done..(at least for a while)

So if you have been checking this thing recently, you will notice that my last post was several weeks back.

Frankly, I've just lost interest in the whole blogging thing. I guess I'm not hardcore enough to sustain a blog, and no amount of format, colour and font changes seem to be changing that.

So I'm done for at least a while. I may return, or I may not. I haven't decided yet.

peace!

Update

what have I been up to lately? well on Monday I finally submitted my module essays, 3 of em totalling 15,000 words. One on International actions during ethnic conflicts, another on barriers to immigrant economic participation and the last on regional economic divergence in China..needless to say, if anyone feels like a chat on these subjects, I think I would be rather well versed for a good one.

what else? umm, I'm moving on 28 May. the lease on this place runs out early June, but fortunately my friend Fiona had a roommate of hers leaving and thus a free room for me to let (let means rent).

on Friday, I'm off to Spain for 4 days. Fly into Malaga for one nite, then take the bus to Gibraltar for a night, then chill out in Marbella for a day and then back to Malaga for the nite, flying back to Newcastle on the night of May 22. needless to say, Im really excited about having a few days to chill in the sun. its been crap weather all month so far, so some sunshine will be a welcome change.

nothing political really has me excited at the moment. Im pleased there won't be an election until the fall, in all likelihood anyway, which means I should be back to partake in the fun...

Happy Bank Holiday!

Just wanted to remind you all to go out and say thanks to your bank for all its hard work. I for one, really don't think that banks get the respect they deserve. Holidays like these that commemorate the importance of banks are hard earned and well deserved...


On a related note, when people asked why we don't have bank holidays in Canada, I mentioned we have days that actually celebrate things, such as BC day, family day or Canada day, they said it sounded silly.

I guess a day to celebrate Canadian independence is a little silly compared to having at least 3 days a year dedicated to British banking!

Good to see the men in the same shallow spotlight

Its nice to see that the men are getting a chance to go under the microscope as far as their appearance is concerned. News that the Prime Minister has a stylist have thrust his image into the spotlight as an issue up for discussion. No longer do we only have comments about what shoes BC Finance Minister Carole Taylor is wearing to the budget speech, or what colour Belinda Stronach has died her hair, now we have hardhitting articles that question what happened to the PM's suntan. I also in read an article the other day that Scott Brison has offered his styling service to Mr. Harper free of charge...

The people who say its outrageous or unfair to be so concerned about the Prime Minister's personal grooming efforts should double check that they weren't also the same people constantly fixated on Belinda Stronach's appearance. If its unfair for the PM to be judged on his appearance, so to is it unfair to judge any woman. I must say, a part of me is enjoying seeing the flip side of an issue that has been an unfair double standard for far too long...

aww jeepers, now he needs our help

so Mr. Layton and Today's NDP want the Libs and the Bloc to help them 'force the government to bring C-30 the amended Clean Air and Climate Change Act back to the House for an immediate for debate and vote'.

Seems like I remember a few weeks ago that Jack was saying we were no better than Steve on environmental issues...whats changed?

Perhaps its all the talk about the crap government performance and the potential for an election, Jack wants to seem like he is trying to rise above the partisan fray and 'get something done for average Canadians'.

THOMAS MULCAIR for Quebec NDP....just funny is all

It makes me laugh that the NDP is so excited about Thomas Mulclair running for them in Quebec.

I imagine if he had decided to run for the Liberals, all of a sudden he would not be progressive enough, concerned enough about the environment, or worried enough about Canadian sovereignty from the threatening United States.

But since he is now an NDP candidate, suddenly he is the greatest thing since sliced multigrain. I won't dispute that hes probably a good candidate, but Im just wondering what the NDP will be saying about their former candidate in BC Steve McClurg who is now running for the Liberals in BC.

I'm interested to hear how he has become the devil incarnate because he is no longer an NDP member, but less than two years ago he was practically a piece of pumpernickle melting in their mouth. Just think what they said about Bob Rae!

Im not saying other parties wouldn't say the same things about people if they attracted candidates from other parties, but the NDP always talks about how they are different from other parties...just amusing is all.

have fun Jack!

coming back from vacations always sucks..

Since nothing interesting happened lately in Canadian Politics other than the May-Dion thing, I figured I would give a personal update on what I have been up to of late.

I went to Greece last Sunday and had a wicked time. I flew into Athens, and spent a day and a half being a dorky tourist, seeing the Acropolis, the different Agoras and some other monuments. It was nice because I didn't have to pay to access these sites because I'm a student. I think its a good idea to give free entry to stuff for students since it encourages more to go, and it helps us out when we are cash-strapped, and most of us are cash-strapped.

Day 3, my buddy Luke joined me in Athens and we took a Hydrofoil to the the island of Hydra, one of those lovely islands that looks like a postcard, but really doesn't have much else to do other than walk and walk and walk. The weather was gorgeous and I actually got a bit sunburned. That day, I had the most expensive, and also the crappiest meal I had the entire trip. That nite, after sailing back to Piraeus (the port of Athens), I ended up with wicked food poisoning, something that can only be described as a horrendous experience.

Day 4, Luke and I hired a car and went on a Greek road trip, something made complicated because the only map we could find was in Greek and once you leave Athens, none of the road signs are in English (of course why would they be, it is Greece after all?). Needless to say it was a bit of an adventure getting to Delphi and just when we thought we were lost, we managed to find where we were going. The views were truly fantastic.

To sum, up, Greece is now in my top few places I have visited, mind you I have enjoyed all my trips so far. Also, the only reason I wanted to write this entry is to make you all jealous, mind you returning to grey, rainy England, after a week, in the sun sure did suck.

Scary Stuff!

I don't know whats worse about this article? Certainly I think its inappropriate for the government to be paying for Harper's balance and sparkle, but whats scarier is that someone is actually paid to create that look...

Its not as if his image is such that one would want to emulate it? Suits that fit poorly and a "hairstyle" that is just tragic.

And yes I realize these are not appropriate markers of someone's competence as an elected official, there are certainly many more appropriate ways to judge someone in that vein, but for comparison's sake, any woman in such a leadership role would certainly be subjected to rampant criticism about her appearance...Im only trying to level the sexist playing field.

And to the person responsible for the PM's "look" ....wowee.... Either this stylist isn't very good, or Harper isn't following the advice...

Off to Athens, and another amusing commercial

So Im going to Athens from Sunday to Thursday, so no updates for a while. I am really excited because Ive always wanted to go to Athens. It should be a great trip.

In the mean time, console yourself about my absence with this enjoyable little commercial. It's for Lynx (which is the name that AXE is marketed under in Britain). I could only find the french version of the ad (mainly because I couldn't be bothered to look very hard), but it doesn't really rely on words anyhow. I can only hope this campaign makes it to Canada.

Water is on the table at Canada-US-Mexico Talks?

I have a friend who is preparing a master's thesis on Canadian bulk water export policy, and thanks to my reading of that paper, I feel that I have some basic knowledge of the prospect of bulk water export.

When I read articles such as this, I am alarmed to say the least. The federal government has argued that bulk water is not at risk of being exported because it has not been treated as a commodity in the past. This is a pretty weak argument when we consider the growing demand to access supplies of fresh water, something that Canada has in great amount. Just because Canada has not approached water as a commodity good does not mean that it is not at risk: frankly I think this is rather naive...

I don't oppose water transfers when need can be demonstrated...for example, say there was some sort of water shortage that left a region at risk, I would argue that it may be appropriate to transfer water on a humanitarian basis. What I oppose is the commodification of water as a product for export. I think this is an issue that people need to be more aware of and concerned about. Something as fundamentally important as access to fresh water should not be something decided at high level, closed to the public, government meetings, especially meetings that include corporate representation....lets make some noise about this!!

Belinda deserves so much better...

I was just reading the Globe and Mail comments about Belinda Stronach's retirement from politics, and I was appalled at how rude and unfair people were being to her. To call her a screaming crying baby, or make comments about hair flips and shoe tapping is just pathetic. I don't care if people find my reaction to be too great; when I read garbage like this, it just makes my skin crawl.

Again, this is the type of rubbish that no man would have to put up with, and its something that no woman deserves. I have always been a passionate advocate for women in public life and I have always made a point to highlight such double standards. Belinda Stronach had money...so what! That doesn't mean that she somehow is unworthy of respect just because of her background. Any person who decides to give a portion of their life to public service deserves our respect. If you didn't like her politics, thats one thing, but people should take a look in the mirror before they make such personal attacks.

All the times I spoke to Ms Stronach, I found her to be impressive and intelligent, very down to earth and pleasant to talk with. People trolling the internet looking for outlets to make their pathetic, vitriolic remarks should be ashamed of themselves on this one. Frankly they should find something more productive to do than spout garbage that only makes them look like infantile morons. I always knew that there was no limit to how low people can go when it comes to personal attacks, but in this case, I find these commenters downright offensive and frankly pathetic.

Its no wonder we have such inequities between men and women in politics, and in so many other areas; its crap like this that perpetuates that disparity. Let us try and raise the bar people, mind you at this rate, people have dug themselves so far down into the mud, it could take a century to pull political discourse back into the realm of civility.

Bow Chicka wah wah (just watch this video)

Just watch....

Poor Stephen

I find it funny that Stephen Harper has been in government for 14 months, spent billions of dollars, and pandered to voters, essentially selling out his base in the process, only to remain at the same level of support he had in the last election.

I too am a fan of the SES polls, not because they have the Liberals and tories essentially tied, but because I believe them to be some of the least tainted by politics compared to some of the other polls. On that note, a couple of comments about the polls of late, to lump the West into one polling category is absurd, BC has over 4 million people, Alberta about 3 million, and Manitoba and Saskatchewan another million or so each (forgive me if I'm wrong on these numbers). To say that metro Vancouver voters and rural Manitoba voters share the same position on every issue is absurd. On top of that, I wonder how the issues vary between the three northern territories.

I would be greatly interested to see a province, or even regional breakdown, since I would suspect that Liberal support is higher in Metro Vancouver, Winnipeg and other areas than it is depicted by generally lumping the west as one unit of measurement.

Furthermore, I feel the need to point out that the sheer strength of Conservative Support in Alberta is likely bloating the level of support across the board. Lets say that they enjoy 60% support in Alberta, and 20% in Quebec. If we take an average of that support accross the country, the national numbers will not reflect the regional disparities, something that also makes national polls spurious.

On another note

I was reading the article in the Toronto Star where Gerry Nicholls doles out some advice to Liberals on fiscal policy. I find it rather funny that this advice comes so soon after Mr Nicholls was ousted as the leader of the National Citizens Coalition. It does seem odd to me that he would suggest that Liberals should try to outflank the Tories on fiscal issues for one reason...we already do.

The liberal party is the party of fiscal responsibility, something that the PC's talked about, but could never implement. For people to suggest that we should try and become the new PC party...I ask them what on earth for? Todays Liberals already have a stronger record on fiscal policy than any other party, including the Harper Conservatives.

Its true his goverment introduced balanced budgets (Im sure the PMO had to double check Mr. Flaherty's numbers considering his record of "commonsense"), however deficit spending is only one area of importance. It is equally important that fiscal programmes by government be targetted to promote economic growth and health in the country, such as providing broad based tax cuts at the personal level, something Harper has not done. When a country is facing problems relating to economic productivity and competitiveness, its derelict of a government to ignore it. A truly good fiscal position would be one that recognizes the needs of the economy in areas like productivity and competitiveness. Personal income tax cuts and investments in R and D would be much more effective than giving parents a couple dollars a year to " pay" for childcare services.

So whats the point of this rant? While I will certainly thank Mr. Nicholls for his advice, I argue that Liberals are already the party with the best fiscal position. We are the party that brought in the largest tax cuts in Canadian history, combined with massive spending on R and D, not to mention the ever lauded budget balancing thing.

(wow, that was a longer rant than Ive had for a while)

Big news about dental floss!

All that stuff your dentist tells you about making sure you floss every day because it will give you healthier gums is true!

After years of defying their advice, my new years resolution was to floss every day, and I just noticed today how much better my gums are. And flossing is actually kind of fun now....well not fun so much as tolerable.

word.

What public school charges tuition fees?

So I'm reading that Harper's 'fabulous' new budget is giving tax breaks for those who send their kids to private schools? The government claims that they are not unfairly supporting private schools over public ones, because this tax break is on scholarships that students receive, whether they attend private or public schools.

My question is: what public school would require a scholarship to attend? I remember paying a small fee to take woodwork class in grade 10, but we certainly didn't have tuition fees. Only private schools have tuition fees (please correct me if I'm wrong).

Seems like one of those things that the media should be talking about... I would never begrudge someone going to private school, but that is a choice that families make. Those scholarship tax breaks are only helping those wealthy enough to send their children to private schools in the first place. And yes I know that in rare cases, scholarships enable a child from a less wealthy background to attend private school, but this is rarely the case.

cows on the track

So I decided to get back into my running after a couple months break. Besides the horror of finding that my endurance has turned to crap after some time off, someone has decided that it would be a good idea to bring cows into the centre of the city and lock them in the area that also contains a series of paths that runners use each and every day as they train.

Needless to say, my run today took me into what has become a stinking cow field, full of cow poop and all. It adds a sense of interest to the run though since you must now watch your step for fear of sinking into a big pile of cow crap. Only in England.

At least cows are cute...

you are so jealous!!

Just booked a trip to Athens (thats in Greece) on April 15. Just wanted to brag to you all. and of course, I'm now soliciting suggestions on what I must do while I am there....

I don't have anything liberal-ish to say of late. I do think that the candidates on South Van Island are fantastic. Anne Park Shannon is dynamite for Victoria and Briony Penn is a solid bet for Saanich-Gulf Islands. I admire her passion. People ought to have passion for things. Passion is more important than ambition, especially when we are talking about elected officials.

Also two more fantastic examples of female candidates.....

Tearing up the charts in England

So I wanted to share a little bit of England with everyone, and what better way to do that than through music, or better yet, a music video.

This new one "Acceptable in the 80's" is easily one of the most annoying songs I have heard in a long time, yet its huge here. you can't go out these days without hearing this song a couple times at least.

The video is quite a trip though, worth a watch, though I can't really tell you why.

Enjoy

Avril sells out?

To be fair it took her a couple albums longer than many other singers, but with her latest effort "I don't like your girlfriend", Avril Lavigne has definately become a pop sellout. She dances around like Britney Spears (actually Britney is better), tries to rhyme 'delicious' with 'addictive' and overall her song sounds a lot like that other awful mess from years back 'Hey Mickey' (or Ricky...I forget the actual title).

With the exception of too much eye makeup, she's lost any of the supposed edge she might have ever had. If I actually liked her, I might be in hysterics....

TC's Bad, not mine!

So yeah I heard from a couple people now that Keith martin will not be supporting the budget. Thats good news to me, though I wonder how the Times Colonist came up with it in the first place?

alls well that ends well

Keith Martin to support budget?

I was just reading the Times Colonist from Victoria, and in a comment about Keith Martin, it mentioned that he intended to support the budget despite its shortfalls and would be addressing that with Stephane Dion today. Interesting to say the least

What a crappy present Steve!

So as far as vote buying goes, this budget is pretty crappy. Its one thing to actually do something meaningful over the long term, like say a tax cut that actually saves someone money, or say a Childcare Programme that they can actually afford, but to give someone 80 bucks and then say, now go vote for me rings pretty hollow. People may be swayed by a budget to vote for a party (or not), but to hand someone a couple dollars on the cusp of an election is just crass politics.

I think people see this budget as sheer electioneering. Even the Ottawa Sun hates it for goodness sakes.

Budget is bad for BC?

So I read that the new equalization formula somehow considers property values in its calculation of fiscal calculations. This is concerning to be since BC is well known for outrageous property values. If these values are now considered a part of government's fiscal capacity, what happens in the event of an economic downturn. What happens when our property values stay high, but if our economy is depressed, we still may not qualify for assistance from the federal despite decreased revenues overall?

maybe someone could explain this to be. Im not good with numbers, thats why Im a politics grad student!

Own your intolerance, whether you meant it or not!

Ok, so Im gonna go out on a limb and agree that Boisclair maybe didn't mean his comments in a rude way, like intentionally rude I mean. Thats certainly not to say that I condone the use of the term "slant eye" to refer to any human being. Anyone who knows me, knows that I ardently oppose all forms of discrimination or intolerance but, I recognize that it still remains a prevalent social issue in Canada, and abroad.

The fact is that people often use such terms and don't mean them in an overtly racist way; however, when people don't recognize that such terms are based on unacceptable stereotypes, that is a more important problem than the simple use of the term.

If people can use terms like "that brown girl" or "slant eye" to refer to someone, and not understand that they are inherently racist terms , regardless of the person's intention while using them, that is where the problem lies.

Now Andre could be a horrible racist, but I doubt he intended to be one. I can't, and won't speak on his behalf. But, whether he meant what he said in a malicious way or not, the fact is that people need to recognize the foundational racism that underpins such terms that may find their way into people's general dictionaries.

People ought to understand that one's intentions are not always an acceptable justification for something said. What people need to realize, is that regardless of intention, the underlying assumption of such terms is racist and inappropriate. Racism isn't always intended, but it still should be understood as the the underpinning of such terms, whether they were meant used in a racist way or not.

Nothing in this entry should be taken to mean that I condone any of Mr. Boisclairs comments in this instance. My only intention was to discuss an underlying issue, not to support Mr. Boisclair's remark in the slightest!