#PMSH goes #BananaRepublic: the (un) #FairElectionsAct lets incumbents SUPERVISE their own election! pic.twitter.com/SG3IT8GMAz #cdnpoli — Politics, Re-Spun (@PoliticsReSpun) April 6, 2014 Just how stupid does Stephen Harper think we are? He thinks that we’re fine with the idea that incumbent parties should be able to pick the poll supervisors in
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Politics, Re-Spun: Calling For An Occupy Vancouver General Assembly
It’s now Friday, April 4, 2014. Greetings, world, the reboot of the Occupy Movement, the Worldwide #WaveOfAction [follow it live in Twitter here], has begun in a variety of places around the world! And it will last for 3 months while it evolves its next phase. But as it turns
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Honing In On Friday’s #WaveOfAction
We need to think about two things for this Friday’s Occupy Movement reboot in the Worldwide #WaveOfAction: When thinking about pursuing social, political and economic equality, what is the list of things we need to change, locally, regionally, nationally and internationally? Who do we need to build coalitions with to
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Occupy IKEA’s #HouseRules
IKEA’s #HouseRules = union busting! Oh, IKEA, you’d think you’d learn from all the past corporate attempts to create a Twitter hashtag to promote your brand, attempts that have been subverted by culture jammers. Maybe IKEA will get away with this one, #HouseRules, but in the spirit of the Occupy
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Is Your Job Bullshit?
Work should be liberating, not enslaving! It’s Saturday so it’s the weekend so you’re not working. But that’s just an incorrect hypothesis. Lots of people are working this weekend. In fact, weekends don’t mean much to billions of people. They are a luxury, relatively speaking. But your job may be
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Random Terrorism From North American Police
Five police beat and kill Luis Rodriguez. You know you’re living in an increasingly terrorized state when the police kill for no good reason. Sure there are extenuating circumstances, but that should lead to caution, not an impulse to deadly violence. That impulse marks the increased tendency/willingness of the police
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Stop. Obeying. The. Rich. NOW!
Once upon a time, we were taught to envy and respect our “betters,” like the rich. No more. They’re taking our money and throwing us under the bus every day. And it’s not even just the super-rich or those in America, it’s the aspirational rich; they’re just as toxic. This
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Yes, Your Parents’ Standard of Living Was Better
Ugh. We’re so much poorer than our parents! Yes, your parents’ standard of living was better, so what are you going to do about it? When I was growing up in the 1970s, most [maybe 80%?] of my friends had a mom who stayed home and didn’t work. Over the
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Don’t Tolerate Ignorance About the Minimum Wage
Now, stop tolerating ignorance! And smile, TGIF. Hello. It’s Friday. For many people it’s TGIF. But for many people who aren’t even teenagers, the work week isn’t ending today. We often THINK minimum wage is for the new entries to the job market. Maybe it was one day. Maybe just
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: How the Conservative Government Dishonours the Military
So Canada is leaving its occupation of Afghanistan. I never liked the mission. I never liked the context. I never liked the propaganda. I never liked the transformation of some kind of Canada into this occupying Canada. 162 killed and 2,179 wounded? But here’s the very very hard question. Who
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Do the Rich Think a Class War Isn’t Already Happening?
You’d think we were building guillotines. The rich, however, are starting to feel antsy and they want our pity and compassion. Here are some of the ludicrous fears they are spilling out to the masses, to avoid a genocide against the rich: It’s almost like there hasn’t already been a
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: The Future of Feminism Is Now
The children: being the future. There seems to be a bit of an epidemic of young women and men rejecting the necessity of exploring or embracing feminism. Maybe it’s like similarly misguided ideas like how we don’t need unions anymore. But when you encounter young people who get it, really
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Stop Listening to the Big Oil Spin!
Do the math. Please. For a great long time, I’ve been talking about how we must dump the oil, gas, fracking, tankers, pipelines, coal…all the carbon-based energy systems because of climate breakdown [aka climate change, aka global warming, aka the greenhouse effect]. We need to transform our society to a
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Women Who Inspire Us
Pam Palmater, getting it done! “Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead For three decades of activism I have been inspired by a great number of wise, engaged women. Carleen Pickard, for instance.
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Women: The Majority, Not a Media Niche
I couldn’t really fault you if you felt that only about 22% of humanity were women. If we based it all on how frequently they are represented in politics and the media, we wouldn’t know they made up a 51-ish% majority. This is why Cate Blanchett and Geena Davis have
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Why Corporations Don’t Want Women In Charge
It’s interesting to see how far we may have come with gender equity. And not. Men, formerly the head of the household, are now more likely to share authority with women at home. But what about the most powerful organizations in society: corporations? What’s the role of women in leadership?
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: If the 1% Has Russell Brand Killed…
If the 1% has Russell Brand killed, we will see it in the corporate media as a drug OD relapse, or a freak accident. Why? He is dangerous because he fearlessly tells the truth and challenges pretence. Let’s examine this in some detail here [with video]: His brain works twice
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Systemic Pressures Make Journalists Sloppy
Gosh, the corporate media sure can be sloppy. The heart-wrenching photo of a four-year-old Syrian refugee pictured alone crossing a desert into Jordan spread far and wide this weekend, but the fact that his family was just metres away was left behind. Photo of 4-year-old Syrian refugee triggers sympathy, confusion
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: The Harlem Renaissance is “Coming Back Again”
Vari-Colored Songs: A Tribute to Langston Hughes dropped earlier this month. My esteem for Langston Hughes, his insight and vision, and the too-often ignored human/cultural catalyst that was the Harlem Renaissance came back again last night for me when I found Leyla McCalla on the internet. Merging Haiti, Hughes and
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Build Worker Solidarity Now or Suffer the Wrath of the 1%
Working people need to seek out solidarity opportunities. Unions and unionized workers need to reach out to non-unionized workers and seek legislative improvements for all, like improvements to the EI and doubling the CPP and renegotiating the Canada Health Accord and expanding Medicare and getting a national pharmacare program and
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