the Conservative Political Action Conference is going on right now in Washington D.C. And those all-American Conservatives are buzzing about the country's new president.
Specifically, there is talk that Barack Obama is a socialist.
By "there is talk" I mean a Republican U.S. senator actually said Obama is "the world's best salesman for socialism." (CNN)
Senator Jim DeMint also says conservative Americans might have to “take to the streets to stop America’s slide into socialism,” which sounds to me like he might be advocating the violent overthrow of the United States' democratically-elected government. I'm not sure that's legal but what do I know, I'm a commie Canadian who doesn't own even one firearm.
The conference started Thursday. Noteable moment yesterday: Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee said “the Union of American Socialist Republics is being born.”
So what's with the socialism scare? The term “Socialism” describes an economic system where citizens, through their democratically elected government, own and control the means of production. There are degrees of socialism, from fully state-run economies to European-style social democracies, but in practice a country like Venezuela — with its nationalized oil industry and hostility to foreign ownership — is probably closest to what most people would think of as socialist.
The Obama-smearers know this. They know that by calling Obama a socialist they're suggesting the U.S. president is a dangerous extremist who's not much different than a Latin American dictator (yes I know Hugo Chavez was democratically elected but most Americans wouldn't, and while I don't have any actual "facts" on this I'll bet the few who DO know who Chavez is would be scared of him).
This is of course all insane, delusional propoganda. U.S. conservatives are trying to frighten moderate Americans into thinking their new president is a power-hungry dictator leading a coup against democracy to attract support for their jerky little political party, the Republicans.
Regardless, whatever one’s preferred definition, “socialist” is not a useful catch-all description for the basic government activities like collecting taxes, administering public sevices (like delivering the mail) and providing state health care (well, not in America because that would be "socialist").
Oh, and desperately trying to repair an economy wrecked by a terrible, and very conservative, president.
By the way, both Bush and Cheney addressed the 2008 CPAC. It's really nice that this year, a new president's got better things to do.
2.27.2009
Conservatives and the Politics of Fear
I guess if minister hound dog of love, Peter MacKay, is to be believed, we're all supposed to be terrified of the Russians again. That's good because I never really came to terms with this whole post-cold-war world. Its spy movies lack style.
I like how MacKay reassures us that Russian planes skirting the edge of our airspace is not an uncommon thing. A great piece of doublespeak that. He's saying, "Don't worry, they do this all the time," and, "Quake in your boots, the Ruskie air force is swarming our northern border! Quick, we need more money for the military!"
A couple questions... First, if this is not an uncommon thing... why are we hearing about it just now, I wonder? And second, if our northern border is so vulnerable to a Russian menace (I'm not saying it is, mind), then how exactly will all those extra billions the Conservatives spent on air conditioned tanks and camouflage in desert hues defend us?
Six In The Morning
Special extra-surly edition!
1 YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW THAT The Canadian government is getting slammed for their crummy track record on openess. Canada's information commissioner singled out the Conservatives for being particularly stingy with information about the government's activities. Freedom of information requests are supposed to be processed within 30 days, but Information commisioner Robert Marleau says that's become the exception, not the rule. Marleau told the Toronto Star that response to freedom of information (FOI) requests are frequently taking more than three months. the Defence Department and the RCMP are among the worst offenders.
Access to information is critical to democracy. These delays make it difficult for Canadians to know what their politicians are up to. The system's breakdown is no good and very, very naughty. You should probably click on this link to the Toronto Star article to learn more. (Toronto Star)
2 YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW ANYTHING, IN FACT Okay, so the CBC's president says the network is in major financial trouble like all media these days (I guess we should get some kind of official CanWest death watch going, huh?). So is our goverment showing leadership and making sure the broadcaster has the cash to do its job? Hahahahaha, sigh. (Toronto Star)
3 STILL ROLLING IN IT Of course why worry about boring stuff like the death of media and our government acting like a secret society that can do whatever it feels like when Saskatchee-wan is bucking the economic trends?
4 SPEAKING OF THAT TREND WE'RE BUCKING That giant sucking sound you're hearing from the south is not your imagination--the U.S. economy is shrinking faster than expected. (New York Times)
5 DELICATE, SENSITIVE BOTTOMS If I ran things it would be against the law to make toilet paper that wasn't recycled. It is insane and evil that trees are cut down to meet our our poop-wiping needs when landfills are cluttered with unrecycled paper. Well, not surprisingly, it turns out American toilet paper causes more environmental damage than SUVs. Those super-soft rolls apparently are being made from woood ripped out of virgin forests.
From the Guardian's article:
"Future generations are going to look at the way we make toilet paper as one of the greatest excesses of our age. Making toilet paper from virgin wood is a lot worse than driving Hummers in terms of global warming pollution." Making toilet paper has a significant impact because of chemicals used in pulp manufacture and cutting down forests.
Full horrible, awful details are here. (The Guardian)
6 EVOLUTIONARY STEPS A South African archeolgist speaks about 1.5 million year-old fossilized human footprints discovered in Kenya. The prints are the earliest evidence of upright human walking. Also I'm going to assume that the reason there's only four toes is that second toes don't plant with much weight. Creationotologists are of course free to believe these prints are evidence of four-toed angels. (Associated Press/The Guardian)
1 YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW THAT The Canadian government is getting slammed for their crummy track record on openess. Canada's information commissioner singled out the Conservatives for being particularly stingy with information about the government's activities. Freedom of information requests are supposed to be processed within 30 days, but Information commisioner Robert Marleau says that's become the exception, not the rule. Marleau told the Toronto Star that response to freedom of information (FOI) requests are frequently taking more than three months. the Defence Department and the RCMP are among the worst offenders.
Access to information is critical to democracy. These delays make it difficult for Canadians to know what their politicians are up to. The system's breakdown is no good and very, very naughty. You should probably click on this link to the Toronto Star article to learn more. (Toronto Star)
2 YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW ANYTHING, IN FACT Okay, so the CBC's president says the network is in major financial trouble like all media these days (I guess we should get some kind of official CanWest death watch going, huh?). So is our goverment showing leadership and making sure the broadcaster has the cash to do its job? Hahahahaha, sigh. (Toronto Star)
3 STILL ROLLING IN IT Of course why worry about boring stuff like the death of media and our government acting like a secret society that can do whatever it feels like when Saskatchee-wan is bucking the economic trends?
4 SPEAKING OF THAT TREND WE'RE BUCKING That giant sucking sound you're hearing from the south is not your imagination--the U.S. economy is shrinking faster than expected. (New York Times)
5 DELICATE, SENSITIVE BOTTOMS If I ran things it would be against the law to make toilet paper that wasn't recycled. It is insane and evil that trees are cut down to meet our our poop-wiping needs when landfills are cluttered with unrecycled paper. Well, not surprisingly, it turns out American toilet paper causes more environmental damage than SUVs. Those super-soft rolls apparently are being made from woood ripped out of virgin forests.
From the Guardian's article:
"Future generations are going to look at the way we make toilet paper as one of the greatest excesses of our age. Making toilet paper from virgin wood is a lot worse than driving Hummers in terms of global warming pollution." Making toilet paper has a significant impact because of chemicals used in pulp manufacture and cutting down forests.
Full horrible, awful details are here. (The Guardian)
6 EVOLUTIONARY STEPS A South African archeolgist speaks about 1.5 million year-old fossilized human footprints discovered in Kenya. The prints are the earliest evidence of upright human walking. Also I'm going to assume that the reason there's only four toes is that second toes don't plant with much weight. Creationotologists are of course free to believe these prints are evidence of four-toed angels. (Associated Press/The Guardian)
2.25.2009
Rider Pride 2009
I just finished listing Rider home games for 2009 in the 14 Days files I keep for upcoming prairie dog issues. Of the ten home games the team plays this year, six have different start times -- 1 p.m., 2 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m., and 7 p.m. So fans planning to attend games are best advised to check their tickets to ensure they're not late for kick-off.
2.24.2009
Voices silenced
At a recent Vancouver gig, Library Voices had approximately $10,000 worth of gear stolen from their trailer. Among the items lost were a brand new accordion, a vintage woodblock, and a saxophone, age unknown, attests semi-frontman Carl Johnson in a YouTube video.
Here's hoping that if the thieves try to start a band with their pilfered goods will in turn to be doomed to empty shows CD-R albums.
Library Voices are performing in Regina on March 5 at the Mackenzie Art Gallery with Rah Rah and Saskatoon's We Were Lovers.
Here's hoping that if the thieves try to start a band with their pilfered goods will in turn to be doomed to empty shows CD-R albums.
Library Voices are performing in Regina on March 5 at the Mackenzie Art Gallery with Rah Rah and Saskatoon's We Were Lovers.
2.23.2009
This Week at City Hall
Monday, Feb 23
City Council Meeting (5:30pm): Lots on the agenda this week including some rezonings, something to do with the Evraz Place lease, three condo conversions, appointments to the Regina Downtown Business Improvement District board, and various and sundry other reports. Don't be late or you'll miss the Municipal Heritage Awards presentations.
Wednesday, Feb 25
Regina Planning Commission (4pm): Only one agenda item, a proposed rezoning of a portion of the Greens on Gardiner development which is being built on Regina's east side. I've only skimmed the report, but seems to me the developer wants to reduce the density of the subdivision under consideration. From the looks of things, though, it isn't a huge reduction in density. Plus, the developer wants to rezone the area to "Suburban Neo-Traditional" -- which basically means they want to lay the area out in a fashion reminiscent of pre-1945 neighbourhoods with back alleys and smaller front yards.
Anyone can attend these meetings and you can still make presentations at the Planning Commission meeting if you wish. For more detailed agendas and to download all the relevant reports, go here.
City Council Meeting (5:30pm): Lots on the agenda this week including some rezonings, something to do with the Evraz Place lease, three condo conversions, appointments to the Regina Downtown Business Improvement District board, and various and sundry other reports. Don't be late or you'll miss the Municipal Heritage Awards presentations.
Wednesday, Feb 25
Regina Planning Commission (4pm): Only one agenda item, a proposed rezoning of a portion of the Greens on Gardiner development which is being built on Regina's east side. I've only skimmed the report, but seems to me the developer wants to reduce the density of the subdivision under consideration. From the looks of things, though, it isn't a huge reduction in density. Plus, the developer wants to rezone the area to "Suburban Neo-Traditional" -- which basically means they want to lay the area out in a fashion reminiscent of pre-1945 neighbourhoods with back alleys and smaller front yards.
Anyone can attend these meetings and you can still make presentations at the Planning Commission meeting if you wish. For more detailed agendas and to download all the relevant reports, go here.
2.21.2009
Academy Awards
If the Cookie Monster was picking the Best Picture winner in tomorrow's 81st Academy Awards in Los Angeles he'd choose Milk for obvious reasons. If Oscar the Grouch was doing the picking, he'd probably make the same choice because, being a grouch, he'd relish the opportunity to piss off Regina-Lumsden Conservative MP Tom Lukiwski and noted Christian crusader Bill What(TF?)cott. But from a cinematic and historical perspective, Milk is a superior movie, so it's definitely deserving of any Oscars that it does win.
Obama's visit
United States President Barack Obama, during a wildy successful visit to Ottawa, helpfully blocks Stephen Harper from a Canadian public that he doesn't like and doesn't like him much anyway.(Tip of the hat to A Creative Revolution.)
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