Ever have one of those days when all the good stuff is happening at the same time but you can’t be everywhere at once? Last night was like that for me. I had to decide between going to my writing class, going to Irene’s Pub for the Chopper McKinnon tribute,
Continue readingTag: human rights
Montreal Simon: Stephen Harper’s Most Horrible Day
Golly. For a moment today it looked like an old Christopher Lee movie.When somebody opens the window, daylight streams in, and all the Con vampires turn to stone.But alas, it was only Stephen Harper having a REALLY bad day.A day when you really had to wonder whether he's losing control of
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: A Real Bathroom Bill.
The Bathroom Bill was supposed to be voted on today. No, I’m not talking about the human rights bill that opponents have tried to tag with that nickname — C-279, which proposes to clarify and enunciate legal protections for most transsexual and transgender Canadians (although the removal of the class
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: House of Commons Approves NDP’s Transgendered Rights Bill C-279
By: Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive: The House of Commons has passed Bill C-279, the NDP’s transgendered rights bill, by a 149-137 vote. The bill, sponsored by New Democrat Randall Garrison (Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca), now proceeds to the Senate. This is a great victory for human rights in Canada. The bill prohibits discrimination against transgendered Canadians.
Continue readingwmtc: ten years since the invasion of iraq: a fundraiser for court martial defence for kimberly rivera
If you’re in the Toronto area, please join us for an evening of community, information, and fundraising in support of war resister Kimberly Rivera. Kim is confined to the Fort Carson, Colorado army base, while her husband and four children (two of whom were born in Canada) are in Texas.
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: 2013 Alternative Fed Budget: Water crisis needs long-term plan, not cuts
By: Council of Canadians (Press Release) With the next federal budget fast approaching, the 2013 Alternative Federal Budget (AFB), Doing Better Together, released today, warns that the “Harper government’s cuts to the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) and other critical environmental programs will hinder the ability to develop freshwater policies and respond to threats to
Continue readingwmtc: how can we condemn bigotry on the soccer field yet support racist israeli policies?
This week in The Nation, Dave Zirin reports on some disturbing – and disgusting – behaviour from Israeli soccer fans. Not even in the earliest days of Jackie Robinson’s 1947 historic debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers did Brooklyn’s white fans walk out after number 42 stole a base or hit
Continue readingwmtc: hear bradley manning’s complete statement, and help spread his words across the internet
The Freedom of the Press Foundation has posted the leaked audio recording of Bradley Manning’s statement to the military court in Ft. Meade. In it, Manning explains why he leaked more than 700,000 government documents to WikiLeaks. FPF also has posted transcript highlights, in case you can’t make it through
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Intersex Conditions within the Transsexual Brain / Why “Born This Way” Is Not the Point
A bit of point and counterpoint here, to provoke some thought. I thought this portion of a lecture given by Robert Sapolsky at Stanford University, given in 2010, would be worth posting for folks who found this blog recently, and/or aren’t familiar with some of the medical discoveriess since the
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: C-279 amendments made, in afternoon of impassioned speeches.
Update / Correction: The amendments were given a voice vote, but not actually passed. Because there was visible opposition, it’s subject to recorded division, and the amendments will be voted on, on March 20th. More twists and turns than a mangled slinky. It’s official, the amendments to drop gender expression
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: PETITION: Tell the RCMP you stand with B.C.’s abused Aboriginal women
By: Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive, March 3, 2013: A recent scathing report by Human Rights Watch accused the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) of excessive force, and physical and sexual assault of Aboriginal women and girls in northern British Columbia. Both Prime Minister Stephen Harper the RCMP responded to the report in a way human rights
Continue readingwmtc: bradley manning takes the stand, tells the world why he released the videos to wikileaks
Please watch Michael Ratner, the lawyer representing Julian Assange in the US, reporting on Bradley Manning’s testimony yesterday. Ratner is President Emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in New York and the Chair of the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights in Berlin.
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Vatican Summoned Before UN Committee on Rights of the Child
Groups Submit Report on Worldwide Sex Abuse Crisis By: Center for Constitutional Rights (Press Release) | Feb. 28, 2013: NEW YORK and ROME – Today, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed an alternate report to the United Nations Committee on
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: C-279: To amend or not to amend?
… aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we still don’t know what Bill C-279 is going to be when it’s voted on at Third Reading. The bill, which proposes to add trans people to human rights legislation, had an hour of debate at report stage. Randall Garrison requested that amendments be added to the bill,
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Idle No More – it’s really all about love
Jo Seenie Redsky: “We’re your last resort.” Photo: Paul S. Graham If your only source of information is the mainstream news media you can be forgiven for wondering what the Idle No More movement is all about. Since it burst on the scene late last year, media attention has darted
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Reflections on democracy
There is a global war on democracy underway, and if it is not addressed, our future will be bleak. But let us start with the ground work of democracy, and follow from there. Simple majority rule is accurately described as the tyranny of the majority; hence the need for constitutional
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Doing something about anti-gay lobbying in Africa
If you’ve frequented any LGBT media at all, you’ve heard about Uganda’s proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill (often referred to as the “Kill the Gays Bill”), and possibly other anti-gay legislative bills that have been debated in African nations. Perhaps you’ve signed on to petitions directed to various governments to urge them
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Best line to pick up a Canadian woman: “Hi, I’m NOT Stephen Harper”? (VIDEO)
by Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive, Feb.3, 2013: Seriously, you can actually get laid in Canada for introducing yourself as NOT Prime Minister Stephen Harper and certainly having nothing to do with the Conservatives? For saying that you got nothing to do with the Alberta tar sands and Canada’s oil-driven foreign policy? That you got
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Human Rights Watch World Report 2013 (VIDEO)
Video available on YouTube The Canadian Progressive recommends: Human Rights Watch: Challenges for Rights After Arab Spring Canada’s Human Rights Reputation is Fast Becoming a Myth Cornel West Is Upset Obama Was Sworn In On Martin Luther King’s Bible U.S. pressuring Bradley Manning to implicate Julian Assange (VIDEO) The Young
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Human Rights Watch: Challenges for Rights After Arab Spring
The willingness of new governments to respect rights will determine whether those uprisings give birth to genuine democracy or simply spawn authoritarianism in new forms.
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