He won’t. We already gave him two. His whole campaign: many of us wrote him off as a lark. I imagined only 30-35 million people would vote for such a clown. Until I realized that we can’t underestimate clowns. But … [Read more]
Continue readingTag: Society
We Pivot: Do Not Conform!
Do not conform. Do not give in. Do not let the soul within you be molded or driven cold by circumstances, geopolitics, megalomania and division, or desperate people flinging their abuse at you because they think you’re a snowflake. Do not let the Soft Fascism on the rise since 9/11
Continue readingWe Pivot: Who Is Canada’s Bernie Sanders?
As we pivot to a new world, of course, we’ll have to contend with the election of Trump as president. But it’s not an absolute road block. Yesterday I wrote about how Trump won because he appealed to various populations of disenfranchised people who have been screwed by the political
Continue readingWe Pivot: What Political Scientists and Pollsters Don’t Know
Clearly a great deal. Polling is broken. Random sampling is gone. People lie. People self-select. People self-deselect. Pollsters try to adjust for demographics, but they fail. Political scientists? Most of us do not have enough of a sense of the breadth of the populace to have been able to expect
Continue readingWe Pivot: Healing America Begins Now; Let’s Join Them!
It’s not Trump. It’s a country that makes Trump possible. It’s not Clinton vs. Sanders. It’s about building the world we want and making our leaders follow us. You know how much they love the polls. It’s about hope, optimism and pivoting: finding our pivot foot in the areas of
Continue readingWe Pivot: Consent, Not Consultation, Or Else
If you’re looking for what real leadership looks like, it’s this. UBCIC Grand Chief Stewart Phillip once again demonstrated what integrity looks like as the federal government once again tries to waffle on commitments and listening to the Supreme Court. Not only has the prime minister floated a trial balloon
Continue readingWe Pivot: Let’s Fix Canada’s Green Energy Posture
Ok, there are clearly two problems with Justin Harper’s approach to green energy, among so many others. Here, read this, then read on to see what Canada should look like: The declining cost of rooftop solar panels — down over 90 per cent since 2000 — has offered hope for
Continue readingWe Pivot: This is Obama’s America, Obama’s Legacy
You’d think Obama would want his legacy to not be settler/colonial terrorism against First Nations water protectors. See the video below. You’d think he would not be interested in people being dragged from prayer circles to be arrest and put in kennels. You’d think he wouldn’t want anyone putting numbers
Continue readingWe Pivot: My Canada Opposes the Nuclear Arms Race – No Brainer?
Perhaps it’s me, but it’s 2016, and despite how much JustinHarperTrudeau is maintaining CPC policy, I thought at LEAST nuclear disarmament would have been something Trudeau felt worth supporting. Despite the fact that the UN passed a resolution continuing the pursuit of a nuclear weapons-free world, Canada remains one of
Continue readingWe Pivot: You Probably Already Support Postal Banking Too
CUPW, the union for Canada Post workers, has had some innovative ideas lately which the Harper and Trudeau governments are, not surprisingly, not too keen on. Both governments pursue a neoliberal privatization agenda. Public services like CBC and Canada Post provide no profit layer to companies because they exist as
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Goodbye, Politics, Re-Spun! Hello, WePivot.net!
“Politics, Re-Spun” is now WePivot.net! but why, you scream in horror! next month is the 14th anniversary of Politics, Re-Spun…it’s time for a reframing/rebranding/pivot to something more…betterer, or more bigly, if you will. 14 years ago, in the twisted Orwellian months after 9/11 where words did not mean what words
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: How Far Will Men Go to Keep Their Entitlements?
How can you tell that America is suffering from a vast, intense, rageful male backlash against feminism? How can you tell men are struggling brutally hard to hold onto their entitlements? [And don’t be too complacent Canadian men; are we really different?] Well, while this electoral analysis can’t actually manifest
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: One Million Vaginas Helps Us With Trump
The wise, inspiring folks at One Million Vaginas have done it again, helping reframe Trump’s attempt to disempower women into an empowerment meme. Feel free to sprinkle these hashtags as well! #GrabHimByTheBallot #NeverTrump #RapeCulture #SexualAssault So please, all my American friends/readers, and all YOUR American friends, help the world
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day!
I so hope you had a wonderful Indigenous Peoples’ Day yesterday! In “America” there is a movement to replace the systemically racist Columbus Day. It’s spreading briskly; soon it may reach the 100th Monkey and spread across Turtle Island. In Canada, we had Thanksgiving Day, for all the cornucopia reasons
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Columbus Day is Institutionalized Racism
In Canada, we celebrate Thanksgiving Day today, a slight improvement on Columbus day, which institutionalizes systemic racism. Columbus Day celebrates white supremacy. It’s time to stop that now. If you need some elaboration, read this. Seattle did it 2 years ago. Now Vermont has figured out a first step in
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: We Need to Prepare for Those Worse Than Trump
We can't just worry about Trump, but all those for whom he is paving the way. #Trump #TrumpTapes #SoftFascism #cdnpoli #bcpoli — Politics, Re-Spun (@PoliticsReSpun) October 8, 2016 It’s one thing to lower the bar, but with Trump, someone pulled out the jackhammer and has dug through the floor. But
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Prime Minister Announces Official Name Change to “Justin Harper”
PMO announces official name change to "Justin Harper" https://t.co/tX1J18Ffdb #cdnpoli #Stand4Medicare #HealthAccord #JustinHarper — Politics, Re-Spun (@PoliticsReSpun) October 6, 2016 It just used to be that perpetuating Harper’s social, environmental, economic and political policies made me think that Justin Trudeau is merely #TheNewHarper. But we’re way past that, as we
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: East Vancouver Racism
Yesterday morning I took this picture of racist graffiti on a bus shelter ad on Kingsway at Kilarney. “No Muslims” scrawled with no irony when you read the actual ad. This is NOT my Canada, NOT my East Van! July 1, 2010 A Fine Collection of Canada Day Racism (1)
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: End Our Slow Motion Genocide!
Genocide can take place in slow motion, just like weapons of mass destruction. When I learned that people were calling land mines “weapons of mass destruction, in slow motion,” it became obvious that we can practice social/cultural/human genocide in slow motion too. Understanding racism and genocide is no simpler than
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Get Uppity, BC, or Get Screwed Again
I’ve written about being “uppity” many times before. It’s a controversial word. It’s been used to insult women and people of colour who don’t know their place. Who don’t know they should keep quiet and not try to cut back on white male entitlement. Don’t ya know. The fear of being uppity creates a chill … Continue reading Get Uppity, BC, or Get Screwed Again →