And the Counter Attack Begins...

Well in my last post, I talked about the Conservatives attack against Stephane Dion's environmental record. Well the Liberals have responded, although far less blatantly. They have released a letter that Mr. Harper sent to supporters in 2002 when he was leader of the now defunct Canadian Alliance.

A lot of news sources have been putting out excerpts of the article. But typically quotes get taken out of context and made to look much worse than they actually are (i.e. the Conservative attack ads). So I decided to post the entire letter right here. Enjoy!!!

Dear Friend,

We’re on a roll, folks!

The Canadian Alliance is once again setting the agenda in the House of Commons. Look at what happened in less than two months since Parliament reopened:

— We bagged another Liberal cabinet minister when we drove the hapless Lawrence MacAulay to resign for violating the ethics guidelines.

— We broke Jean Chrétien’s chokehold on the House of Commons by getting the election of committee chairs and votes on all private members’ bills.

— We finally (!) got the Liberals to agree to set up a national registry for sex offenders.

But we can’t just relax and declare victory. We’re gearing up for the biggest struggle our party has faced since you entrusted me with the leadership. I’m talking about the “battle of Kyoto” — our campaign to block the job-killing, economy-destroying Kyoto Accord.

It would take more than one letter to explain what’s wrong with Kyoto, but here are a few facts about this so-called “Accord”:

— It’s based on tentative and contradictory scientific evidence about climate trends.

— It focuses on carbon dioxide, which is essential to life, rather than upon pollutants.

— Canada is the only country in the world required to make significant cuts in emissions. Third World countries are exempt, the Europeans get credit for shutting down inefficient Soviet-era industries, and no country in the Western hemisphere except Canada is signing.

— Implementing Kyoto will cripple the oil and gas industry, which is essential to the economies of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.

— As the effects trickle through other industries, workers and consumers everywhere in Canada will lose. THERE ARE NO CANADIAN WINNERS UNDER THE KYOTO ACCORD.

— The only winners will be countries such as Russia, India, and China, from which Canada will have to buy “emissions credits.” Kyoto is essentially a socialist scheme to suck money out of wealth-producing nations.

— On top of all this, Kyoto will not even reduce greenhouse gases. By encouraging transfer of industrial production to Third World countries where emissions standards are more relaxed, it will almost certainly increase emissions on a global scale.

For a long time, the Canadian Alliance stood virtually alone in opposing the Kyoto Accord, as Bob Mills, our senior environment critic, waged a valiant battle against it. Now, however, allies are stepping forward — eight of 10 provincial governments, and a broad coalition of businesses across Canada — to help us fight the ``battle of Kyoto.”

Jean Chrétien says he will introduce a resolution to ratify Kyoto into Parliament and get it passed before Christmas. We will do everything we can to stop him there, but he might get it passed with the help of the socialists in the NDP and the separatists in the BQ.

But the “battle of Kyoto” is just beginning. Ratification is merely symbolic; Kyoto will not take effect unless and until it is implemented by legislation. We will go to the wall to stop that legislation and at that point we will be on much stronger procedural ground than in trying to block a mere resolution.

The Reform Party defeated the Charlottetown Accord in an epic struggle in the fall of 1992. Now the Canadian Alliance is leading the battle against the Kyoto Accord!

But we can’t do it alone. It will take an army of Canadians to beat Kyoto, just as it did to beat Charlottetown.

We can’t stop Kyoto just in Parliament. We need your help at all levels. We need you to inform yourself about Kyoto, to discuss it with your friends and neighbours, and to write protest letters to newspapers and the government.

And, yes, we need your gifts of money. The “battle of Kyoto” is going to lead directly into the next election. We need your contribution of $500, or $250, or $100, or whatever you can afford, to help us drive the Liberals from power.

Yours truly,

Stephen Harper, MP

Leader of the Opposition

PS: The “battle of Kyoto” shows why the Canadian Alliance is so important to you and to Canada. All the other federal parties are supporting Kyoto (Liberals, NDP, BQ) or speaking out of both sides of their mouth (Tories). Only the Canadian Alliance is strong and fearless enough to block dangerous and destructive schemes like the Charlottetown Accord and the Kyoto Accord.

My favourite part is the quote "It focuses on carbon dioxide, which is essential to life, rather than upon pollutants", clearly we are led by a man of science and reason...

Alrightie I figure this is enough right there, you all know my opinion on Harper and on Global Warming. No point in repeating myself here. Just wanted to let you all see something really important.

Until next time,

G

Political Discource, what the heck is that??

On October 16, 1854 Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas engaged in a very famous debate. Douglas made his point first which lasted a solid 3 hours. Lincoln said that he needed at least as much time and Douglas would get his chance for a rebuttal. He suggested that everyone go home for dinner and return to finish the debate, which ended up lasting another four hours.

They were able to debate the important political issues at the time in the in depth detail that they needed...and now today, in the age of Web 2.0, an age were we are capable of unparalleled discourse we get this.


What a difference seven score, thirteen years make.

As opposed to actually discussing the issues, politicians today go for simple attack ads such as this one. Of course, I would love to decry the Conservatives for this one, but I know full well that an election or two ago, the Liberals ran those "Stephen Harper Said" ads, which were more or less the same thing.

I do find it funny though, that just yesterday, I was driving into school and I heard on the radio that the Conservatives were not planning for a spring election. I get to school, get on-line, and go to read the news and find out about this. They are clearly saying one thing and doing another. Dear Mr. Harper, this is the pot calling...you're black.

I really hope that people don't buy into these. Of course, followers of this blog will know that I love Stephane Dion and have really high hopes for him. But I also have some hope for a critically evaluated political process...yeah I'm naive.

Can I just point out a few things that I hope people who watched this ad are thinking...

1) The Kyoto Protocol was signed in 1997 when Dion was the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and not the Minister of the Environment. He took on the environment portfolio in 2004, when the "Carbon Emissions rose to pre-1990 levels" stat is taken into account.

2) In one article on the subject the Conservatives boasted about receiving 5 times the amount of private donations than the Liberals. Who would have the money to donate? Well big business of course. Who are the biggest businesses in the country? Oil and automotive of course. Who has the most to profit by rejecting Kyoto? Oil and automotive of course. Who is the corrupt party again?

3) This really is a different Liberal party than it was only 4 years ago. Paul Martin did a lot of purging to the party, and the Sponsorship Scandal really got rid of a lot of the key members. Maybe the Liberals should just change their name every couple of years to avoid the baggage, it seems to work for the Conservatives.

Alright, I had best stop now. I hope that all of you out there don't pay any attention to these terrible ads. I hope even more that the Liberals don't respond in kind, the smartest thing that they can do is ignore these things. They need to take the moral high ground here. Liberals taking the high ground? What kind of a world do we live in...

Until next time,

G

I Have a Terrible Confession To Make

Wow, am I ever not proud of this. Today I have done something really very terrible. I am really very ashamed of this, and I hope that all of you out there can forgive me for my actions, and please do not judge me harshly for what I am about to tell you.

I downloaded the Arcade Fire leak. That's right, I couldn't want until March 6th for the official release and I caved. I slowly gathered all of the songs and now I have all 11 from the album on my computer.

Now I am not about to get all high and mighty about violating intellectual property or any of the other thing else associated with this golden age of media piracy that we live in. I really have no moral qualms about downloading music, movies, TV shows or anything really. However, there are some bands and musicians out there who I respect so much that I feel obligated to buy their work. The Arcade Fire definitely fall into that category.

I am a firm believer that a great album is more than just a collection of its songs. It is a full experience as the songs build off of one another to make something really special. The Arcade Fire's debut album Funeral is definitely one of those albums. It definitely belongs in every CD catalog. If you have only heard a few of the songs then you are doing yourself a great disservice and you really need to listen to all 10 songs in succession to capture it all.

So when I began to download the songs yesterday I was doing myself the same disservice. The first song I was able to download (other than the previously released "Intervention" which I discussed way back here) was "My Body is a Cage", which is ironically the last song on the album. Now this song is simply amazing, and probably my favourite song on the album, but I still felt wrong. This song was not meant to be listened to by itself, it was meant to be fit into the context of the entire album. Only now do I have all 11 songs and am just doing my first thorough listen right now as I type this entry.

Yet as I listen to these songs flow together, I feel that I have somehow cheapened my experience. There is something exciting about buying a CD. Allow me to quote my friend Ryan McNutt (who coincidentally introduced me to The Arcade Fire a few years ago, and provided me with the tracks I was unable to find for download, despite the fact that he has refused to listen to them himself)

"For me, there is nothing more exciting than on Tuesday - new release day - going to the record store and finding that album I’ve been dying to hear on display at the front of the store (or with many of my selections, buried way in the back). I get to ponder over the artwork and track listing on the way home, then spend 10 minutes more trying to get the plastic off before putting it in my CD player, sitting back with the liner notes and flipping through them as the album goes through its 30-70 minutes of glory"

I have robbed myself of that experience. Sure I do it all the time, but this is The Freakin' Arcade Fire. A band that I can honestly say without hyperbole is the band of the century thus far. A band that I have honestly felt have spoken to me directly. A band who I love more and more every time I hear them. A band who has unknowingly helped me make some tough decisions in my life. A band who restored my faith in music as a whole. And here I did this to them.

I feel the same way that I did when I snooped in my mom's closet and found some Christmas presents.

But may I move onto some happier topics? Like just how FREAKING AWESOME this album is?

I really don't know what to say about it. I don't think that I am that great at describing songs, especially not in the vivid detail that ones like these deserve.

However, I will try for the aforementioned "My Body is a Cage", the 11th and final song on this amazing album. I have always had a soft spot for the finale track on an album, since it is the song that needs to bring closure to the whole experience. Oddly, on Funeral the final song, "In the Backseat" is the one song that I rank as "Good" as opposed to "F'N SPECTACULAR", but yet when I hear it at the end of the album it fits well. It is somehow relaxing and reassuring after the intense musical experience you have just finished.

This song is the polar opposite of "In the Backseat". The lyrics are deep and cutting, while the organs give the song a distinct 1940's Horror Movie Feel. The real moment of the song, and dare I say the entire album, comes at the 2:10 mark,when the music kicks itself into high gear and you can just imagine the monster waking up. If it doesn't give you goosebumps than I don't know what will. Instead of calming you down, this song gets you pumped and wanting more. Perfect that it it blends well into the opening song "Black Mirror" (which they are streaming off of their website), in case you have this album on repeat.

I could go on for every song on this album, but I figure I had best pass on this one. Just in case you haven't seen it, here is the video promo for Neon Bible which has some good samples of the songs.




At the beginning of this video "Juno Award Winning Guitarist" Richard Reed Parry asks "Do you remember how music used to make you feel?", well now that I have listened to this album I remember it all too well. I have a feeling that my last.fm profile will have The Arcade Fire as my most listened to artist next week, they are all I can listen to right now. Because compared to this, everything else is just noise.

Until next time,

G

Remembering the Victims

On this day 62 years ago, Auschwitz Concentration Camp was liberated by forces from the Soviet Union. People all over Europe commemorate today as Holocaust Memorial Day (called by a different name in some other countries).

Now everyone knows enough about the Holocaust, millions of Jews, Poles, homosexuals, disabled, Roma, communists, blacks, and many more all systematically eliminated with cold, hard, twentieth century efficiency. It is an event that just about everyone has some sort of knowledge about and it really has been ingrained into our collective conscience.

Last February, I had the opportunity to go to Amsterdam. Needless to say it was an amazing trip (yeah make whatever comment you may about that sentence). But one of the highlights of it all was going to see Anne Frank's House. As I'm sure you all know, the Frank family and several of their friends, hid in an upstairs apartment for an extended period of time before they were finally found by the Nazis and sent off to various concentration camps. Anne was sent to Bergen-Belsen where she died of typhoid.

Now the apartment is very small and it is of course, a major tourist destination. As a result you have to filter through in a long, plodding line. I can't help but feel that much of the mystique was lost as a result. However, I still found it very emotional. Me being so crowded and confined for even a short period made me feel incredibly uncomfortable. I can not imagine how it must have felt to have been crowded and confined in that small place for such an extended period of time.

Due to the high volume of people I didn't take many pictures while in there. It also somehow felt wrong to do so, I wanted to just look at the pictures she posted on the wall of her bedroom and touch the walls to feel their sadness. I was looking for some pictures of the rooms to post here, but I found this video tour on YouTube...



After you go through the entire house there is a small, but interesting exhibit. They show a series of video clips on contemporary political issues. After the short clip they ask a simple yes or no question and then they display the results of both the room and of all the data they have collected. They present some interesting questions such as, "Should the government be allowed to monitor what people read?", "Should Neo-Nazis be allowed to protest in from of Synagogues on the Sabbath?", "Should the government be allowed to shut down newspapers? (especially in the given example the Spanish government shut down the only Basque language newspaper for terrorist links)", and of course "Should Holocaust deniers be allowed to publish their work on the internet?". Very tough questions that were all aimed at keeping people aware of any potential for a government to remove rights from its citizens, the starting point of any tyranny.

Needless to say, I highly recommend the experience. It is further proof that there is more to Amsterdam than just the hash and the hookers. However there are a few interesting questions that I don't feel were explored enough in here or in the Amsterdam Historisch Museum (a museum dedicated to the history of Amsterdam). They never really explored the notion of Dutch collaboration in the holocaust. A stunning 73% of Dutch Jews were executed during the occupied years. This is the highest out of all Western European nations. It really did not take a large amount of SS officers to force this. The Dutch were very willing participants.

They had no choice you say? Well, over in Denmark, the Danes outright rejected the Final Solution. The government by and large refused to cooperate with the Nazis and were able to save the lives of thousands of Jews. Similar actions were taken by the governments of Bulgaria and Finland. I really don't have any explanations as to why some countries refused and why some so eagerly participated. I just found it most definitely interesting (and not surprising) that such an issue was never really discussed.

I realize that I could go on about this topic forever, so I had best stop here. You really can cut and paste most of my comments from a few weeks ago for Martin Luther King Day, and paste them for this subject. They really are the same issue at hand, social justice. We have come a long, long way in the past 6 or so decades on this issue but still have a long way to go. We are not that far out of the jungle, hate crimes still happen right here in our own back yard. Not to mention the covert forms of discrimination taking place all around us.

But until we get that perfect world, I'm going to have to keep dreaming, and keep remembering. Because if we forget the millions who died along the way then their lives become meaningless, and then we are back where we started.

Until next time,

G

Yet Another Special Day

O my love is like a red, red rose

That's newly sprung in June;

My love like the melody

That's sweetly played in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonny lass,

So deep in love am I;

And I will love thee still, my dear,

Till a' the seas gang dry.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,

And the rocks melt wi' the sun;

I will love thee still, my dear,

While the sands o' life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only love!

And fare thee weel, awhile!

And I will come again, my love

Though it were ten thousand mile.

**********************************************

That little bit of culture was because today is a very special day. That's right, it's Burns Day!!!! The day to celebrate the Scottish National Poet, Robert Burns (as a quick aside: note the use of the word National, that is what Burns is officially know as. Further putting pros into this whole Quebec as a Nation thing, which you can find my opinions of here).

Like most days in Scotland, today is typically filled with excessive drinking and haggis. When I was living there last year, I gathered with many of my Canadian friends (and an Australian for good measure) and we read some of his poems and ate some haggis. Yeah they sell vegan haggis at grocery stores over there. I couldn't make this up. It was hilarious trying to read all of the poems which are of course written in Scots, and presented quite the challenge for those of us who are accently-impaired.

I have taken this opportunity to look at a collection of a number of his poems, and I am amazed at how amazing they are. Sure this man was unfaithful and incredibly lecherous, but I'll be damned if he wasn't smooth. The above listed "Oh, My Love is a Red, Red Rose" is one of his most famous works, but there are so many others!!! For the romantics out there may I also recommend you check out "Ae Fond Kiss, and Then We Sever". And of course if you have some time to kill then check out the epic "Tam O'Shanter. Wikipdeia has an awesome collection of several of his poems, which are well worth checking out.

Last year I went on a bit of a Burns tour, going to a lot of the man's hotspots and places of inspiration. Here I have a couple to share. I hope that you enjoy them!!!

These first two are the Alloway Kirk that gets mentioned in Tam O'Shanter. In the poem it is haunted and full of witches. It still looks kind of creepy to me now.




Here we have the Brig O' Doon, also mentioned in the above poem.



Here we have one of many Burns Monuments , this is right where the Brig is.
This is in Dumfries, the town I was living in. This is Burns's mausoleum. Apparently he was buried in a regular grave but they later dug him up and put him in this big mausoleum instead. It really is a cool graveyard with giant head stones that are taller than I am. It was only a short walk down from my old apartment too.



Anyway, I hope that you all have a Happy Burns Day, eat some (hopefully vegan) haggis and have a wee dram. Or at least go read some really great poetry!!!

Until next time,

G

Depositing into the Bank of Buddha

This morning I was coming into campus, late as usual. It was snowing, also as usual, and the roads were a little bit slippery, but nothing I couldn't handle. Anyway, it was really quite typical until I pull into the parking lot.

At the Nipissing Parking lot there are a number of concrete dividers that are maybe five feet long and weigh an absolute ton. However, one of these was slightly different this morning. It had been moved several feet away, ohh and it had a car resting on it. That's right, someone had somehow managed to get their car up on the divider. This guy had somehow got his car stuck onto the divider. The worst part for him, was that the front wheels of the car were hanging in the air. Allow my beautiful Mircosoft Paint diagram to explain:

I notice a lone guy with a cell phone staring at this car. The emphasis should be on lone. It needs to be noted that it is almost 8:30 and the parking lot is full of people like me, rushing to class. Yet nobody stopped to offer this poor guy help. Nobody stopped when they saw him crash into this divider, and nobody stopped when they saw him in that situation.

I thought about a conversation I had with my Education and Schooling professor, Jason Price, just last week. He told me privately "A lot of people here can talk the talk, but you are going to walk the walk", I realized that I could not let him down. So off I walked.

I walked up to this complete stranger and asked him if he was ok and if he needed any help. He was not hurt but was quite torn as to what he could do. He had already called a tow truck but it was still an hour away. He and I came up with a lot of ideas such as jacking up the car and moving the divider. However, the divider is made out of solid concrete and was a wee bit too heavy for even my intense physical strength.

He tried to jack the car up but his was not tall enough, so I went and grabbed mine. It was tall enough to reach the car in it's state of suspension, but was unable to get it off of the divider.

I realized that there wasn't much I could to help him out at this point, especially since he had already called a tow-truck. I went to campus and bought him a coffee since he was clearly having a bad day. I figured he needed something to keep himself warm while waiting for the tow-truck. Ohhh and his girlfriend was coming with a camera to take pictures of his car and how the barriers were completely concealed by the snow, and not overly visible. I didn't want to mess with anything so I left my jack on his car and asked him to put it in the backseat once he was finished and then I headed to class, slightly late, but happy with myself.

While there was not a lot that I could physically do for Eric (we did exchange names at some point). I would like to think that me just stopping to check on him was worth something. Even if it was to just understand that there are people out there who are willing to lend a hand, even if it is mildly inconvenient to them. I may never see Eric again, so I don't expect him to pay me back at all, I really hope that he pays it forward actually. Maybe lends a hand to someone out there who needs it.

I am really glad that I took the time to do the right thing, and I have been feeling quite happy with myself all day about it. I can't help but wonder about all the people who walked by. Why would you just leave someone so clearly in need by themselves? What would they want someone to do if they were in the same situation?

One of my favourite movies ever is The Boondock Saints and my favourite part is the opening scene. Connor and Murphy are sitting in a church and the priest gives the following sermon:

And I am reminded, on this holy day, of the sad story of Kitty Genovese. As you all may remember, a long time ago, almost thirty years ago, this poor soul cried out for help time and time again, but no person answered her calls. Though many saw, no one so much as called the police. They all just watched as Kitty was being stabbed to death in broad daylight. They watched as her assailant walked away. Now, we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men.

Now, the characters in this movie go on a murderous rampage as a result of this. But that's besides my point. Everyone who walked by and everyone who would walk by is giving into their own indifference. Yet I imagine everyone who walked by has gone off at some point about the perils of our modern world.

Everyone says that the world is a shitty place at one time or another. But yet, here is a tangible opportunity for people to make a positive difference. Sure it may not matter much in the grand scheme of things, but to one person it may make the world of difference.

So I hope that all of you out there reading this, my friends and family, would act the same way that I did this morning, or even go above and beyond any of my actions. Because rememeber, the next person in need just may be you.

Until next time,

G

P.S. Happy 50th post to me!!! Wow 50 posts in 3 months...I'm a lean, mean bloggin' machine!!!

Our Obsession With the Depraved

A swarm of media has descended upon New Westminster, BC today for the media event of the year. The trial of Canada's most prolific serial killer, Robert Pickton. The man has been accused of killing 27 women, many of which were prostitutes, over the course of several years.

This event became an international media sensation, with reporters from all over the world turning up to cover this horrifying story. I tend to check Canoe to get my news, and their front page includes up to date trial information as it comes out, and it really is quite graphic. There are no doubt many other media outlets filling their headlines with gory details. I won't bother sharing them, I'm sure you can find them elsewhere. All that I can say, is that I'm glad that I don't eat meat...

Now before anyone judges the shallowness of the media type, remember one thing. They are out to get an audience. If we didn't read it so much, they wouldn't do it now would they? The media only gives public the information that it wants.

So why do we want all of this gory disgusting information? This was the exact same thing over a decade ago with Paul Bernardo. It was the same thing five years ago with the DC Sniper. Our society seems to be absolutely obsessed with gore.

Don't believe me? Well why have movies like Hostel and Saw done so well? Why is CSI one of the highest rated shows on television? Why does Charles Manson receive more mail than just about any other person on the planet?

So why do we love this kind of stuff? Are we living vicariously through terrible murders? I really don't know. I seem to be just full of questions today, with no room for answers.

To lighten the mood up a bit, here is a picture of me lying on the spot were they found one of Jack the Ripper's victims. I went on a "Jack the Ripper Walking Tour" when I was in London in 2004. Yeah I know, I'm just as into this gore as everyone else I suppose. Those blurry lines are there since I was low on battery power and this sort of thing happens.




Until next time,

G