Tag Archives: Politics

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 →

The Olympic Gods Must Be Pissed

Posted by BlackWidower on

Every two years, like clockwork, the same thing happens. Two weeks are set aside for a bunch of people from around the world to gather in one city, chosen seven years before the event actually takes place, and compete in a series of athletic events. Because…why the fuck not? 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 →

What a Fool Gets Suckered Into

Posted by BlackWidower on

It has recently come to the attention of many, through ads being aired on CTV, CBC and Global television stations, that local TV is under threat by cable companies.

Why? Because the cable companies won’t give them money. How horrible.

Their solution? Have the government force the cable companies to pay them and regulate cable rates. Funny how that works, they want more money for them and more regulation for the cable companies.

These companies are treating this like a grassroots campaign, which it isn’t. “Save Local TV” they call it, and the question remains: Why does local TV need saving and what does that have to do with CTV, CBC and Global? 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 →