What's new // Politics
I campaigned during the first and second referendums we had here in BC regarding proportional representation. We won the first one. 58% of voters voted yes for the Citizen Assembly recommendation to implement the Single Transferrable Vote. But the BC Liberals had set the “binding” threshold, arbitrarily, at 60%. And the Liberals here in BC…
I’m voting for proportional representation. I hope you do too, friends. #prorep #bcpoli #yyj #victoriabc #pr #proportionalrepresentation #bcvotes #bcreferendum #pr4bc
Say it with me. The duty to consult Indigenous people does not conflict with the public interest…
I’ve been wracking my brain trying to think of how to help stop the commercial trophy hunting of bears in BC, which is ongoing and totally unethical. But I’m pretty smart, so I put this problem in my mind-vice and I’m a genius…
Here are few articles that might help put yesterday’s election in perspective. Or maybe not…
There is much about this election that has provoked a roller coaster of emotions. I’m excited to see that some women have chosen to dress up in their pantsuits to vote.
So much media that passes as journalism isn’t, and this election has demonstrated the power of television and “news” in a remarkable and nauseating way…
The leaders of the three major parties in our federal election are all members of anti-gay churches. That is to say, simply, that they officially and explicitly believe that gay behaviour is sinful…
Some time ago Nikiforuk published an article at Foreign Policy declaring Canada a petrostate. It caused a big splash and became a talking point in the culture wars that make up Canadian politics. Stephen Saideman called it hyperbole. And Andrew Leech called it short on evidence…
I’ve heard countless pious prescriptions to do such and such, because “people fought and died for this right.” There are many versions of this cliché. They are all clichés. And they are all terribly lazy…
The official Catholic doctrine is that homosexual conduct, including non-sexual, romantic behaviour, is immoral. The Catholic church writes and defends this view. The Catholic church preaches this to their members. And the Catholic church teaches this to students…
Stephen Gordon is concerned that the CCPA put out a press release saying that the Canadian Government secretly bailed out banks during the global financial crisis. I heard him on CBC yesterday and I listened carefully, partly because I know him to say things that are interesting and sometimes galling…
It is likely that any article written by a white male journalist that starts with a title like “See the veil for what it is” would raise my hackles. So when I saw the article today I had a bit of a reflexive response: here’s another white guy, with little demonstrated understanding of women’s issues, feminism, or Islam, about to tell us what the veil really is.
I was listening to As It Happens on my way downtown on Wednesday, and overheard an interview with Charles McVety. I recommend listening to the interview. It’s about ten minutes. It’s worth a listen.
On November 30th, Derek Abma wrote an article for the National Post, claiming that the journal Nature, and one of it’s authors, Elliot Diringer, was recommending that we let the Kyoto accord die. While the article gets many small facts and half truths right, Abma manages to misrepresent the essential argument by Diringer. But that’s…
Went to a public forum last night to hear about fracking in Northeastern BC. I thought I already knew how bad hydraulic fracturing and shale gas extraction are. But there is nothing quite like having graphs and maps enriched by honest, heartfelt stories, told by real breathing humans…
Democracy is not a single style of governance. Democracy is not simply about having elections. Democracies come in many colours and fashions. Democracy is a matter of degree and dimension…
This piece by Jay Smooth at Illdoctrine is awesome. It’s a three card monty. And the big media spokes people are shills, ringers and ropers. You can also check out the latest news about the People’s Assembly of Victoria.
I have a warm fuzzy place in my heart for the engineers and other technical specialists with a penchant for math and a lack of understanding of social nuance, connotation or tone. Heck, in many contexts, I’m the ignorant cis white guy that doesn’t understand the impact that my language choices have on others. But I…
AMERICAN HUMANE monitored the animal action. No animals were harmed.
The National Post has a decidedly denialist narrative. Do a search for “National Post climate change” and you get a series of articles on the brave scientists “bucking the conventional wisdom.” Or, if you prefer the second choice, you get a series of article tagged “climate change” by Peter Foster, Lorne Gunter and Rex Murphy:…
Nice animation and a bit of news about the good work that Avaaz is doing…
Well hell. The situation today bites. First Past the Post bites. Folks think so in Britain too.
Yes, this poster is inspired by the commissioned work of Shepard Fairey. It’s a reflection of my hopes and interests this election. By all means, if you’re interested, download, share, copy and reprint this work. The original photo that it’s based on is by Reimy Steinegger. For another poster in a similar vein, check out Bob Preston.
