Star Candidates? Uh huh.
Bob Rae wants his money back.
Justin Trudeau fails minorities on language rights.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Monday, May 7, 2007
Boisclair Makes a Bad Situation Worse
Andre Boisclair's recent criticism of BQ leader Gilles Duceppe has only accelerated the PQ leader's inevitable departure. Read about the impending doom here.
Ryan's Criticism of Hargrove Hypocritical
CUPE Ontario President Sid Ryan's hypocrisy is a bit much to take. In a recent column, Ryan accused CAW President Buzz Hargrove of flip flopping.
This is the same Sid Ryan who condemned the Ontario NDP's social contract as the most anti-union piece of legislation ever passed... only to turn around a few years later and run for the party in the 1999 provincial election under the leadership of Howard Hampton (who incidentally voted in favour of the social contract). Ryan should not be giving lectures of flip flops.
As I read it now, Buzz's many positions are:
Vote Liberal because they
put money into the auto sector, but forget their policies that killed thousands
of auto jobs.
Vote Tory because they are not part of the current
environmental "insanity," but forget they killed thousands of auto jobs with the
Free Trade Agreement.
Vote against the NDP because I don't like Howard
Hampton, but ignore the fact that they are the only party that consistently
stands up for workers' rights.
This is the same Sid Ryan who condemned the Ontario NDP's social contract as the most anti-union piece of legislation ever passed... only to turn around a few years later and run for the party in the 1999 provincial election under the leadership of Howard Hampton (who incidentally voted in favour of the social contract). Ryan should not be giving lectures of flip flops.
Introducing Quebec's Next Premier: Gilles Duceppe
A pheonix will rise from the ashes in Quebec City while the Bloc holds on for its life in Ottawa. However, for Quebecers the trade off is worth it. Quebec City, not Ottawa, is the centre of power in Quebec politics, and that's where Duceppe is needed most.
Friday, May 4, 2007
"But He's a Christian...." or Hockey Canada's Lame Defence of Shane Doan
In an exchange with BQ MP Luc Malo, Bob Nicholson of Hockey Canada, in a lame attempt to defend Shane Doan, explained to the assembled Members of Parliament that Doan was a Christian. I'm not sure how that's relevant, but I wonder if Nicholson would have brought up religion if Doan was Jewish or Muslim...
Ontario Political Parties and YouTube
It looks as though the provincial Tories are much more advanced than the Liberals or the NDP when it comes to getting out their message through YouTube.
A search for the term "john tory" will yield roughly 75 YouTube videos featuring Consrvative leader John Tory - amlost all of them positive.
A search for the term "dalton mcguinty" will yield roughly 25 YouTube videos of Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty. Most of the videos are positive, but a handful are anti-McGuinty videos.
A search for the term "howard hampton" will yield fewer than 5 YouTube videos featuring the Ontario NDP leader.
Looks like the Liberals and the NDP have some catching up to do before the 2007 provincial election.
A search for the term "john tory" will yield roughly 75 YouTube videos featuring Consrvative leader John Tory - amlost all of them positive.
A search for the term "dalton mcguinty" will yield roughly 25 YouTube videos of Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty. Most of the videos are positive, but a handful are anti-McGuinty videos.
A search for the term "howard hampton" will yield fewer than 5 YouTube videos featuring the Ontario NDP leader.
Looks like the Liberals and the NDP have some catching up to do before the 2007 provincial election.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Shane Doan Has Enemies on the Ice Too
Before punching Doan in the face, Sean Avery called him "the most overrated player in the National Hockey Leauge". Maybe a certain parliamentary committee should call on Avery to give arguments about why Doan isn't fit to be Team Canada's captain.
Duceppe Does Have a Point on Doan
Bloc leader compares Doan to bank robber
Forget the Star's outrageous headline, Duceppe does have a legitimate point.
Forget the Star's outrageous headline, Duceppe does have a legitimate point.
Hockey officials' impassioned defence of Team Canada's captain left an unimpressed Bloc Quebecois leader comparing Shane Doan to a bank robber and accusing him of racial profiling.
Gilles Duceppe said it was wrong to make Doan captain of Canada's world championship team while the star forward remains embroiled in two defamation suits related to the alleged anti-French slur.
"When someone robs a bank he's presumed innocent until proven guilty – but I don't know many people who'd name them bank manager while the trial's still on," Duceppe said.
"They want to name him captain even before the verdict comes in. It makes no sense. It's an insult to Quebecers."
Ontario Greens Call for a Unified Secular Public School System
According to Ian Urquhart, Ontario's Green Party will be running on the issue of ending public support for faith-based schools (which includes Roman Catholic schools that are currently funded through public dollars). This is a good idea - one I was hoping the NDP would adopt.
Discounting Rights: Wal-Mart's Violation of US Workers’ Right to Freedom of Association
Via Nag on the Lake.
Read the Human Rights Watch report here.
Read the Human Rights Watch report here.
Wal-Mart’s strategy to prevent union formation is complex and multifaceted. The company does not engage in massive anti-union firings nor announce to workers that their store will close if a union is formed. Instead, the company uses myriad more subtle tactics that, bit by bit, chip away at—and sometimes devastate—workers’ right to organize. Many of these tactics comport with weak US labor law, notwithstanding their practical effect of quashing worker organizing efforts. Wal-Mart’s record before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), charged with enforcing US labor laws, suggests that the company has also employed illegal tactics in addition to its lawful anti-union strategy. Based on our research, we conclude that the cumulative effect of Wal-Mart’s panoply of anti-union tactics is to deprive its workers of their internationally recognized right to organize.
Michael Moore and his Sodomobile
After university student Matthew Sheppard was murdered for being gay, the right-wing Rev. Fred Phelps organized a picket of his funeral. Michael Moore returned the favour by bringing his sodomobile to visit Phelps and his supporters in Kansas.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Controversial Michael Moore Flick 'Sicko' Will Compare U.S. Health Care With Cuba's
Moore's new film, debuting in Cannes this May, tackles the failures of the U.S. health care system and includes a segment where 9/11 rescue workers visit Cuba for treatment they couldn't get in America.
Read more about it here.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Tories Crush Opposition in Fundraising
The Liberals are way behind in fundraising in the first three months of 2007. Looks like Dion's leadership has failed to inspire the rank-and-file.
From the Globe & Mail:
Liberals: $531,141 from 4,365 donors.
Tories: $5.2 million from more than 45,000
NDP: $1.2 million from almost 15,000 donors.
From the Globe & Mail:
Liberals: $531,141 from 4,365 donors.
Tories: $5.2 million from more than 45,000
NDP: $1.2 million from almost 15,000 donors.
Traditional Parties Stalled in New Poll
The latest from Decima:
Liberals 31%
Conservative 30%
NDP 15%
Green 13%
In Quebec:
BQ 34%
Liberal 21%
Conservative 18%
Green 13%
NDP 10%
In Ontario:
Liberal 38%
Conservative 33%
NDP 17%
Green 11%
Liberals 31%
Conservative 30%
NDP 15%
Green 13%
In Quebec:
BQ 34%
Liberal 21%
Conservative 18%
Green 13%
NDP 10%
In Ontario:
Liberal 38%
Conservative 33%
NDP 17%
Green 11%
The HE/SHE ratio: Male Dominance in Canadian Politics
I came across this interesting site via Nag on the Lake.
The He/ She Ratio
A site’s he/ she ratio is measured by counting the number of pages on the domain containing the word “he”, then searching for the number containing “she”, and then looking at the two numbers in comparison. For instance, the Google search site:cnn.com he returns about 1,160,000 results, and site:cnn.com she returns 335,000 results, meaning “he” makes up around 78% of the CNN pages containing either “he” or “she.”
What does this ratio tell us? If you think it reveals that e.g. a site with a higher “he” count is primarily consisting of or appealing to a male audience, that’s not true; for instance, both BlogHer.org as well as AskMen.com show a higher count for “she.” Whatever correlations you might discover, they’re likely not as linear.
Just for fun, I tested a few prominent Canadian political sites to see what the result would be. Unsurprisingly, the Canadian political blogosphere is very male dominated. (Likely as a result of male dominance in Canadian politics)
Here are my findings:
WarrenKinsella.com 69% HE vs. 31% SHE
CalgaryGrit.blogspot.com 72% HE vs. 28% SHE
JasonCherniak.blogspot.com 73% HE vs. 27 SHE
BloggingTories.ca 71% HE vs. 29% SHE
Liblogs.ca 81% HE vs. 19% SHE
Conservative.ca 86% HE vs. 14% SHE
Liberal.ca 79% HE vs. 21% SHE
NDP.ca 78% HE vs. 22% SHE
GreenParty.ca 64% HE vs. 36% SHE
Test your own site here.
Happy May Day!
From wikipedia:
International Workers' Day (a name used interchangeably with May Day) is a celebration of the social and economic achievements of the international labour movement. May Day commonly sees organized street demonstrations by hundreds of thousands of working people and their labour unions throughout Europe and most of the rest of the world — though, as noted below, not in either the United States or Canada. More radical groups such as communists and anarchists are also given to widespread street protest on this day as well.
May Day was originally the commemoration of the Haymarket protests in Chicago in 1886: in 1889, the first congress of the Second International, meeting in Paris for the centennial of the French Revolution and the Exposition Universelle (1889), following a proposal by Raymond Lavigne, called for international demonstrations on the 1890 anniversary of the Chicago protests. These were so successful that May Day was formally recognized as an annual event at the International's second congress in 1891. The May Day Riots of 1894 and May Day Riots of 1919 occurred subsequently.
In 1904, the International Socialist Conference meeting in Amsterdam called on "all Social-Democratic Party organizations and trade unions of all countries to demonstrate energetically on May First for the legal establishment of the 8-hour day, for the class demands of the proletariat, and for universal peace." As the most effective way of demonstrating was by striking, the congress made it "mandatory upon the proletarian organizations of all countries to stop work on May 1, wherever it is possible without injury to the workers."
May Day has long been a focal point for demonstrations by various socialist, communist, and anarchist groups. In some circles, bonfires are lit in commemoration of the Haymarket martyrs, usually right as the first day of May begins [2].
Due to its status as a celebration of the efforts of workers and the socialist movement, May Day is an important official holiday in Communist countries such as the People's Republic of China, Cuba, and the former Soviet Union. May Day celebrations typically feature elaborate popular and military parades in these countries.
In countries other than the United States and Canada, resident working classes fought hard to make May Day an official holiday[citation needed], efforts which largely succeeded. For this reason, in most of the world today, May Day is marked by massive street rallies led by workers, their trade unions, anarchists and various socialist and communist parties.
The First and Second Red Scare periods ended May Day as a mass holiday in the United States, which now celebrates its Labor Day on the first Monday of September, due to its importance in Communist countries.
International Workers' Day (a name used interchangeably with May Day) is a celebration of the social and economic achievements of the international labour movement. May Day commonly sees organized street demonstrations by hundreds of thousands of working people and their labour unions throughout Europe and most of the rest of the world — though, as noted below, not in either the United States or Canada. More radical groups such as communists and anarchists are also given to widespread street protest on this day as well.
May Day was originally the commemoration of the Haymarket protests in Chicago in 1886: in 1889, the first congress of the Second International, meeting in Paris for the centennial of the French Revolution and the Exposition Universelle (1889), following a proposal by Raymond Lavigne, called for international demonstrations on the 1890 anniversary of the Chicago protests. These were so successful that May Day was formally recognized as an annual event at the International's second congress in 1891. The May Day Riots of 1894 and May Day Riots of 1919 occurred subsequently.
In 1904, the International Socialist Conference meeting in Amsterdam called on "all Social-Democratic Party organizations and trade unions of all countries to demonstrate energetically on May First for the legal establishment of the 8-hour day, for the class demands of the proletariat, and for universal peace." As the most effective way of demonstrating was by striking, the congress made it "mandatory upon the proletarian organizations of all countries to stop work on May 1, wherever it is possible without injury to the workers."
May Day has long been a focal point for demonstrations by various socialist, communist, and anarchist groups. In some circles, bonfires are lit in commemoration of the Haymarket martyrs, usually right as the first day of May begins [2].
Due to its status as a celebration of the efforts of workers and the socialist movement, May Day is an important official holiday in Communist countries such as the People's Republic of China, Cuba, and the former Soviet Union. May Day celebrations typically feature elaborate popular and military parades in these countries.
In countries other than the United States and Canada, resident working classes fought hard to make May Day an official holiday[citation needed], efforts which largely succeeded. For this reason, in most of the world today, May Day is marked by massive street rallies led by workers, their trade unions, anarchists and various socialist and communist parties.
The First and Second Red Scare periods ended May Day as a mass holiday in the United States, which now celebrates its Labor Day on the first Monday of September, due to its importance in Communist countries.
Al Gore, Johnny Cash, and Global Warming
What do you get when you mix Al Gore, Johnny Cash, and global warming?
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