After a few years practicing being a social commenter I have come to one certain conclusion. I should probably have my fucking head examined! Grief, that’s what you mostly get. Yet we all plug away, each of us for our own reasons from that unique perspective each of us can
Continue readingTag: Corporations
Politics, Re-Spun: Stop the Condo Development on the Musqueam Burial Site
What kind of racist government issues a permit for a condo developer to bulldoze a Musqueum burial site? BC’s government. I visited c̓əsnaʔəm, the 1338 SW Marine Drive site this morning and had a chance to talk with some of the demonstrators. I learned a number of important points in
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Harper Spends $90k of Our Money/Day to Spin Us on His Cuts
The Harper government is paying consultant Deloitte Inc. almost $90,000 a day for advice on how to manage the cuts. via Harper personally approved $22,000 tab for visiting bureaucrats – The Globe and Mail. I am flabbergasted to read this entire article about money Harper personally signed off on to
Continue readingCanadian Progressive World: Wikileaks: Stratfor spied on grassroots activists in Canada and US
Today WikiLeaks began publishing The Global Intelligence Files – more than five million emails showing the inner workings of Statfor, a Texas-based “global intelligence” used by large corporations to monitor groups fighting for a just …Read More
Continue readingArt Threat: WikiLeaks dump reveals Dow Chemical spies read Art Threat
Today WikiLeaks began releasing a collection of emails obtained from the servers of Stratfor, an American private espionage firm with a client list that boasts such warm and fuzzy companies as Dow Chemical, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and the US Department of Homeland Security. According to WikiLeaks, “the emails
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Vale Wins 2012 Public Eye People’s Award for Worst Company of the Year
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Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Liveblogging Today’s NDP Leaders Debate
Today’s NDP leadership debate lands in Quebec. I’m using 14 criteria to evaluate who I’ll be voting for. Let me know if you have suggestions for improved criteria. 2012.02.12 NDP Leaders Debate February 2, 2012 — NDP Leaders, By the Numbers and the Intangibles (0) August 27, 2011 — Liveblog
Continue readingmark a rayner | scribblings, squibs & sundry monkey joys: Survival Tips for Tiny and Polite Humans
If you happen to live on one of the many planets inhabited by CEOs, you may find yourself wondering: “how do I not get eaten?” You may also wonder if there is sunblock powerful enough to prevent dermal incineration when … Continue reading →
Continue readingCanadian Progressive World: Americans: Hell no, corporations are NOT people
For more than half of Americans, corporations aren’t people. It’s that simple. And they shouldn’t enjoy the same constitutional rights as people. That’s according to a study conducted by Legal Progress, a policy program of …Read More
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Conservatives Don’t Hate Democracy, They Just Don’t Need It
In Canada our representatives are elected, our churches, charities, and businesses are not. Conservatives by their ideology believe that less power should be given to our democratically elected government and more power given to groups that do not answer to voters, whether they be private hospitals, unaccountable church organizations, or
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: US Chamber of Commerce Jobs Plan Rehashes Old, Debunked Talking Points
US_Chamber_of_Commerce_logo-740806.jpg The U.S. Chamber of Commerce released its “The State of American Business 2012” plan this week, outlining their own vision of how to create jobs in America. There were no surprises in Chamber President Tom Donohue’s address to business leaders. He simply rehashed the same tired talking points that
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Cozy Ties: Astroturf ‘Ethical Oil’ and Conservative Alliance to Promote Tar Sands Expansion
hamish marshall and stephen harper.jpg As the Northern Gateway Pipeline Project Joint Review Panel begins hearing over 4,000 comments submitted by community members, First Nations, governments, and environmental groups, the tar sands front group EthicalOil.org has launched its latest PR offensive in support of the pipeline. OurDecision.ca, the new astroturf ad
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Is It Just Me, or Do These Pork Barrels Reek of Bitumen?
Once in a while, something crosses my desk that makes me cross my eyes and pound my head against the desk in frustration. This is not one of those things. This is one of those things that makes me crinkle up my face and exclaim “What the hell?” If you
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Enbridge Gateway JRP Hearings Broadcast (Kitimat/Kitamaat) – January 10, 2011
Hi! My name is Tia! I’m a radical, eco-terrorist, and enemy of the state now! Whee! (This is almost as random as the people Harper appointed to the senate the other day, and makes just as much sense.) Due to my fervent opposition to the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline, I can now add these spiffy
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: The Galling Hypocrisy of EthicalOil.org
Mordor It’s really very simple. A front group for tarsands polluters is accusing opponents of being puppets of foreign interests. EthicalOil.org thinks only Canadians should be permitted to take part in the tarsands climate debate, which would exclude anyone or any group involving foreign resources or money. An organization called
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Day Three of Tragedy of the Market: From Crisis to Commons
Tragedy of the Market: From Crisis to Commons January 6-8, 2012 Vancouver/Burnaby All panelist biographies are here. Below are some lessons learned and observations from the sessions. Friday: The opening panel is recorded in the Twitter storify here. Saturday: My notes are here. Sunday: Opening Panel Radical Squares: Reflections on
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Day Two of Tragedy of the Market: From Crisis to Commons
Tragedy of the Market: From Crisis to Commons January 6-8, 2012 Vancouver/Burnaby All panelist biographies are here: Below are some lessons learned and observations from the sessions. Friday: The opening panel is recorded in the Twitter storify here. Saturday: Opening Panel A Global Tradition: History of the Commons Silvia Federici
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Opening Panel from the Tragedy of the Market: From Crisis to Commons
This weekend I attended Tragedy of the Market: From Crisis to Commons community gathering in Vancouver and Burnaby, sponsored by these groups and people. The basic premise is not so much that capitalism is broken, and we just need to fix it, but that neoliberal market fundamentalism is inherently broken
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: How You Can Support the Gitxsan Blockade
Photo courtesy of Gitxsan Against Enbridge website. Despite very public chest thumping, trumpeting and proclamations by Enbridge, mainstream media and Hereditary Chief Elmer Derrick, the song remains the same: the Northern Gateway Project is unwelcome in Northern B.C. As the angry, indignant and brave members of the Gitxsan Nation
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Fixing Vision Vancouver’s Democratic Deficit
Now that Vision Vancouver has self-actualized as a political party, it’s time to see if they’ll now address some longstanding democratic deficits. The complexion of the city changed markedly last night as Vision elected all its candidates, the Greens got a seat on council, the NPA increased its representation and
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