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 readingTag: International
The Scott Ross: A Conservative Canada Is An Uncompetitive One
It’s odd that Conservatives advocate competition in the economy when under this Conservative government our economy has only become less competitive. The World Economic Forum (WEF) has recently lowered Canada’s ranking in global economic competitiveness from 12th last year to 14th place in 2012. This has been part of a
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: European Parliament Opposes Restrictive Measures in Both CETA and ITU
According to Internet freedom group European Digital Rights, provisions that would criminalize our Internet use may be dropped from the Canada-EU Trade Agreement (CETA)! While the battle isn’t…
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Conservative Fiscal Deficits & Ignorant Surpluses
Though many would say that fiscal deficits from this Conservative government are the most worrying, their lack of economic knowledge is far more dangerous.
Before showing the economic ignorance of Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre a quick introduction…
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: LGBT human rights in Uganda, and John Baird’s dilemma.
Recent attention from both ends of the political spectrum has focused on the efforts of the Harper government to safeguard the safety and human rights of lesbian and gay people around the world. I’ve commended Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird for taking the lead on this before, and without prompting. But what has been
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Trans Depathologization: the spark of change.
I watch a lot of news stories unfold, reading left-wing, centrist and right-wing media alike. In the course of a news story, issues ignite, blaze hotly and then smoulder into memory. After awhile, one develops some sense of when a campaign will spread like a prairie fire or when it
Continue readingMadLibMadLib: Jim Lehrer, He’s Such a Nice Guy
Seen on Facebook: It wasn’t Lehrer’s fault, aside from not keeping the segments to 15 minutes. The rules were set by the Commission on Presidential Debates and he was (very nearly) following them. He clearly stated that following the initial two-minute answer there would be a back-and-forth between the candidates
Continue readingAkaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism: Akaash Maharaj – Globe and Mail: False Flags and True Principles
On the injustice of Tiffany Foster’s disqualification from the London 2012 Olympics. This is more than a fight over the treatment of a single athlete. This is more than a struggle for the future of equestrian sport. This is a battle for the values, the honour, and the very soul
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: On Trans Celebrities
“Cloud Atlas” will be winding its way to movie theaters shortly, being billed as an exploration of “how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future. Action, mystery and romance weave dramatically through the story as one soul is shaped
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Montreal LGBT couple beaten in Paris
I’ve heard via Michelle Blanc that on the afternoon of Wednesday August 1st, a Montreal trans advocate (who I’ve had the pleasure of meeting) was assaulted with her partner in Paris, in view of the couple’s children. Marie-Ève is with l’association Fierté Montréal Pride and has been active within Montreal’s
Continue readingCanadian Progressive World: Canadians: Farewell, Bev Oda!
Disgraced ex-Durham MP, Bev Oda, begins her private life today, after a scandalous public life defined by profligacy, scandal, inefficiency and controversy. Canadians offer their final word on the former minister of International Co-operation and MP for Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party of Canada. [View the story “Canadians: Farewell, Bev Oda!”
Continue readingCanadian Progressive World: So Long, Bev Oda! Please Stay Away From The Canadian Senate
Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s minister of international co-operation, Bev Oda, officially retires today. A sigh of relief! What a financial burden to the Canadian taxpayer the Conservative MP for the Ontario riding of Durham has been. Oda earned the dubious honor of poster girl for misspending by Tory ministers: $1,000
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Marriage Goes Corporate.
If you live in a state that doesn’t allow you to marry your partner, there may be a solution — although it might not work in states with a marriage amendment, and there is a caveat. Go corporate. Incorporate yourself. The US Supreme Court’s decision on Citizens United has opened
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: C-279: When a victory for one can be a victory for… one.
The second hour of Second Reading debate for Bill C-279: An Act to Amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and Criminal Code (gender identity and gender expression) occurred on Friday June 1st, and the Second Reading vote is to take place on Wednesday June 6th. I missed any indication that the
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Leslie Feinberg arrested in solidarity with CeCe McDonald
What first struck me about Leslie Feinberg is hir commitment to fighting oppression on a universal scale, rather than just in a cliquish self-focused manner. This means recognizing where our needs correspond and intersect, and characteristically parallel causes like race and sex, or reproductive rights and genital reassignment surgery access.
Continue readingThe Progressive Right: Mexico Subway Flu Ice
Just testing a theory. Yahoo! News, Don’t say ‘flu’ or ‘subway’ online if you want to avoid Homeland Security The list of words used by [Homeland Security] to monitor online activity for signs of terrorism or threats against the U.S. has been made publicly available. There are plenty of words on the
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Canada’s message: "We’re all right Jack!"
Expectation of economic recovery in Europe is replaced now by talk of double dip recession — even depression. Nevertheless, Canada is lecturing nations there to institute the policies of economic neoliberalism favoured by Stephen Harper. Chris Williamson of financial information services company Markit commented: “Austerity in deficit-fighting countries is having an
Continue readingPolygonic: The emperor’s new clothes: North Korea keeps on marching
Sometimes, you just want to give them a hug. Pyongyang put on this earnest show of transparency around its rocket launch, inviting foreign journalists into the heart of their futuristic Space Control Centres (SCCs). Witness the marvels of our microcomputers and our, umm, extraordinarily large antennae! It was one part
Continue readingPolygonic: La France Forte, or Why You Desperately Need Sarko Standing On the Beach
The French presidential campaign is kicking into high gear, and Nicolas Sarkozy has one key message for his ungrateful people: vote him back in, and he promises to spend his second term standing on the beach, like a magnificant granite Colossus, liquifying overseas demons with the sheer power of his
Continue readingThe Progressive Right: Disturbing Conservative Viewpoints on Education
Interesting how social conservatives in both Canada and the United States are blaming universities for their being “too much edumacation”. On his Facebook profile, former Liberal MP Omar Alghabra, found and posted this letter to the editor on Mississauga.com that highlighted one of Canada’s problem to those of the so-called common
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