Richard Hughes-Political Blogger PM Harper is appearing ill at ease and showing signs of discomfort as the opposition expands to the secret trade deal with China. NDP Leader Mulcair and for the most part Liberal Leader Bob Rae have been critical Harper’s assault on democratic processes and the sell out of
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Cowichan Conversations: Here Is A Brilliant Examination of Harper’s Crumbling Control of Caucus
Richard ‘Hub’ Hughes – Political Blogger Those of us who fall into the news/political junkie slot scan the media in its many variations. Searching for relevance can be an exhausting effort but every once in awhile a refreshing, independent and insightful source appears and is relished. The following is such a
Continue reading350 or bust: The Harper Government’s Approach To Scientists: Control The Pests
* Although Rick Mercer treats the current situation regarding control of scientists and their tax-payer funded research in Canada with humour, unfortunately it is no laughing matter when the government of a democracy goes to great lengths to suppress information that doesn’t line up with its agenda. In fact, it
Continue readingNEW MEDIA AND POLITICS CANADA: Tuesday At The Radio Show
I wish I could get it all together: the radio show, the podcast and the blog. Truth is I do it alone and simply run out of steam and so I keep my primary focus on the radio show and offering up an alternative to the bilge that the media spews forth daily. It’s simple, if you want to remain informed all you need is the desire coupled with the digital media. I’m going to start offering up my heavily linked posts once again as a tool for you and for myself so I can bring some sort of order to my radio show.
The U.S. State Department has announced that their chief investigator will review the Obama administration’s handling of a Canadian company’s request to pipe oil from western Canada to Texas, following complaints from 14 U.S. lawmakers. The review will look at the Keystone XL pipeline approval process, the controversial $7 billion project, a 2,735 kilometer pipeline proposed by Calgary-based TransCanada, and whether the State Department “and all other parties involved” in the project followed federal laws and regulations. This comes on the heels of a protest on Sunday that saw more than 12,000 people show up to form a human chain around the White House in protest of the pipeline.
It’s also worthy of note that one of the world’s leading climatologists, James Hansen of NASA, says that so far as what little chance we have of stabilizing climate and avoiding the most disastrous global climate impacts if the tar sands are thrown into the mix it is essentially game over. Our Prime Minister, by the by, believes this all to be a “no-brainer.” Awesome choice of words dude!
Our PM, Harper stated that we would not recognize the country after he was through and clearly on his agenda is the dismantling of Canada’s social safety net. In Harper’s Canada the right to strike has been taken away from ordinary Canadians.
Here in Quebec we’re convinced that the Progressive Conservatives are completely uninterested in ever winning Quebec seats in parliament in the near future.
Internationally there is no more important story than the current ramping up of tensions between western powers and Iran. There has been a long stated desire by the neo-cons to wage war on Iran ever since they blundered their way into Iraq and created a power vacuum benefiting the Iranians. Just as it was before the Iraq war we are reading stories about statements being leaked anonymously that are surefire evidence of a nuclear weapons program under way that is the “greatest threat” to democracies everywhere!
The notion Iran would work to attain nuclear weapons in order to deploy them against Israel, the United States, or anyone else is a “virtual impossibility.” It would be suicide as they would find themselves incinerated in a retaliatory nuclear attack. It is the same use of fear and lies that we witnessed before the Iraq war and as Seymour Hersh wrote in the New Yorker that “despite years of covert operations inside Iran, extensive satellite imagery, and the recruitment of Iranian intelligence assets, the United States and its allies, including Israel, have been unable to find irrefutable evidence of an ongoing hidden nuclear-weapons program in Iran.”
Those are the lead stories for Tuesday’s show — tune in here at 8 AM for lots more.
Continue readingNEW MEDIA AND POLITICS CANADA: Tuesday At The Radio Show
I wish I could get it all together: the radio show, the podcast and the blog. Truth is I do it alone and simply run out of steam and so I keep my primary focus on the radio show and offering up an alternative to the bilge that the media
Continue readingNEW MEDIA AND POLITICS CANADA: Tuesday At The Radio Show
I wish I could get it all together: the radio show, the podcast and the blog. Truth is I do it alone and simply run out of steam and so I keep my primary focus on the radio show and offering up an alternative to the bilge that the media
Continue readingNEW MEDIA AND POLITICS CANADA: DAY TWELVE: Quick Hitters (#3 in a series)
A bunch of links from around the Canadian web all related to the upcoming democratic exercise that is so pissing Stephen Harper off!
The Conservative Leader refuses to comment on reports of campaign rally attendees being kicked out or barred entr…
Continue readingNEW MEDIA AND POLITICS CANADA: DAY TWELVE: Campaign Quick Hitters (#2 in a series)
Not discussed in any detail yet on this campaign was the gutting of an important Canadian institution: Statistics Canada. For those with short memories here is a sample of the fear-mongering, that preceded their doing away with the mandatory long for…
Continue readingNEW MEDIA AND POLITICS CANADA: DAY TWELVE: Campaign Quick Hitters (#1 in a series)
This is rich! The Liberals have quickly put a very timely ad out there about Canadians being denied the right to attend Harper rallies if they’re wearing the wrong t-shirts or have the wrong bumper stickers on their cars or have befriended sketch…
Continue readingNEW MEDIA AND POLITICS CANADA: DAY ELEVEN: The Bush/Rove Propaganda Playbook
When writing about the 2011 Canadian election, it could be a pretty facile exercise to point to the Conservative candidate, proclaim he’s just like his American counterpart (Bush) and then go further and declare that the tactics used as being t…
Continue readingNEW MEDIA AND POLITICS CANADA: DAY TEN: Still TheTeflon Tories… but for how much longer?
As the parties enter their second full week Harper’s strategy of attacks based on a fictional premise, taking credit for the recovery, avoiding answering inconvenient questions and pretending he has nothing to do with the sketchy cast of characters su…
Continue readingNEW MEDIA AND POLITICS CANADA: DAY TEN: Platforms (part three)
Wresting the narrative away from the spinners and media is an auspicious way to begin a campaign and Michael Ignatieff and the Liberal Party deserve a lot of credit for taking this beast by its’ antlers and waging a far better than anticipated op…
Continue readingNEW MEDIA AND POLITICS CANADA: DAY NINE: Platforms (part two)
In the previous post about media coverage of the NDP, my desire was to illustrate one of the many ways in which the media can help to marginalize ideas and even an entire political party. It all depends on what aspect of a story they choose to emph…
Continue readingNEW MEDIA AND POLITICS CANADA: DAY EIGHT: The Media And The Narrative (the media sucks! part 3,756)
You can’t overstate the importance of the role the media plays in shaping how election campaigns and the candidates themselves are perceived. So early on here during the race I’ve been keeping track of things the media is trying to spin for us. F…
Continue readingNEW MEDIA AND POLITICS CANADA: DAY SEVEN: Stephen Harper Tires Of Democracy
I’m having a difficult time not writing about Stephen’s petulance as if he were some whiny assed titty-baby. His contempt for his opponents, the Canadian people and democracy in general have been difficult to watch during the first week of the campaig…
Continue readingNEW MEDIA AND POLITICS CANADA: DAY SEVEN: Tea Leaves, Mass Psychosis and Narratives
For those who drop in and check out the election related news links I’ve been posting and my comments you’ve probably noticed I have some talent for being able to read tea leaves, but for all I know perhaps it’s just a talent for the bleeding obv…
Continue readingNEW MEDIA AND POLITICS CANADA: DAY SIX: Ignamentum!
Okay, so I’ve coined a silly word and am probably jumping the gun on this. Michael Ignatieff has only a smidgen of momentum but it’s a good start for a guy who has been unable to get any for almost three years now. According to pollster Nik Nanos, Igg…
Continue readingNEW MEDIA AND POLITICS CANADA: DAY FIVE: Trying To Keep Up
With five parties vying for Canadians votes — the Bloc of course restricted to the province of Quebec where they will likely to retain or at least be in contention for approximately one sixth of the seats available in Canada — there are a lot of nar…
Continue readingNEW MEDIA AND POLITICS CANADA: DAY FOUR: Things Get Interesting Early
I have had my heart set on going to the polls since last year when Harper, our Evangelical Christian PM, reverted to form once again and started cramming his beliefs into Canadian policy. For me it began when he and his party decided to deny fund…
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