Oh my God, I can’t believe Warren Kinsella is such an idiot. I’m sorry, did I say that out loud? I didn’t mean to read this story, it just happened, and now it can’t unhappen and I’m very upset. Call me crazy, call me anal, call me “someone who understands statistical methods” or “someone who […]
Continue readingTag: Canada
AngryFrenchGuy: Quebec On a Mission to Save English in the World
It’s going to be a scorching hot summer in Québec City. In about a week the Philadelphia Flyers will put an end to the providential media blackout provided by the Habs’ unexpected early playoffs successes and Jean Charest’s Liberals, already busy with Mulroney-scale allegations of corruption, will also have to
Continue readingFeminist Mom in Montreal: Joining the chorus by not shutting the fuck up
Canadian feminists have been pretty pissed off lately, and with good reason. Debra over at April Reign has a pretty good explanation about why we’re angry: Throughout history those who seek to reign despotically first seek to silence and disenfranchise the women, this current PM scrabbling after a majority like
Continue readingFeminist Mom in Montreal: Joining the chorus by not shutting the fuck up
Canadian feminists have been pretty pissed off lately, and with good reason. Debra over at April Reign has a pretty good explanation about why we’re angry:
Throughout history those who seek to reign despotically first seek to silence and disenfranchise the women, this current PM scrabbling after a majority like a junkie jonesing for a fix is no different. He started by all but completely destroying SWC and has continued to show disdain for women with quotes about “left-wing fringe groups” and Bush style gag laws on abortion for women in war-torn countries, and of course he continues to defund women’s groups and programs.
Senator Nancy Ruth caused a furor when she told aid groups “to “shut the fuck up” about abortion funding, or risk a government backlash.” She speaks the truth. Harper wants nothing more than for women to shut the fuck up and let him get on with destroying healthcare, social housing, women’s groups/shelters, eroding human rights, forwarding a right-wing fundamental christian agenda, and creating a climate of war, building prisons in place of social programs and spending all our tax dollars on funding corporate welfare payments.
My Canada is not a place where women shut up and do as they are told. My daughters are not incubators. We will continue to work for a Canadian society where all are valued and cared for and welcomed.
We will not Shut the Fuck Up!
Nasheen at Feministing warns us not to be complacent and tells that we can’t afford to shut the fuck up while Pogge asserts that silence is assent. Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe is pissed off at the Conservatives too:
The uproar coincides with the release of Marci McDonald’s book, The Armageddon Factor: the Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada:
What’s more, The Armageddon Factor, which examines the religious right across the faiths and how Stephen Harper’s government has forged bonds with it, comes after weeks of reports on Conservatives opposition to abortion and family planning, the defunding of activist womens’ groups, the withdrawal of subsidies to gay pride events across the country, the cuts to KAIROS and the publication of an unprecedented amount of grants to Bible schools.
“My problem was, as my book went to bed, headlines were coming daily,” McDonald says over the phone from her Toronto home. “All my worries about having to prove my case that this government is intent on cultivating the social conservative constituency in this country were nothing to worry about. They were doing it so openly that you could hardly keep up with the headlines.”
These recent developments have opened a can of worms. Pro-life campaigners are seeing this as a great opportunity to get some anti-abortion laws in place:
Heartened and emboldened by Canada’s new anti-abortion stand on foreign aid, thousands of pro-life campaigners flooded in unprecedented numbers to Parliament Hill on Thursday, daring to hope that Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government will take further steps against abortion at home as well as abroad.
The debate that Harper says he doesn’t want to reopen in Canada arrived literally on his doorstep on Thursday, with high spirits and demands for the Conservative government to do much more to discourage abortion in this country.
There were MPs at the rally, too:
Dean Del Mastro, an Ontario Tory, said he’s ready for a renewed abortion debate in the House of Commons.
“Maybe the first step is to determine when this place believes that life begins,” he said. “I’m prepared to put my case forward. … I’m prepared to have that conversation. Is the other side?”
Well, unrepentant old hippie has a pretty good response for Dean Del Mastro:
In a word, Dean? Fuck no. We’re not prepared to have “that conversation” because… *rimshot* …it’s none of your business. If you don’t want to have an abortion, then don’t have one. Dean.
As you can see, many Canadian feminists have already said this and I’m just joining the chorus; no, we are not going to shut the fuck up. We have absolutely nothing to gain by being silent.
Continue readingFeminist Mom in Montreal: Joining the chorus by not shutting the fuck up
Canadian feminists have been pretty pissed off lately, and with good reason. Debra over at April Reign has a pretty good explanation about why we’re angry: Throughout history those who seek to reign despotically first seek to silence and disenfranchise the women, this current PM scrabbling after a majority like
Continue readingPop The Stack: Time to Come Together Around Democratic Reform
Today I’m going to tell you my vision for creating a national discussion about Democratic Reform. If you’re a regular reader of PopTheStack you know that one of the things I’m really passionate about is fixing our democracy in Canada. There are lots of things wrong with the way that voices of Canadians are heard, […]
Continue readingbastard.logic: B’nai Brith Canada Hearts Free Speech (Except When It Doesn’t.)
by matttbastard Free speech for ye: B’nai Brith Canada condemns free speech double standard on campus as Coulter talk is cancelled in Ottawa TORONTO, March 24, 2010 – B’nai Brith Canada has condemned the free speech double standard that exists … Continue reading →
Continue readingbastard.logic: The Last Post I Will Ever Write About Ann Coulter (Except for Cynical SEO Purposes)
by matttbastard (Photo: Rockinon2009, Flickr) Well, well, well (h/t Sabina Becker): First, contrary to what Coulter seems to suggest in a brief phone interview with Macleans.ca scribe Colby Cosh, it was not the police who “shut it down.” I spoke with Ottawa Police Services … Continue reading →
Continue readingbastard.logic: Ann Coulter in Canada: Of Fire Alarms and Flaming Hyperbole
by matttbastard (Photo: Jimbo Wales, flickr) Aw, poopsie: After protesters at the University of Ottawa prevented Ann Coulter from giving a speech on Tuesday night, the American conservative writer said it proved the point she came to make – free … Continue reading →
Continue readingbastard.logic: Red Meat Straight Outta Ann Coulter’s Rider
by matttbastard No, just…no: Even before she opened her mouth for the first of three speeches this week on Canadian soil, American right-wing antagonist Ann Coulter had already scored a victory of sorts. Coulter, who spoke to an audience of … Continue reading →
Continue readingAkaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism: Akaash Maharaj – Globe and Mail: Unashamed to Own the Podium
Reflecting on my own experiences representing Canada in international sport, I argue that good sportsmanship and the virtues of sport are inextricably bound-up with the determined pursuit of sporting excellence, despite the scattered carping over the O…
Continue readingAkaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism: Team Canada Rides Again – Akaash Maharaj Podcast
CBC Radio One’s Fresh Air interviews me on whether Team Canada will be able to repeat our improbable dominance of tent pegging, the cavalry sport of horse, sword, sabre and lance, as I saddle-up to compete at the 2010 International Championships in New Delhi.
Continue readingAkaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism: Team Canada Rides Again – Akaash Maharaj Podcast
CBC Radio One’s Fresh Air interviews me on whether Team Canada will be able to repeat our improbable dominance of tent pegging, the cavalry sport of horse, sword, sabre and lance, as I saddle-up to compete at the 2010 International Championships in New Delhi.
Continue readingCanadian Nuke Company Connected to Kazakh Investigation
Oops! A nuker lost his job as head honcho at Kazatomprom, a state-owned nuke company in Kazakhstan. And there’s a Canuckian connection: Dzhakishev went on trial in January, charged with stealing 99.8 million tenge (about $679,000) during the …
Continue readingMore Nuke News
Not a lot of people liking President O’s greenwashing of nukes. This most excellent article in the Guardian dispels the myth that nukes are green. The argument that nuclear is “carbon-free” conveniently omits the entire process of m…
Continue readingA stream of nuke news
Grab a coffee or tea. Find a snack. Lots of linky news today so this could take a while! First up: A Calgary nuke company, Kirrin Resources, is not going to expand its exploration for uranium in Quebec. That’s good news for Quebec’s…
Continue readingPop The Stack: 2010 vs 1972
All agree that yesterday’s gold medal hockey game was on par with the greatest hockey games of all time. Viewer ratings of the big game bare this out. About 80% of Canadians watched at least some of the game and it was the most watched hockey game of any kind in the US since the […]
Continue readingPop The Stack: Harper plays games while democracy crumbles
My comment on the Globe and Mails recent story: Tories seek parliamentary extension This is a non story, by casting it as some kind of tricky dilemma for the Liberals and NDP the Globe is accepting the Conservative game. You can almost hear the writer salivating at the dramatic irony of the opposition voting against […]
Continue readingPop The Stack: Canada 2.0 – Way to go Canada!
Update on my recent interest in seeing Twitter go Canuck. Good going Canada! It looks like more people are setting their locations because I’ve been seeing more and more Cancon in the Trending list on Twitter. Last night 4 of the top five words were the names of hockey players as Canadians chimed in on […]
Continue readingbastard.logic: Prorogation, Disengagement and Cutting the Democratic Deficit in Canada
by matttbastard With thousands of Canadians reportedly hitting the streets this past weekend to express their disapproval of Stephen Harper’s latest arrogant bird-flip to Parliamentary democracy, it seems apparrent that our political elites are out of touch with the people … Continue reading →
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