I Suddenly Remembered My Charlemagne

Snagged from rosewildeirish.



Thank goodness for TED talks! Cohesive, coherent co...um, well, brilliant.

Also, wrt the proposed Black March thing that made the rounds? It's not a good idea. penknife explains why.

We're two days out from the election. People have probably made up their minds. They're already talking about a Liberal minority, and whispers of a PC/NDP coalition are circulating (HOW WOULD THAT EVEN WORK?).

The National Post ran an ad a few days ago that was ludicrously transphobic. Under the McGuinty government, teachers are required to conform to curriculum requirements that have them teach about homophobia, and that a heteronormative lifestyle is not the only one. They are not allowed to send home notes warning parents that this is about to be taught, and parents can't pull their kids from the classes. The idea behind the restrictions is that the teachers are trying to teach non-heteronormative as normal and acceptable. While I realize it might cause some awkwardness, I'm for it.

(There's a side post here about how a bunch of kids in my high school got out of reading "The Wars" by Timothy Findlay, a book I really disliked, but instead of actually talking about the violence and sexual content, the teachers just had them read "All Quiet on the Western Front", a book I kind of liked, instead. TALKING IS KEY, is my point here. By NOT talking, we solve nothing. Hard conversations are usually the most important ones.)

Obviously, other people are not. And they are voting for Tim Hudak.

The ad, which just boils my blood, features the photo of a small girl and text of her asking her teachers not to confuse her by letting her know that she may have other options.

( The ad in question )

It makes me angry.

Now, the National Post, which ran the ad, issued an apology and pulled it. The Sun, a paper out of Toronto, ran it anyway. It infuriates me.

It gets more interesting. Technically, the ad was independent, but a couple days ago, there were some Actual Conservative pamphlets passed out, that are quite similar to the ad. As has (unfortunately) become the norm with the Conservatives, the pamphet is RIFE with factual errors, most of which are grossly misleading and serve no real purpose other than to make a touchy situation worse.

What I kind of want to see is another ad, with that same picture of the little girl that says "I'm confused. Everyone tells me I'm a girl, but I don't feel like one. Mummy makes me wear clothes I don't like and Daddy won't let me pay baseball with my brothers. I wish there was a teacher who could explain this to me, because I like who I am. OH, WAIT THERE IS! THANK YOU MR. McGUINTY!"

It's possible that I am too emotional for politics...

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The good news is that the Liberal response ads (to the first wave of Cons. attack ads) are tasteful and fight back at the same time, and they've FINALLY starting invoking the spectre of Mike Harris, which makes me happy. They are fighting with numbers, not names (more or less), and I appreciate that. *bites nails*

Does anyone have links that will work in Canada for last night's Daily Show and Colbert Report? I assume they were amazing, and I really need other people's politics right now.

ETA: Thanks guys. I feel a bit better now. (And, seriously, Jon Stewart! Funny, honest, and even though he might have been a bit more vindictive than I am comfortable with (admittedly, with as good a reason as anyone), he still managed to end on such an overwhelmingly positive note that I can't really complain.)

I have voted! For the first time in my life, I might have voted for the actual government, and not just my right to complain about it.

I have written three stories for Remix Madness!

(My link for Remix Madness is here.)

I have...listened to the Tangled sound track.

It's still early!

Okay guys, it has been REALLY HARD for me to not spam with politics all day. So I am dumping all my thoughts here at once.

1. The Conservatives and the NDP are polling within the margin of error. This makes me excited for two reasons:

a. THEY ARE THREE POINTS AWAY!
b. Polling is conducted by phones. Phones which are LANDLINES. Which means the polling people are not talking to young people. AND THE YOUNG PEOPLE ARE NOT VOTING CONSERVATIVE.

2. Shit Harper Did, who have made most of my favourite election vlogs, has also created an "old people friendly" version of their website called Rubbish Harper Did. (It has the same URL though)

3. THREE FREAKING POINTS!

4.



This one isn't even my favourite. (My favourite is the pick-up line one.)

5. All across the country, young people (and some people not so young), have met in large groups and danced and sang and chanted. There has not been violence, threats or danger, just a promise to vote. There was also an international vote mob, which I adore, because those people are actually voting in their video.

6. I just found all 2 hours of the debate on youtube! I didn't know you could have a two hour video on youtube! This is exciting!

7. I am still hugely impressed by the campaign Layton has run. And I'd be equally impressed if he hadn't managed to take out the Bloc, though I'm not saying that isn't a nice bonus.

8. Tomorrow at dinner, I am ordering an orange crush. In the morning, I'll be at my polling station at 7:30 to vote for one.

*twirls*

Seriously, people. PICK ANOTHER COLOUR.

(And seriously, why isn't the Contempt of Parliament thing PLASTERED ON EVERY SURFACE IN THE COUNTRY? I mean, it's the first time in the history of the entire Commonwealth that it has happened. And he got elected (the first time) on promising this would never happen!)

(Though I think my favourite is "plagiarizing speeches from other world leaders", because, seriously? SERIOUSLY?)

(And the one that makes me the most angry is how they kick the media out of parliament sessions before the Opposition gets the floor.)

Canada is rebranding its government. Which, frankly, I'd never even thought about, because it's so unbelievably stupid, and since the news broke I haven't given it much thought at all because I kind of thought it was a joke? Or that Harper couldn't possibly be quibbling about this when the Middle East is on the edge of goodness knows what and there is some new natural disaster every day.

But he is, and I am...bamboozled. And also really, really angry.

Americans do this, I think. This is my impression, anyway. You have "The Bush Administration" in a way that we don't. But the word "administration" implies...paperwork. Service, even. Getting there early in the morning and starting the coffee. And we do have things like "Martin Economics". And most of us learned the word "prorogue" thanks to Harper anyway.

But what Harper is proposing, what he's put into action, is different. On our freaking letterhead, it no longer says "Government of Canada". It says "Harper Government". And that is ten THOUSAND kinds of wrong. And I'm not saying that because I didn't vote for his party. I'm not saying that because I've actively campaigned for other candidates. I'm saying it because I AM CANADIAN, for God's sake, and while I am forced to admit that man represents me internationally in politics, there is NO WAY IN HELL he gets to name it after himself.

(Unofficially, it's been "The Harper Government" for a while. But that's just us talking about ourselves. He's making it our name. In the freaking records. And that just...I can't even.)

(This is worse than during the Olympics when he asked us to go "against National character" and cheer for our own team. SERIOUSLY? SUCH A JERK, SOMETIMES!)

The world is on fire, and I'm complaining about the name. But at the same time, I don't think it's an excuse to pull a fast one (and that's one thing that Harper is very, very good at, for all he promised transparency). I wish Joe Clark, who I actually kind of respect despite his party, would say something scathing. I'm sure Rick Mercer has (and if anyone would like to provide the link, I'd be grateful).

Mostly, though, I'm just...floored. That someone suggested this. That someone thought it was a good idea. That no one said "Um...just a moment, here." That this happened at all.

And I want my government back.

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Links:
Glen Pearson

Hello everyone. This won't affect a lot of you, but it will affect some (and heck, it affects peanutbutterer because she loves Being Erica, so you never know).

One of the hilarious side effects of having a Prime Minister who promised transparent governancy and then proceeded to create the most closeted government in Canadian History, is that every time he comes out with something, the media (and/or Jack Layton) dubs it his "Secret Plan". Since I watched The West Wing, I usually can't help but add "To Fight Inflation?", but all joking aside, this secret plan really bites.

In Canada, we have this network called The CBC. Its logo looks like an exploding pizza, and it has been rather desperately trying to modernize itself for most of my life. It is best known for Hockey Night In Canada (football in the summer and once, to no end of amusement during the NHL Lockout, MOVIE Night In Canada). It airs almost entirely Canadian programming, and is home to Canada's Best Newscaster (er, not the one in this icon, though he is pretty awesome too).

It's more than TV, of course. It's French TV. And there are at least six radio stations (three in each language). If you are in a place in Canada where you are out of reach of the CBC, they probably have to ship you daylight by cargo train as well.

And Stephen Harper wants to end it. Not cut it back. Not trim it down. End it. And spend the money "better" on "blockbuster films". (Those being the actual words of our Culture and Heritage minister, which leads me to believe that he does not understand Canadian cinema.)

There's a petition that you can sign. And I assume that Rick Mercer hasn't gotten involved yet, because the numbers are still low (aside: one time a Canadian politician called Stockwell Day proposed that if a certain number of Canadians signed a petition, the government would be forced to discuss it. Mercer promptly got about half the country to sign a petition declaring that Stockwell should change his name to Doris).

I don't usually go in for these things. But even if the CBC only showed hockey (and football...and movies during lockouts), I'd still sign it. It's us, after all. And in my lifetime, it's only gotten better.

Ontario recently amended the Workplace Health and Safe Act by adding Bill 168. Under the new Bill, which deals with workplace violence and broadens the scope of what qualifies as "harassment", workers have the right to refuse to serve any customer who they feel is harassing them or making their workplace unsafe. It also defines the steps employers have to take in order to make sure their employees are safe from both physical AND verbal abuse.

What I am wondering, f-list, is if there is a Bill of similar nature in Michigan. I've spent a fair portion of the morning on various websites, but they're quite convoluted and so I thought I'd just ask.