Category Archives: Politics

Political news from all levels of government, in every form.

A Grey Identity

Posted by BlackWidower on

Gender politics is not a very easy thing to talk about. Especially when you’re a white guy.

Men have had it easy for millennia. Going back to the early days of our civilization, women were always considered inferior. They weren’t allowed to talk or hold any position of power. Do you know why they say, “behind every great man is a great woman”? Because the women weren’t allowed to be in front.

Now, why was this? I have no fucking idea. Best guess, it has something to do with physical strength. Because nine times out of ten, a man is going to be stronger than a woman. At this point I’d love to say even I am stronger than any woman. But I’m pretty sure at least a few of my female friends could take me down. I don’t work out or anything, and I have no desire to. So a few of them could probably take me down in a fight. Not that I’m gonna test this hypothesis.

Basically I’m saying that domestic violence was likely very common at the dawn of civilization. So women never really got any form of equality until recently, when domestic violence went out of style, and mass media went in style. In the early 20th century, a group of women known as the suffragettes campaigned for women’s rights. Specifically, the right to vote. They got it in 1918. Thank you, Robert Borden.

Of course Quebec waited until the 40′s, so fuck them.

But that was just the beginning. Representation in both levels of government, ending discrimination in hiring practices, and wages equal to men came later. But it did come, and I’m very happy.

Yeah, I’ll call myself a feminist. Even though I think it’s a misnomer. Men and women are different, sure. But one is not better than the other, not by a long shot.

I could go on and on about this, but I’m not going to. I’ll save my feminism rant for another day. Instead, today I’d like to talk about something else. A new front on the war for gender equality. A front that could end up being a much greater challenge than anything faced before. You see, we’re not fighting for women, or men, but for those in between.

Let’s talk about the transgendered.

Continue reading →

Gas and Dash and Cash

Posted by BlackWidower on

It’s funny how protective we are as a society. We have laws requiring people to wear seatbelts, even though the only practical consequence to not wearing a seatbelt is severe injury to one’s self. We have laws prohibiting drug use, even though the only real consequence is addiction and destitution, same with gambling. Of course taking drugs and not wearing a seatbelt are very stupid things to do. But you know what else is stupid? Drinking to excess, eating fast food every single fucking day, and watching Jersey Shore, all of which are perfectly legal.

In reality these laws only exist to protect people from themselves, and to be honest, I’ve never been afraid harming myself, I trust myself, and if I do harm myself, it’s my own damn fault. But unfortunately many think the government needs to act like our parents and protect us. This month I’m turning 25, I don’t think I really need a parent to tell me what do any more. I’m at the age where it’s no longer necessary. Continue reading →

History Is Ours!

Posted by BlackWidower on

You know, I didn’t think this would happen…at least, not this quickly. It’s surprising how much things can change in a month.

It can be quite exciting when a party achieves a major victory, and quite depressing when a party has a great fall, and both are a very big deal, and can change everything for that party. So it’s even more exciting when it happens to five parties at the same time.

Any Americans out there might be confused. “You have more than two parties?” they might say. Yes, we do, we have five. The Liberals, the Conservatives, the New Democrats, the Greens, and the Bloc Quebecois, and two Mondays ago, it was an exciting night for all of them. Continue reading →

Requiem for a Minority

Posted by BlackWidower on

So, once again, it’s election time in Canada, or as our Prime Minister Stephen Harper calls it, “a dangerous and unnecessary exercise”…apparently, because the only source I have on this is Rick Mercer, but I’m going to go with it because it sounds like something he’d say. I’m sorry Stephen, but in case you were unaware, Canada is a democracy, and in democracies, we have elections, especially when the government is found in contempt of Parliament.

I’m not surprised Mr. Harper would say something that asinine, because he’s a politician. You see, all politicians are the same, they want power. When they don’t have power, they try to get it, when they have it, they want to keep it. If this wasn’t the case, they wouldn’t be politicians. Okay, maybe some get into politics to do some good, and do what they think is right, in fact it’s likely most of them are. But the ones that get into power, don’t get there by accident.

But no one likes to lose power. It’s for this reason King John of England signed the Magna Carta while someone held a knife to his fucking throat. So those in power try to subdue any opposition, assuming they can get away with it. This is why Republican politicians will criticise Obama for being too secretive, when he’s doing the same damn thing Bush did, which they gave him a pass on. So, predictably, this isn’t the first time Harper has tried this, only last time he was a bit more ballsy about it. Continue reading →

A Case For Space

Posted by BlackWidower on

So the end is coming. Oh, don’t worry, well, maybe a little. It’s not the end of the world yet, that’s not for another two years, and then seven years after that, and 21 years after that. I’m saying it’s not happening. People have always predicted the end of the world over and over and they have always been wrong.

Anyway, that’s not what I really wanted to talk about. I’m talking about a real end here, the end of space exploration as we know it, the end of NASA’s Space Shuttle program. Continue reading →

Educational Handouts

Posted by BlackWidower on

I never thought I’d see the day. The day where our compulsion to give the disabled an “even footing” or whatever, reached its absurd conclusion. This is another case of the slippery slope argument showing some validity.

What am I talking about? This, the case of Gabor Lukacs, a University of Manitoba mathematics professor, who protested against awarding a mathematics PhD to a student. Why would anyone protest this? Because he failed to meet all the academic requirements. Now, why would they award a PhD to someone who, for all intents and purposes, shouldn’t receive it? After all, if you fail to meet the requirements, you fail to receive the PhD, that’s why they are called requirements. Well you see, this student has an anxiety disorder. Continue reading →

The Rally to Restore Hipocracy

Posted by BlackWidower on

September 16, 2010, Jon Stewart of the Daily Show announces the Rally to Restore Sanity. With a call to end to hyperbolic partisan fear-mongering from both the left and the right, from the pundits and the people. A call to begin proper discourse, and to realize that just because someone disagrees with you, does not make them evil, or Hitler.

Seems pretty reasonable. Which is exactly what they’re going for, and I’m hoping it changes the discourse in America from partisan to logical. But considering how things tend to go, that’s unlikely. People tend to do what’s easy, and thinking is hard. Continue reading →

Election Rejection

Posted by BlackWidower on

In my home town of Sudbury, we are electing a new city council in less than a week, as they are across the province. I don’t have a lot to say about it, but I figured what I do have to say, better be posted now, before I forget or it looses its timeliness. Like that piece I was going to write a year ago when Harper prorogued parliament for the second time, or that piece about Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran, and how he’s insane.

Anyway, I’ve been voting since I turned 18, and I got lucky, since my first election was a week after my 18th birthday. I’ve always had a passion for politics and I’ve always cared who got elected, always staying up late to watch the election coverage until all the results were in. It’s the last good reason to have a TV. So I love it when I get the chance to exercise my democratic right, and I always kind of get excited when an election comes around because it’s my only chance to have my opinion really, truly matter, and as Craig Ferguson once said, “if you don’t vote, you’re a moron.” Continue reading →

Deepoil Horizon

Posted by BlackWidower on

Back in my SimCity Societies review I mentioned how one of the more disgusting things about the game was the blatant product placement by BP. How the more environmentally friendly power plants have the BP logo smeared all over them. Well as many may or may not be aware, recent events have caused me to look at that little game and notice how fucking ridiculous it is. I’m surprised they didn’t put the BP logo on a wildlife reserve while they were at it.

Yes, BP has officially destroyed the Gulf. It’s Armageddon for the coast, and the good news is if you’re planning a trip to the area: Congratulations, you won’t have to fight for space at the beach or resort because you’re the only one.

So what is going to happen? I don’t know. There’s talk of BP going bankrupt in the near future, which doesn’t surprise me. But one things for sure, things will change.

When I first heard about this disaster, word was it would take months to fix, which freaked me out at the time. I mean come on! Five thousand barrels (which would be around 800,000 litres) were spilling into the gulf each and every day. I knew the worst was coming. But I figured the problems would have been mitigated by the advanced oil clean up technology we have. Continue reading →

The Weekend Canada Lost All Respect

Posted by BlackWidower on

A few years ago, an international group was formed to respond to the growing economic crisis. The G20. Twice a year they meet to coordinate their efforts to end this global recession. Makes sense, it’s a shitty situation, and the problems can’t be fixed by one nation alone. All nations need to work together to save the economy, and get us all back to work, making money. Which is why they meet twice a year, and more specifically, a week ago in the nearby city of Toronto.

Twenty-seven government representatives (twenty-one are part of the G20 including two from the EU and the remaining six are from the “invited” nations), mostly heads of state, along with the UN Sec-Gen and the heads of six international economic organizations, gathered in Toronto over the weekend to hopefully put an end to this recession. That’s right, they devoted their weekend to this. That’s commitment! Anyway, economies around the world are still in tatters, others are just beginning their recovery, and still others are almost finished. The G20 is an opportunity for these world leaders to share their recovery strategies, as well as what they have learned from this recession, with the rest of the planet.

Who could possibly have a problem with that?

Burning Cop Car

Oh…right…

Yes, there was no shortage of opposition to the summit, protesters of all kinds, screaming all sorts of things were in full force that weekend, and it made me loose all faith in humanity. Continue reading →

Earth Needs A Whole Hour?

Posted by BlackWidower on

So, once again an annual tradition among environmental nuts takes off. Earth Hour, for those who don’t know, takes place every year, last Saturday of March, at 8:30 for one hour, when people turn off their lights. Not everyone participates, street lights stay on, businesses keep their lights on unless they like being robbed, but the general idea is: turn off your lights to save on greenhouse gas emmissions. Continue reading →

A Fear of Fear of Flying

Posted by BlackWidower on

Christmas Day, 2009. A man attempts to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 somewhere over what I’m guessing was Southern Ontario with a package of pentaerythritol tetranitrate strapped to his crotch. The bomb failed, he only succeeded in burning his cock off and thankfully the passengers noticed this, put out the fire, and stopped him from hurting anyone else.

So of course this is a non-issue. No one got hurt, the attack failed. The only reason to talk about it is if you want to over-exaggerate and say that it’s horribly horrendous that a terrorist was even allowed near the plane. However it seems the news media is reacting as if the attack was successful. I think this might be getting more ink than Air India Flight 182 did in it’s day. You know Flight 182, probably not by name so I’ll refresh your memory. It was the last successful bombing of an aeroplane (that I know of) back in 1985. (9/11 wasn’t really a bombing, it was a steering-a-plane-into-a-building.)

So what is the TSA’s response to what I would call a victory? Increase security and treat it like a failure.

So I figure now would be a good time to make fun of the airline industry and the TSA, and tell them why they suck. Continue reading →

Extradition in a Strange Bout of What the Frak!

Posted by BlackWidower on

So recently an interesting story came to light which is actually over 30 years old. Roman Polanski, the director of such films as Rosemary’s Baby, The Pianist, and my personal favourite: MacBeth, (who’s wife, Sharon Tate, was murdered by the Manson Family) had sex with a thirteen-year-old girl in 1977. He plead guilty and was expected to simply receive probation with no prison time, however it appears the judge suggested to Polanski’s attorneys he would get prison time. So because of this Polanski did the only reasonable thing…ran. He ran all the way to his home country of France.

Most countries have extradition treaties with the United States, where Polanski committed the crime and was convicted of it, and France is no exception. So a crucial question remains: How is it that for 30 years, Mr. Polanski was able to avoid arrest? For two reasons: Number one, whenever he left France he stayed in a nearby nation and was in and out before the authorities even noticed, and number two, French policy dictates they do not extradite their citizens.

Yay France! Stand up for your people! Even those assholes who frak 13 year olds…okay maybe not them, but it’s probably a bad idea to change your policy whenever you feel like it. Consistancy for the win! But this situation is an interesting contrast to a recent event in Canada which really makes me want to vote for any kind of change in the federal government, even the BCPC, the Batshit-Crazy Party of Canada (not affiliated with the Republicans). Continue reading →

Why Politicians Suck!

Posted by BlackWidower on

Being a journalist…in training, one of the essential habits I need to develop is paying attention to the news. I’m working on it. When you do, you realise that there is a lot going on in the world, and it is fucking crazy.

One big thing that occurred was an issue dubbed “Ticketgate”. As you might be able to tell from the name, it was a political scandal.

It all started with a big announcement: Elton John is coming to Sudbury!!! One of two Canadian stops. Apparently he likes playing small venues. Me and my classmates first heard about it from our coordinator on The Cambrian Shield, Chris. One of my classmates, Shaun, was assigned to the story and Chris tried to get him an interview with the man himself…no such luck…apparently Elton don’t talk to the press. Chris tried mentioning that we were not mainstream media…and outing Shaun (he’s not actually gay, which is why it’s so goddamn funny), didn’t work. I guess one wouldn’t expect that to work, but at least he tried. I guess Elton had some bad experiences and he hates us now or something…just like Steven Harper.

But I digress. The journalist on the city hall beat for the Sudbury Star, Denis St. Pierre (I think that’s his name, I’m workin’ off of memory here), broke the story that after people waited outside in the freezing cold (this was in winter by the way) for several hours, some leaving empty handed because of how quickly they sold out, 100 tickets were reserved for city council members…I’ll repeat that…100 tickets were distributed among 13 people before being released to the general public…100…divided by 13…that’s a little under 8 tickets each. Continue reading →

College Politics

Posted by BlackWidower on

So after that high school mess I signed up for Journalism at Cambrian College. I went to Cambrian to save money by living at home.

Journalism is interesting, but I must say at this particular college they had this odd thing called an independent study course. We pay for a course they don’t teach, instead we buy a book, separately, and they test us on it twice during the semester. What are we paying for? The test? I didn’t come to college to be tested…I came to learn. Courses cost money to pay for equipment (that are not books) and teachers, but there is no equipment and they are not actually teaching us. We were supposed to take two “courses” in our first year (one per semester), I ended up failing the first course I was to take by missing both tests, so I had to take the two “courses” simultaneously during my second semester. Now my first 21 credit courses are included in the tuition, so I can take extra courses during the semester for no extra cost, as long as the total credits on my schedule does not exceed 21 credits. That particular semester I already had a full 21 credits before that “course”, so technically I was supposed to pay for that “course”. My thought was, well technically it’s no real cost to them to them so they probably won’t charge me for it…they did. I believe it was $81 and I literally got nothing out of it. Continue reading →