The erosion of Canada’s reputation as a diverse country, welcoming of immigrants, took another step backward today as Immigration Minister Jason Kenney appointed an anti-gay conservative to the IRB. Doug Cryer, former director of public policy for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, says churches have the right to denounce homosexuality.I
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The Church Of Mothra - Home Of The Breakfast Mojito! ©: More Greed Porn
You want a mortgage? You want to struggle against a shrinking real income to pay it off? Why not get a home equity loan and invest that money in other people’s mortgages to make the money to pay off the mortgage? Oh yeah baby. You can have them both… all
Continue readingJacked Up: Wow, as I was writting about the Conservative war on free press…
So as I wrote about the Conservative attack on journalism in Canada, I noticed this disturbing article. “At a session held in early February by the Ontario Progressive Campus Conservative Association (OPCCA) and the Manning Centre for Building Democracy, campus Conservatives, party campaigners, and a Member of Parliament discussed strategies
Continue readingJacked Up: So much for freedom of the press
Since Harper has been Prime Minister, I don’t think anyone would argue, there has been a bit of a crackdown on journalists. First, he told Canada that he would no longer tolerate press conferences, because those pesky interviewers dared to ask him some tough questions. Then Conservatives had the RCMP
Continue readingThe Church Of Mothra - Home Of The Breakfast Mojito! ©: Greed Porn
With all the arguments out there that porn leads to infidelity, divorce, rape, child sexual abuse, and so many other sexually-based ills… why is no one pointing out the obvious? People were worked into a financial frenzy over promises that life could only get better as time went on, and
Continue readingMy Canada Includes Justice: Get on side.
Remind Stephen Harper that we live in a democracy! A decisive majority believes that American Iraq-war resisters should be allowed to stay in Canada. A majority in the House of Commons voted to allow them to stay as well. And Harper said himself (on April 13, 2005), “The Prime Minister
Continue readingredjenny: Post-Civilization
Post-Civ! A brief philosophical and political introduction to the concept of post-civilization is an interesting read. Post-civilized thought is based on three simple premises: 1 – This civilization is, from its foundation, unsustainable. It probably cannot be salvaged, and, what’s more, it would be undesirable to do so.2 – It
Continue readingredjenny: ‘Tent cities’ of homeless on the rise across the US
Homeless encampments dubbed “tent cities” are springing up across the US, partly in response to soaring numbers of home repossessions, the credit crunch and rising unemployment, according to a report. Homelessness, car camps and tent cities are certainly not new, but they are growing rapidly. In Reno, Nevada, the state
Continue readingMy Canada Includes Justice: I hate you all.
Yes, that’s me at the wheel of a Hummer. And if you look closely, I am showing you some disrespect with a hand gesture. Not that it’s needed! By driving one of these things, you are basically saying, “Fuck the environment, and fuck YOU”.Who the hell drives these things? It’s
Continue readingSeeing Red in the Southwest: My Canada includes Quebec, s’il vous plait!
Today’s news conference with the new coalition triumvirate illustrated that social democrats can work together on specific principle-based issues. The presence of Gilles Duceppe was critical. In each of the last elections, M. Duceppe has invariably impressed me in the debates. I dispute him on the separatism issue but I
Continue readingSeeing Red in the Southwest: Maple Syrup and Turkeys
An American friend asked me to summarize what happened over the weekend here in Canada. Thought I’d share my response here so those who’ve been hibernating this weekend can get caught up too.We’ve had a busy few days in Canada while you folks were having your turkey. Actually we had
Continue readingMy Canada Includes Justice: Death by Terrorism… versus Death by Capitalism
For those who have grown up in a country like Canada, it’s difficult to imagine what things must be like in Mumbai at the moment. For the families of the victims, there is anguish and anger – at the loss of their loved ones, at the perpetrators, and at the
Continue readingSeeing Red in the Southwest: Pig Wrestling
Remember when you wrestle with a pig, he’s enjoying it and you both end up covered in mud! Rather than pig wrestling, progressives across Canada need to stand up and take an interest in the possibility of a progressive coalition government that would represent more of our interests.Interested in a
Continue readingSeeing Red in the Southwest: Be careful – when you wrestle with a pig!
My only word of caution in the current constitutional crisis unraveling in Ottawa would be offered to Mr. Dion. “Be careful! When you wrestle with a pig, remember he enjoys it but you both get covered in mud!”Otherwise, full steam ahead!The proposed motion that Dion has put out on the
Continue readingMy Canada Includes Justice: Gay Bashing is a Hate Crime
On November 3, Jane Currie and her partner, Anji Dimitriou, were assaulted by a man as they were picking up their children after school. The same man had verbally abused them on previous occasions. This time, the man swore at Anji, accused her of talking to his child, spat in
Continue readingSeeing Red in the Southwest: Solidarity with bloggers – Rachel Maddow
Blogging on TV is how Rachel Maddow described herself last night. And she did the show in her pajamas to show solidarity with bloggers!Video
Continue readingSeeing Red in the Southwest: Crunch time – threat to free speech!
Today, Steve Anderson, the Save Our Net guru, reminded me that the CRTC, our federal regulator for the internet, will be issuing a landmark ruling shortly on access to the internet. Twice delayed, the upcoming CRTC ruling will have long term implications. And you can have an impact on that
Continue readingMy Canada Includes Justice: Who or what are we honouring today?
Remembrance Day takes me back to my teaching days. I could never ignore such an occasion, with everyone walking around wearing poppies, and soldiers in uniform on the streets, on tv, and in newspapers. As a grade one teacher, it was an opportunity and a duty to introduce an important
Continue readingSeeing Red in the Southwest: Been called worse things…
Sarah Palin, in her softball interview with Fox’s Greta VanSusteren, calls bloggers ‘kids in pajamas sitting in the basement of their parents’ home”. As Pierre Eliot Trudeau once said, “I’ve been called worse things by better people.” I’m sitting comfortably in my own home with my laptop, reading the news
Continue readingSeeing Red in the Southwest: Imperfect Remembrance
The bugler’s Last Post signals our silence while Reveille awakens us to our responsibilities. Canadians across the land will be attending Remembrance Day services this morning. Or have done so already in church or at some cenotaph services held on Sunday.An elder veteran (86 yrs) at my church stood up
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