Belgium Beer Badness

So, proposed layoffs have sparked full-on employee blockades at various Anheuser-Busch InBev plants and, well, to make a long story short, beer stockpiles are critically low. (Reuters/Time)

Silly, silly, silly employees. So unreasonable. So what if brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev wants to cut 800 jobs after posting a $1.5 billion third-quarter profit? That's capitalism, sweetheart. It's not supposed to have a responsibility to the real, human kind of people.

Now let's share a band-together-and-hate-unions moment--it's the Saskatchewan way! Right? We support union-bashing legislation here, remember? Good, just checking.

Wicked, wicked unions! They're trying to take your beer away!

How Bad Are The Conservatives?

Murray Dobbin dredges the public record for Conservative fanaticism and pulls forth the festering, lunatic beliefs of Stockwell Day:

Where would Day be on the prorogation issue? In 1995 he mused publicly about canceling the fall sitting of the legislature because "The longer we're in here, the temptation is too great to come up with more laws and more regulation." Back when he was running the Bentley school, Day claimed that democratic governments "...represent the ultimate deification of man, which is the very essence of humanism and totally alien to God's word."

This bunch of Conservatives are deluded and delusional. They cling to medieval religious beliefs, are mean spirited and anti-democracy and are utterly unfit to govern. They must be turfed. (Rabble)

Death Race 2010

In the last nine days there's been ten pedestrian fatalities in the greater Toronto area. (Toronto Star)

Six In The Morning

1 OBAMA CLOBBERS WALL STREET WITH NEW RULES Huh. Sounds like someone's a little bitchy about yesterday's bullshit in Massachusetts. Good. It's about time. (Guardian)

2 SATAN DEADLOCKED WITH CYNICISM The Liberals, the party of moral cancer, are just about tied in the polls with Stephen Harper's Conservatives, the party of ultimate evil. Hooray? (CBC)

3 REST IN PEACE Canadian writer Paul Quarrington has died of lung cancer at the age of 56. His famous book was Whale Music, about a fictional rock and roller. (Globe And Mail)

4 NEW GM FOR THE RIDERS? Are we really hiring someone from...Winnipeg? Ewww. (Regular readers will recall I'm a recovered Winnipegger.)

5 THE MIDDLE-CLASS TERRORIST SITCH Haroon Siddiqui lays it out. Shorty version: understand the problem, engage the Muslim community, don't live in the fantasy world that says Western foreign policy and Islamic anger aren't connected. Good read, go read it. (Toronto Star)

6 AUSCHWITZ SIGN RETURNED It's in rough shape, but it's back. (Kraow Post)

Pick of the Day: Woodrow Lloyd Lecture

Transforming Power: New Paths to Social and Political Change. Pretty provocative title, eh? Because obviously new paths are needed if progressives hope to regain ground lost to the reactionary right in recent decades and begin to push forward again. I mean, let's face it, the last 30 or so years have been pretty bleak. Stephen Harper as head of the National Citizen's Coalition, I can live with. But Stephen Harper as prime minister of a majority Conservative government in Ottawa, no thanks.

This man, and his ideological counterparts elsewhere in Canada and around the world, must be stopped. But how? Sure, there's been the occasional victory. But there's been way more setbacks. Outgunned as it is financially, the Left needs to be as smart and focussed with its resources as it can to defeat the Radical Right.

Speaking at this lecture, which is named after former Saskatchewan premier and long-time NDP cabinet stalwart Woodrow Lloyd, is Judy Rebick. Currently the CAW Sam Gindin Chair in Social Justice and Democracy at Ryerson University, Rebick has roots in social activism dating back to the '70s, and is a co-founder of the activist website rabble.ca.

Further to her talk tonight, which is at Campion College's Riffel Auditorium at the University of Regina at 7:30 p.m., here's one last tidbit to chew on from the press release: "Globalization and mass communication technology are revolutionizing our understanding of power and producing profound new ideas about social and political life."

You want an example? You're reading it. A year and a half ago, prairie dog didn't have a blog. Now we do. As many individuals and organizations have discovered, maintaining a good blog is hard work. We've done an okay job, I think, and it offers us another outlet to be critically engaged with all the debates and struggles that are currently going on. But it was only a few months ago, if you can believe it, that we joined Facebook. And Twitter too. And we're still developing a website. What other paths to reach people are out there? Stuff like that is probably part of what Rebick will talk about.

And if you're looking for a place to chat after and have a wobbly pop, Chad Kichula & the Bystanders are at McNally's Tavern. Ironic, eh? "The Bystanders" part of the band's name, I mean.

Haiti Fundraiser

It seems that conditions in Haiti are destined to get worse before they get better. This morning, there was a 6.1 aftershock that further rattled survivors and caused additional damage to the country's infrastructure. Across Canada, a variety of fundraisers are being held to provide disaster relief. Regina is no exception. Next Tuesday (Jan. 26) at Alfredo's on Eastgate from 11 a.m.-9 p.m., says owner Reza Shirazi, burgers will be sold for $5 each with all proceeds going to the Red Cross to help the people of Haiti. Also, here's a link to a page CBC has set up to help Canadians donate to relief efforts in Haiti.

Six In The Morning

Back after an inexcusable two-day absence! Time to get an intern, I think. But for now: onwards!

1WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH AMERICANS? As expected, Massachusetts voters hand Ted Kennedy's seat to a Republican who wants to kill health care. The Dems have now lost their 60-seat super majority. There are no words to describe how stupid this all is. But I'll try. First: you'd have to run a malicious, developmentally-delayed woodchuck to lose that seat. Apparently the Democrats did. Nice going, Dems. Second: after eight years of Bush and Cheney, there is no way, no waaay, that any sane person should vote for a Republican candidate federally. We all know that the Democrats are a compromised party with problems big enough to shut it down without anyone shedding a tear. But the Republicans? Two bogus wars and contempt for civil rights, the poor, the middle class, the enivironment, reality in general, yadda yadda yadda (see also: spying, torture, treason, hatred, abortion, gays, immigrants). They are VANDALS.

Here's the Washington Post on this fiasco.

Massachusetts, you are a TERRIBLE PERSON.

2 LINK'S OFF THE HOOK Remenber Waterhengate and the NDP leadrship vote scandal? Lingenfelter has been cleared of shenanigans. (CBC)

3 HAITI: STILL A DISASTER How bad is it? Here's the money quote: doctors they have to "buy their own saws to carry out amputations." Oh, and there's been another earthquake. Maybe it's time to take pull resources out of Afghanistan and help a country that wants and needs our help, eh? (Guardian)

4 WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CLIMATE SCIENTISTS AND LIARS? One group admits it when they're wrong about something. Hint: not the climate liars. (Guardian)

5 NEW YORK TIMES WILL CHARGE FOR ONLINE ACCESS IN 2011Yeah, good luck with that. (New York Times)

6 IT'S NOT AGAINST THE LAW, IT'S JUST A RATTY LITTLE LOOPHOLE Conservatives score a win in court over Elections Canada's charges of spending monkeyshines. But even though he sided with the Conservatives, the judge says existing election spending rules have problems: "...this is a debatable issue, which is better left for public commentary and debate by all interested persons outside the courts.” (Globe And Mail).

And lets wrap up with more on Massachusetts, courtesy John Stewart and The Daily Show. No embed for the show in Canada, so you'll just have to click on the link. (The Comedy Network)

Pick of the Day: Guns 'n Roses

Of all the decades I've lived in so far I hate the '80s most. I was too young to really be part of the '60s counterculture scene, but I was definitely aware of it. I knew who the Beatles were, I watched Laugh In and the Banana Splits (Dog Blog). I remember when Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King were assassinated within a month or so of each other, and Vietnam.



I didn't mind the first six or so years of the '70s. The '60s were kind of still happening then -- Nixon got impeached, the Vietnam War ended. But then disco arrived. That culture (or at least the white, straight homogenized version of it starring John Travolta, Karen Lynn Gorney and Deney Terrio, with a supporting cast of millions) wasn't really my style. I was into punk a bit, which helped, but I still felt pretty disconnected.


Then came the '80s. I don't really do materialism, so for me, they were a fucking waste. Politically, you had Reagan, Thatcher and Mulroney in power. And Devine was premier here. The Me Decade. Greed is Good. Evil Empire. Trickle Down. You Don't Say 'Whoa' in the Middle of a Mud Hole. The whole culture just saddened and sickened me.

Professional wrestling exploded in popularity. As did porn. And sports, big-time. The whole notion of spectacle. Excess. The '90s, conversely, were "lean and mean". I wasn't crazy about the mean part, which was mostly forced on us by all the raping and pillaging that occured in the '80s. But the lean part suited my personality to a T. I'm not a surface kind of guy. I don't like extraneous stuff. I like things stripped down, not polished and glammed up. Fresh. Raw. Authentic. That's what speaks to me. And the '90s were a decade of great growth for me.

The '00s are probably not yet far enough distant for me to assess them. There's been some promising stuff happen (or, at least, that's been proposed and has a reasonable chance of happening). But a lot of bad shit has happened too. That's similar to the '80s, but I'm better equipped to deal with it now. So, overall, the '80s are the decade I've hated the most.

If you've read Emily Zimmerman's excellent cover story in the Jan. 14 prairie dog you'll know that in the next eight days Regina is being visited by two bands which both rocketed to fame in the '80s. It's not fair to say that Guns 'n Roses (which plays Brandt Centre tonight) and Motley Crue (which hit Brandt Jan. 28) epitomize the '80s, but through their music and off-stage antics they definitely embody the ethos of the time.

As I write this, I'm actually still considering going to Guns 'n Roses. Motely Crue, though, outside of "Kick-Start My Heart", just doesn't do anything for me. To get the G 'n R crowd limbered up for tonight, here's video of the band from the '90s doing "Sweet Child o' Mine" (YouTube)

And if you're in the mood for something a little less raunchy tonight, but still in a musical vein, as part of Philosophy Cafe at Connaught Library at 7:30 p.m., U of R prof Bela Szabados will discuss Philosophy at the Music Hall.

U.S. Abortion Law Update

At least, I think this is satire. (Onion News Network)

Pick of the Day: Marion Bridge

Opening Night for this play on the Globe Theatre's Main Stage is actually tomorrow. But because I've got another pick lined up for then, and today is another kind of slow day in Regina, I thought I'd post something on it now.

First off, Marion Bridge is written by Daniel MacIvor. Born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, MacIvor currently resides in Toronto. He's written extensively for both the stage and indie Canadian cinema. This dark comedy is sent in his home province and concerns the strained relationship of three wildly divergent sisters who reunite after years apart to help care for their dying mom.

How divergent are they? Well, one's a soap opera addict. Another's a struggling actress with a drinking problem. And the third is a nun. So outside of the same last name (MacKeigan), and the time they spent growing up together, the sisters (who are played by Judy Wensel, Liz Gilroy and Laura Condlin respectively), don't have a lot in common.

Amazingly, however, after spending a few days feeling each other out, the sisters bond when they discover that they share a common love of NFL football, and with the help of two nubile exotic dancers with hearts of gold in town for "Duos Week" at the local strip club, are able to provide their mother -- okay, that last part's probably going too far. But ladies, if you're looking to persuade your guy to see this play with you feel free to embellish things a bit with an NFL or NASCAR reference. Then make it up to him on Valentine's Day.

Marian Bridge plays at the Globe Theatre Jan. 20-Feb. 6.