Nothing cuts through the bullshit quite like live footage.
The following comes inadvertently from a CNN interview conducted with a Palestinian in Gaza and an Israeli in Ashkelon. I will let the video speak for itself:
Author: Song of the Watermelon
Song of the Watermelon: An Open Letter to Israeli and Palestinian Hawks
Dear Israeli hawks: What are you thinking? I realize that you consider every destructive, civilian killing, infrastructure shattering air raid you launch on the impoverished people of the Gaza Strip to be an act of self-defence against the terrorism of … Continue reading →
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: False Flags and Vapour Trails: Reflections on Conspiracy Theory
Yesterday, I attended a talk here in Vancouver by author and activist Yves Engler, promoting his latest book The Ugly Canadian: Stephen Harper’s Foreign Policy. While the talk was very informative, most of the entertainment came during the question-and-answer session … Continue reading →
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Obama, Romney, and the Electoral College
2008 Electoral College With opinion polls ahead of next week’s election showing the two candidates for President approximately tied, but giving Barack Obama a slight edge in the Electoral College, there now exists the real possibility that the latter could be reelected despite losing the popular vote. In other words,
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: The Persistence of Misogyny
It has been fashionable for as long as I can remember for bitter males, along with a few reactionary female allies, to claim that the feminist movement not only succeeded in eliminating the traditional gender power structure, but inverted it. Women, they complain, are now on top, occupying the positions
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: On Polarization in America
Tea Party protest Every four years, the American airwaves are saturated with pundits claiming that the upcoming Presidential election is the most important in the nation’s history. Partisans — both official and unofficial — paint dire pictures of apocalyptic disaster should the wrong candidate be voted in. Ever-escalating stakes seem
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: The Three Obamas
One of the most fascinating things about the race for the Presidency currently underway down south is the dearth of enthusiasm shown Obama and Romney by their respective supporters. Nobody is excited about their guy; rather, what motivates them is how horrible the other guy is. Perhaps I am deceived
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: The Point of Taxes
What follows is my submission to BC’s Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services. Any other British Columbians interested in influencing next year’s budget have until October 18 to do so by clicking here. Taxation has three major purposes: raising government revenue, redistributing wealth, and discouraging “bads.” The first
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: A Taxing Debate
The gloves came off yesterday on Parliament’s first day back after its summer break, with Stephen Harper dealing the NDP what he evidently considers a fatal insult. Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition, according to the synchronized taunts of the Prime Minister and his Conservative minions, wants nothing more than to impose
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: An Open Letter to Stephen Harper Regarding Senate Reform
Dear Prime Minister Stephen Harper: I am writing today in response to reports that you will seek a Supreme Court reference on the constitutionality of your proposals for Senate reform. In a way, I can understand this. You would like clarity on a politically tricky issue, one that would otherwise
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: The Folly of Balanced Budget Laws in BC
The news is out. Due to declining natural gas prices, the BC Liberal government is projecting a budget deficit of $1.14 billion this year — $173 million more than expected. And while the government still insists that it plans on finding enough savings to balance next year’s (election year) budget,
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Quebection Projection
Apparently I haven’t learned my lesson since predicting a Peggy Nash victory in this year’s NDP leadership race. I may not have the statistical wherewithal or ear-to-the-ground perspicacity of an Eric Grenier, but I cannot resist the peculiar temptation — that siren song that has marked the downfall of politicos
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Quebec’s Election: Endorsements and Analyses
Quebec politics are unique in North America because of the two distinct dimensions along which political battles are fought. In addition to the standard left-right dimension, there is the sovereignty-federalism one. For whatever reason, sovereigntists in the province have, as a general rule, tended to align themselves with the left,
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Twisting the Facts on the Environment
Courtesy of sumofus.org Case #1: BC Premier Christy Clark has a job creation plan. One component of said plan involves three liquefied natural gas plants in the northern part of the province. Unfortunately, this runs afoul of the provincial Clean Energy Act. So what does Premier Clark do? In June,
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Israeli Settlements and the United Church Boycott: Three Common Distortions
*** Note: An unfinished draft version of this post mistakenly went out to e-mail and feed subscribers yesterday. Please do your best to scrub it from your memory and enjoy the updated post — as its author intended — below. Many thanks and apologies. *** After months of controversy and
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Israel, the Settlements, and the United Church: Three Common Distortions
– proposed United Church boycott of products from Israeli settlements Distortion #1: Why Israel? The world is full of tyranny and injustice. Of all the places and issues, why boycott the Middle East’s only democracy? Three assumptions are packed into this distortion: that the United Church is boycotting Israel, that
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: A Formula for Nuclear Disarmament
Mushroom clouds over Hiroshima (left) and Nagasaki (right) If you look at world history, ever since men began waging war, you will see that there’s a permanent race between sword and shield. The sword always wins. The more improvements that are made to the shield, the more improvements are made
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Free Speech, Hate Speech, and Chick-Fil-A
In honour of Pride Week here in Vancouver, I can think of no better time to wade into the growing Chick-fil-A row currently ruffling the feathers of our southern neighbours. For those who don’t follow American news (it’s not like we’re a different country or anything), Chick-fil-A is a US-based
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Stockwell Day for Premier?
Thank you Georgia Straight editor Charlie Smith. I needed that. In the midst of unrelenting bad news broken up only by worse news — pipeline debates, carnage in Syria, the federal government’s ongoing dismantlement of Canada’s worthiest accomplishments — a good laugh was just what the doctor ordered. On the
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Referendums: The Perils and the Possibilities
Direct democracy is to representative democracy what extra-virgin olive oil is to refined olive oil. The latter is more cost effective and, perhaps according to some, just as good. But to the connoisseur, there is no substitute for the real stuff. In the fourth article of his ongoing series on
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