gamesmanship of politics, but if I
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