i'm sick of how ignorant my second-home country, the united states of america, is towards other cultures, the international procession of the world across the ocean, and particularly to the military-industrial complex president eisenhower warned us about in his farwell address to jfk's election. i find it interesting how jfk's assassination fits into the vietnamise increase in combat. it took 4 days for the policy in vietnam to change after jack's death.
have we not learned anything from history? are we doomed to our war industry? will halliburton run our foreign policy and dealing with other nations from other cultures? what if world peace is an economic inconvenience? how can we give these people jobs? (we sure as fuck could improve public transit and park building, roads and communications, even nursing, maybe language translating; if our world is to move forward it is crucial that we can understand each other on a global level as equals).
i won't tolerate a world war 3 over israel and palestine or north and south korea. i won't hide the fact that millions of african citizens are dying of aids and starvation on an annual basis. i want our government to account for the victims of new orleans who still have no homes and nothing to claim. where is this change obama speaks of? we are still being wiretapped, gays still cannot marry or have children and innocent soldiers are being misled into a globalist economic policy to bring coke, mcdonalds and free-market companies into iraq and the eastern world. the iraqi citizens aren't protesting american peace and freedom - they are protesting neo-colonialist and corporate policies that will force their culture, traditions and identity behind money, commercialism and exploitation: the very kind of exploitation we americans and canadians face by our stock market traders, our congress and parliament, our executive leaders have become puppets to a world bank and globalist debt agenda designed to keep our wealthy continue to develop while our poor face worsening conditions.
in my first year of english at ryerson university, i was taught the marxist principles of modernism. my professor told me that through the development of capitalism, the communists predicted that a grand revolution would overthrow the principles that bound the poor, as in the French revolution, the American revolution, and countless others - however, the true theorists of Marx's studies believed that the grand revolution had not yet happened. I can't help but think that they were right, as whatever revolution we face now has to face the exploitations on a global level. Perhaps it will only be until Africa, the "middle-east" and Indian and Chinese citizens consult the defects of our system that our views will change.
We have to shed our fears on the exploits of our media and government, a corporate entity created by our people to serve our interests. As with many corporations, the initial focus changes and the principles shift. At the same time, it will only be until the first-world countries protest against this money-laundering that the policies change like Obama portrayed they would.
I am worried for our fellow Muslim nations that their needs will be exploited by Obama's opinions simply due to the fact that he once lived in Indonesia. I feel that we, as North Americans, have a larger duty to understand the Muslim world and Eastern world beyond our colonialist and first-world perspectives. I'm not saying that profiteering is bad and that money is root of all evil- people are the root of all evil. Money is just a tool of creation by humanity.
The 1948 Johnson election was stolen.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Am I News?
I can see the headlines now: Gay Canadian Student Pummeled by Bottle Challenges Nevada Hate Crime Legislation. Upon checking my sources (wikipedia!!! yay!!) i actually found out that sexual orientation is protected in Nevada hate crime laws, so maybe I can take this somewhere. (Funny enough that their state constitution bans gay marriage. Vegas could totally cash in on that with the recession.)
Anyway, after a minor altercation with a few drunk friends in Vegas, a man handing out stripper cards told me to go die of aids. I should have ignored him but he came back to spit in my ear. Hee followed us down the street to a nearby pirate show, and half an hour later snuck from behind and hit me in the head with a beer bottle. Pussy. Now I have a scar from homophobia. On the positive side, I have a scar for standing up for what I believe in.
Outside of the shock factor, drama, worrying friends and family, and other emotional and subjective aspects that come into play here, I began to realize that a lot of important things became suddenly relevant, like the justice system and hate crime punishment, health care treatment. Grownup stuff. I was told to pay a 5000 dollar deposit and could only afford to pay 100, which they told me was fine. I'm not sure if I am obligated to pay the rest or not, or if i will receive a bill and how much I can reclaim under my Canadian coverage. I'd like to take this time to whore out Michael Moore's Sicko, a film you should take a look at even if you hate the crap out of him. It really breaks down the health care issue more than I can.
I'd just like to ask American hospitals and their staff, what kind of person carries around 5 grand in preparation for a skull laceration and 6 staples? And if i didn't pay that money, will you send a cross-border agent to rip out the staples? The most disturbing part for me is that he posted bail and got out two nights later. My friends safely hid me from him as we snuck to another casino.
If anyone in tune with Nevada state law is reading this, i'd love to take an in-depth analysis into the situation. I want this to go to the supreme court as a health care issue for the united states. I want Obama to sign federal legislation protecting both gay and straight people from idiots like that guy. I don't want anyone else to get hit with a single bottle. Thank goodness the bottle never broke and cut into my face, eyes or neck. He hit me two or three times, the latter few being covered by my now swollen fingers. My handwriting looks kiddish and my friends call me staples (although if it weren't for them, I could have had a concussion or possibly died. I appreciate them, their love and support more than anyone can imagine.)
I was unfortunately not covered by traveler's insurance because i was out of money by the time i left. I didn't anticipate anything like this, that's for sure. I'll repost a picture of the wound later when I get my camera running. It's gross but so freakin cool! I'm totally keeping the staples.
On a final note, a few questions: is news only news when it happens to you, or when it reaches an audience? Does hate crime legislation create a second class of citizen by classifying a minority as a separate group? How soon is this asshole's court date? I'd love it if irony threw a bit of bum action at him while he's in jail. Oh well.
Anyway, after a minor altercation with a few drunk friends in Vegas, a man handing out stripper cards told me to go die of aids. I should have ignored him but he came back to spit in my ear. Hee followed us down the street to a nearby pirate show, and half an hour later snuck from behind and hit me in the head with a beer bottle. Pussy. Now I have a scar from homophobia. On the positive side, I have a scar for standing up for what I believe in.
Outside of the shock factor, drama, worrying friends and family, and other emotional and subjective aspects that come into play here, I began to realize that a lot of important things became suddenly relevant, like the justice system and hate crime punishment, health care treatment. Grownup stuff. I was told to pay a 5000 dollar deposit and could only afford to pay 100, which they told me was fine. I'm not sure if I am obligated to pay the rest or not, or if i will receive a bill and how much I can reclaim under my Canadian coverage. I'd like to take this time to whore out Michael Moore's Sicko, a film you should take a look at even if you hate the crap out of him. It really breaks down the health care issue more than I can.
I'd just like to ask American hospitals and their staff, what kind of person carries around 5 grand in preparation for a skull laceration and 6 staples? And if i didn't pay that money, will you send a cross-border agent to rip out the staples? The most disturbing part for me is that he posted bail and got out two nights later. My friends safely hid me from him as we snuck to another casino.
If anyone in tune with Nevada state law is reading this, i'd love to take an in-depth analysis into the situation. I want this to go to the supreme court as a health care issue for the united states. I want Obama to sign federal legislation protecting both gay and straight people from idiots like that guy. I don't want anyone else to get hit with a single bottle. Thank goodness the bottle never broke and cut into my face, eyes or neck. He hit me two or three times, the latter few being covered by my now swollen fingers. My handwriting looks kiddish and my friends call me staples (although if it weren't for them, I could have had a concussion or possibly died. I appreciate them, their love and support more than anyone can imagine.)
I was unfortunately not covered by traveler's insurance because i was out of money by the time i left. I didn't anticipate anything like this, that's for sure. I'll repost a picture of the wound later when I get my camera running. It's gross but so freakin cool! I'm totally keeping the staples.
On a final note, a few questions: is news only news when it happens to you, or when it reaches an audience? Does hate crime legislation create a second class of citizen by classifying a minority as a separate group? How soon is this asshole's court date? I'd love it if irony threw a bit of bum action at him while he's in jail. Oh well.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
machu picchu vs macchapucchre
oil is becoming more and more essential to human development and at a heavier price - i found out tonight (just surfing on wikipedia like the loser i am) that the last oil refinery built in the united states was in louisiana in 1976. Since then, a hundred (or hundreds, i don't remember which one) or so have shut down and they're probably still there, just like all of the old factories around toronto that take up nasty space. this needs to change.
we have so much newer technology than frickin 1976. my mom was practically my age in 1976. the only good thing about 1976 was the blue jays being created, maybe the american bicentennial and a volcano eruption. and if you like jimmy carter, which you probably don't, he got elected. at least gerald ford was out.
anyways, what was i saying. yeah, 70 frickin 6? it's 2009. that's almost 2010, which is almost 2020, 2050, 2100 and so on. we have to get out of the ages and times of thinking we're stuck in the past. this new era, obama era, digital whatever you call it, is an awesome opportunity to think of the future. let's take this economic slump and use it as an opportunity to boom up after like we did in every other recession. i ranted about this already, didn't i? shit.
again, updating our refineries with cleaner, fair-traded materials and maybe solar power technology, water filtration engineering (my dad does that shit) , and make sure the metals, plastics and other materials we build with are built in good faith. local production is key, but don't shut off trading to other sources if necessary. just make sure people aren't being exploited for what they provide you. their resources are just as valuable to this earth as ours are. what happened to treat others as you want to be treated?
what is happening to the refineries in iraq? are they old or new, and who is running them and owning them? in fact, i'm surprised we all know so little about where this oil is going and who's making money off of it. i've been told several times now that the reason the war started was because hussain wouldn't trade his oil in the english pound or u.s. dollar. some would call this radical and some would call this heroic...but it certainly caused somethin.
next time i wanna talk about sugar, al jazeera english and pina coladas <3
we have so much newer technology than frickin 1976. my mom was practically my age in 1976. the only good thing about 1976 was the blue jays being created, maybe the american bicentennial and a volcano eruption. and if you like jimmy carter, which you probably don't, he got elected. at least gerald ford was out.
anyways, what was i saying. yeah, 70 frickin 6? it's 2009. that's almost 2010, which is almost 2020, 2050, 2100 and so on. we have to get out of the ages and times of thinking we're stuck in the past. this new era, obama era, digital whatever you call it, is an awesome opportunity to think of the future. let's take this economic slump and use it as an opportunity to boom up after like we did in every other recession. i ranted about this already, didn't i? shit.
again, updating our refineries with cleaner, fair-traded materials and maybe solar power technology, water filtration engineering (my dad does that shit) , and make sure the metals, plastics and other materials we build with are built in good faith. local production is key, but don't shut off trading to other sources if necessary. just make sure people aren't being exploited for what they provide you. their resources are just as valuable to this earth as ours are. what happened to treat others as you want to be treated?
what is happening to the refineries in iraq? are they old or new, and who is running them and owning them? in fact, i'm surprised we all know so little about where this oil is going and who's making money off of it. i've been told several times now that the reason the war started was because hussain wouldn't trade his oil in the english pound or u.s. dollar. some would call this radical and some would call this heroic...but it certainly caused somethin.
next time i wanna talk about sugar, al jazeera english and pina coladas <3
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
recession smession!
yeah! you heard me! look at every single recessive moment in economic history and you'll immediately understand what i'm talking about; the civil war and the industrial revolution: the great depression, world war 2 and massive economic boom in the states, the 80's slum and 90's sex party and now this!
we need to realize the tremendous amount of opportunity we have here! to change things for the better, perhaps the young people need to start a peace and government honesty movement for the sake of understanding all this economic bullshit so we, the people of the united states, can understand what's going on. we can use the input of our citizenship to help the needy, in our own country and across the world in catastrophic states like darfur, north korean concentration camps, child labour factories, sweatshops and slums; even cases in our own government, particularly immigration, could be relaxed and the migrant workers from Mexico, Cuba and other countries could help boost our economy if they are forced to properly pay taxes, which many will do if granted citizenship, health care and job security. (Isn't that what we all want these days...)
this is particularly relevant to new orleans, a city in need of major geographic renovation, reconstruction and redesign in a whole new light, perhaps in the style of venice, italy, with water raised and filtered, buildings renovated properly and streets cleared of debris! the french architecture would look beautiful with the water, especially the raised balconies along ursuline and that area.
Toronto could become the digital capital of the world by installing solar-powered laptops in public "internet stations" for free access for any citizen who registers their name and address with the service, who can monitor not what the citizen browses but the front and lower portion of the citizen on the laptop - this would ensure privacy as well as preventing vandalism, theft or abuse. Monitors could be installed in the highway hills and in the streets, sides of buildings, subways and more! Building restrictions could be lifted in order to create more construction jobs for creative buildings across the city! There is an opportunity for providing architects and architect students jobs for expanding our harbourfront, covered by large abandoned factories. Let's build build build!
Let's stop farting around and elect somebody who will promise to change things and ACTUALLY change them. Dalton McGuinty hasn't done much except remove dental coverage from ohip (preventing my boyfriend from getting his possibly-infected wisdom teeth removed until it becomes a "medical emergency"). Oh, and he broke that tuition freeze and raised it by the max each year since (5%, honestly not too bad in comparison to the states and LSU's funding cut).
My parents have lost a 3rd of their pension. They're afraid to move closer to my dad's new job because the market is a load of crap right now; they've probably lost a bit of property value, although the parish they live in is rapidly expanding. Their former neighbour bought a house in the hood for 550k (we're not rich, my parents just save money well like proper little Canadians). When they moved, the house sold for 520k. They lost 30 thousand dollars! Correct me if i'm wrong but that's a whole lot of money. That's my student debt and 7 thousand extra (which i will definitely not rack up).
The Fafsa loans might be cut in the future as well, who knows...which is more of a burden for my younger brother, who has to begin his education amidst this mess and massive renovations to the image arts building wherein his classes take place. Universities, however, seem to be doing well; there's a constant need for students and the government loves to fund fund fund, so Ryerson is expanding little by little and making a teeny name for itself. It's not up to par with U of T, by any means, but it's up there with York and George Brown, which Ryerson hosts.
And I still have to find another summer job! My mom is gonna kill me. I wonder what my brothers will do for the summer. I need to save up for tuition for next year and also invest in a way to get a new laptop (like a sexy mac or something linuxy with a firewire port for video capture)! I also need to start saving for a possible increase in rent next september, in case i move out of the building with someone or don't get rehired as a CA in my building. I did, however, get rehired for the summer. Yay, cheap rent and social communication! Look at me ramble on. I guess this is what blogs are for. Ha HA ha! I can't wait for this whole mess to explode in our faces. I think we deserve it for the way we've treated the world the past 8 years. But i'm an overemotional ho le mo. I miss my cats. My family and I had a great time hanging out today. Fin.
we need to realize the tremendous amount of opportunity we have here! to change things for the better, perhaps the young people need to start a peace and government honesty movement for the sake of understanding all this economic bullshit so we, the people of the united states, can understand what's going on. we can use the input of our citizenship to help the needy, in our own country and across the world in catastrophic states like darfur, north korean concentration camps, child labour factories, sweatshops and slums; even cases in our own government, particularly immigration, could be relaxed and the migrant workers from Mexico, Cuba and other countries could help boost our economy if they are forced to properly pay taxes, which many will do if granted citizenship, health care and job security. (Isn't that what we all want these days...)
this is particularly relevant to new orleans, a city in need of major geographic renovation, reconstruction and redesign in a whole new light, perhaps in the style of venice, italy, with water raised and filtered, buildings renovated properly and streets cleared of debris! the french architecture would look beautiful with the water, especially the raised balconies along ursuline and that area.
Toronto could become the digital capital of the world by installing solar-powered laptops in public "internet stations" for free access for any citizen who registers their name and address with the service, who can monitor not what the citizen browses but the front and lower portion of the citizen on the laptop - this would ensure privacy as well as preventing vandalism, theft or abuse. Monitors could be installed in the highway hills and in the streets, sides of buildings, subways and more! Building restrictions could be lifted in order to create more construction jobs for creative buildings across the city! There is an opportunity for providing architects and architect students jobs for expanding our harbourfront, covered by large abandoned factories. Let's build build build!
Let's stop farting around and elect somebody who will promise to change things and ACTUALLY change them. Dalton McGuinty hasn't done much except remove dental coverage from ohip (preventing my boyfriend from getting his possibly-infected wisdom teeth removed until it becomes a "medical emergency"). Oh, and he broke that tuition freeze and raised it by the max each year since (5%, honestly not too bad in comparison to the states and LSU's funding cut).
My parents have lost a 3rd of their pension. They're afraid to move closer to my dad's new job because the market is a load of crap right now; they've probably lost a bit of property value, although the parish they live in is rapidly expanding. Their former neighbour bought a house in the hood for 550k (we're not rich, my parents just save money well like proper little Canadians). When they moved, the house sold for 520k. They lost 30 thousand dollars! Correct me if i'm wrong but that's a whole lot of money. That's my student debt and 7 thousand extra (which i will definitely not rack up).
The Fafsa loans might be cut in the future as well, who knows...which is more of a burden for my younger brother, who has to begin his education amidst this mess and massive renovations to the image arts building wherein his classes take place. Universities, however, seem to be doing well; there's a constant need for students and the government loves to fund fund fund, so Ryerson is expanding little by little and making a teeny name for itself. It's not up to par with U of T, by any means, but it's up there with York and George Brown, which Ryerson hosts.
And I still have to find another summer job! My mom is gonna kill me. I wonder what my brothers will do for the summer. I need to save up for tuition for next year and also invest in a way to get a new laptop (like a sexy mac or something linuxy with a firewire port for video capture)! I also need to start saving for a possible increase in rent next september, in case i move out of the building with someone or don't get rehired as a CA in my building. I did, however, get rehired for the summer. Yay, cheap rent and social communication! Look at me ramble on. I guess this is what blogs are for. Ha HA ha! I can't wait for this whole mess to explode in our faces. I think we deserve it for the way we've treated the world the past 8 years. But i'm an overemotional ho le mo. I miss my cats. My family and I had a great time hanging out today. Fin.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Note!
I apologize in advance (especially to my mother) for any vulgar language on this blog. I hope you can sympathize with my raging young adult emotions expressed in such language.
Onwards, just browsing the news, this g20 drama is quite interesting. For the first time, the public is more aware than ever that protesters are holding accountable, peaceful and intelligent protests and not the violent riots depicted by our more prevalent news outlets on television. The internet has played an important role in this (as it tends to do with everything these days).
Stephen Harper is boring, dull and REALLY boring. It is like having an absence of a prime minister...like when you watch tv and the signal goes out and all you get is gray fuzz. Stephen Harper is that evil fuzz. We need to smack our television sets back to the right signal. This is not the time for fuzz.
Onwards, just browsing the news, this g20 drama is quite interesting. For the first time, the public is more aware than ever that protesters are holding accountable, peaceful and intelligent protests and not the violent riots depicted by our more prevalent news outlets on television. The internet has played an important role in this (as it tends to do with everything these days).
Stephen Harper is boring, dull and REALLY boring. It is like having an absence of a prime minister...like when you watch tv and the signal goes out and all you get is gray fuzz. Stephen Harper is that evil fuzz. We need to smack our television sets back to the right signal. This is not the time for fuzz.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Oh, this whole Canada-Fox News comment drama! Heeeee
So there's nothing better in participating in a blog assignment than having the freedom to go off on my own tangents. And this Fox News clip opportunity is PERFECT, because i'm in the goofiest mood.
So this douche show host from Red Eye on Fox news basically gets comedians Doug Benson (starred on Friends as Yeti Danny's creepy party friend, also appears on VH1 regularly, cough) and some other bunch of z-listers and they rag on canada, particularly their military efforts in Afghanistan, military strength and position on the border with "the most POWERFUL country in the world". Keep in mind that this is a "satirical" news piece that is comedic in nature.
Fox News apologized and Doug has changed his myspace title to "I Love Canada (for reals)" as outrage poured across youtube and facebook. His upcoming comedy show in Edmonton has been cancelled, and people are regaining familiarity with the definition of satire. I watched the video out of curiosity and like many others, I was pretty pissed, lol. Not so much at the comments that were made, but at the shocking ignorance of the nature of the discussion. But then afterwords, I took the time to think about it, and something came over me.
As stupid as these comments are, it's not really Canadian of us to lash out and demand an apology from the people on the show. I feel like the smarter, truer-Canadian thing to do is just look at all these comments and laugh at them...like we usually do. Haha, silly Americans, there you go again with your loud little mouths! Besides, we know that Europe is laughing at them too, because they probably know less about Europe than they do about Canada. And as a half-yank, I think it would suit both countries best if we could just make as much fun of this event as possible. I'm totally expecting material about this on Rick Mercer and 22 Minutes. Hell, even if SNL did something about it with Mike Meyers, Jim Carrey, Norm MacDonald (if he's still funny) and some other canadians, it would be awesome. I think NBC would be down, Lorne Michaels (SNL's executive producer and creator) is Canadian! He should take advantage of this opportunity like Tina Fey did with Sarah Palin (I still shudder every time I type her name).
Times are tough and laughter is an awesome solution. The more there is to bitch about means the more there is to make fun of! So please, Canadians and Americans, put aside any minor differences (foreign policy, international diplomacy, respect for immigration, etc.) and laugh! And think of the opportunity.
So this douche show host from Red Eye on Fox news basically gets comedians Doug Benson (starred on Friends as Yeti Danny's creepy party friend, also appears on VH1 regularly, cough) and some other bunch of z-listers and they rag on canada, particularly their military efforts in Afghanistan, military strength and position on the border with "the most POWERFUL country in the world". Keep in mind that this is a "satirical" news piece that is comedic in nature.
Fox News apologized and Doug has changed his myspace title to "I Love Canada (for reals)" as outrage poured across youtube and facebook. His upcoming comedy show in Edmonton has been cancelled, and people are regaining familiarity with the definition of satire. I watched the video out of curiosity and like many others, I was pretty pissed, lol. Not so much at the comments that were made, but at the shocking ignorance of the nature of the discussion. But then afterwords, I took the time to think about it, and something came over me.
As stupid as these comments are, it's not really Canadian of us to lash out and demand an apology from the people on the show. I feel like the smarter, truer-Canadian thing to do is just look at all these comments and laugh at them...like we usually do. Haha, silly Americans, there you go again with your loud little mouths! Besides, we know that Europe is laughing at them too, because they probably know less about Europe than they do about Canada. And as a half-yank, I think it would suit both countries best if we could just make as much fun of this event as possible. I'm totally expecting material about this on Rick Mercer and 22 Minutes. Hell, even if SNL did something about it with Mike Meyers, Jim Carrey, Norm MacDonald (if he's still funny) and some other canadians, it would be awesome. I think NBC would be down, Lorne Michaels (SNL's executive producer and creator) is Canadian! He should take advantage of this opportunity like Tina Fey did with Sarah Palin (I still shudder every time I type her name).
Times are tough and laughter is an awesome solution. The more there is to bitch about means the more there is to make fun of! So please, Canadians and Americans, put aside any minor differences (foreign policy, international diplomacy, respect for immigration, etc.) and laugh! And think of the opportunity.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
The Oakland Police
This entry is a bit of a sidestep from the others because it covers an ongoing story that has been largely ignored by our mainstream media; Democracy Now has been covering the rising troubles in Oakland's police force and criminal justice system since January.
The news is presented differently between the two sources in many ways. Most importantly, however, is the coverage of the initial murder that sparked uproar and criticism of the city's justice system. Juan Gonzales of Democracy Now explains, " A former transit officer in Oakland, California has been arrested on murder charges in connection to the killing of Oscar Grant. Grant is the unarmed African American man who was shot dead laying face-down on an Oakland train platform on New Year’s Day."
The event led to a large number of protests and the eventual arrest of over a hundred citizens; the transit officer was initially not arrested, then left to Nevada, where he stayed for around a month until his arrest warrant was released. Democracy Now also reports that the former transit officer was released on a 3 million dollar bail by a source unknown to the public. This situation is the cause of a murmuring dissent throughout Oakland, a town with a population of around 400,000 and unfortunately high rates of poverty and unemployment.
The protests grew out of anger in the initial shooting and even further when there was no response or accountability from the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) agency, the criminal justice system, the mayor or state representatives for a lingering period of time. However, this dissent was masked in the mainstream media by more of that economic crisis hysteria. Is this the Terrorism scare 2.0, our economy is in drastic collapse? Why is an enemy constructed for the media to focus on when they could simply report the news around the world?
In contrast, CBC's article mentions nothing about these past events. The headline reads, "Gunman kills 3 officers, wounds 4th in Oakland, Calif." The article continues, "Three California police officers are dead and a fourth is in critical condition after a shootout with a crime suspect in Oakland." And it concludes with the short sentence, "The suspect was armed with an assault rifle, police said."
The CBC report doesn't even hint at a past conflict or growing dissent within the population, nor the crimes committed within the justice system and transit system - it displays the officers as sole victims, (although nobody deserves to be shot, don't get me wrong), and the concluding sentence seems as though it was inserted to leave the reader with the chilling reminder of the criminal's violent actions. In contrast, Democracy Now would question whether the victim was harrassed by the officers or armed with an assault rifle as stated by the police department.
Discourse is again my essential factor in comparing the two networks' coverage, looking at word choice for the headlines and key sentences. Filters or news management may also come into play, with Democracy Now interviewing members of the community and CBC interviewing the California Attorney General and the Oakland Police Department.
This course of events makes me feel wary of the news; why was this seemingly historic moment not widely reported on? And for what reasons?
The news is presented differently between the two sources in many ways. Most importantly, however, is the coverage of the initial murder that sparked uproar and criticism of the city's justice system. Juan Gonzales of Democracy Now explains, " A former transit officer in Oakland, California has been arrested on murder charges in connection to the killing of Oscar Grant. Grant is the unarmed African American man who was shot dead laying face-down on an Oakland train platform on New Year’s Day."
The event led to a large number of protests and the eventual arrest of over a hundred citizens; the transit officer was initially not arrested, then left to Nevada, where he stayed for around a month until his arrest warrant was released. Democracy Now also reports that the former transit officer was released on a 3 million dollar bail by a source unknown to the public. This situation is the cause of a murmuring dissent throughout Oakland, a town with a population of around 400,000 and unfortunately high rates of poverty and unemployment.
The protests grew out of anger in the initial shooting and even further when there was no response or accountability from the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) agency, the criminal justice system, the mayor or state representatives for a lingering period of time. However, this dissent was masked in the mainstream media by more of that economic crisis hysteria. Is this the Terrorism scare 2.0, our economy is in drastic collapse? Why is an enemy constructed for the media to focus on when they could simply report the news around the world?
In contrast, CBC's article mentions nothing about these past events. The headline reads, "Gunman kills 3 officers, wounds 4th in Oakland, Calif." The article continues, "Three California police officers are dead and a fourth is in critical condition after a shootout with a crime suspect in Oakland." And it concludes with the short sentence, "The suspect was armed with an assault rifle, police said."
The CBC report doesn't even hint at a past conflict or growing dissent within the population, nor the crimes committed within the justice system and transit system - it displays the officers as sole victims, (although nobody deserves to be shot, don't get me wrong), and the concluding sentence seems as though it was inserted to leave the reader with the chilling reminder of the criminal's violent actions. In contrast, Democracy Now would question whether the victim was harrassed by the officers or armed with an assault rifle as stated by the police department.
Discourse is again my essential factor in comparing the two networks' coverage, looking at word choice for the headlines and key sentences. Filters or news management may also come into play, with Democracy Now interviewing members of the community and CBC interviewing the California Attorney General and the Oakland Police Department.
This course of events makes me feel wary of the news; why was this seemingly historic moment not widely reported on? And for what reasons?
Friday, March 20, 2009
British MP and Iraq-War Protester Barred Entry to Canada
I will take full advantage of the blog format to display my emotions on this story, but only in this introduction. Jason Kenney, you suck.
Now please put that and other predispositions aside (as any ethical journalist should try to do when reporting the news). British Member of Parliament George Halloway, known for his controversial protests against the Iraq invasion, was denied entry to the country today for his speaking tour. I know through my own experiences with border-crossing that my predispositions with guards and the immigration process might affect my reporting and discourse for this story. I therefore have to place myself in the opposite position on the spectrum and get both sides of the story as fairly as possible.
In this entry I'll be discussing two articles on the story by the Toronto Star and the National Post - two Canadian newspapers with different perspectives - in order to find out what messages they want to convey through their reporting. Hopefully these comparisons will shed light on their reporting as a whole.
1.How is news presented differently on these different platforms?
The Toronto Star Headline reads: Canada Blocks Outspoken British MP
The National Post Headline reads: British MP Denied Entry to Canada Threatens to Sue Government
In taking a closer look at the headlines, I noticed that while the Star posits Canada as the factor in blocking Halloway's entry, the Post uses Halloway as the main subject/noun in the headline. While each headline is an action, taking the subject and verb from each headline may clarify what i'm getting at; "Canada Blocks" vs. "British MP...Threatens" . In the introductory statement alone, one can begin to see the point of view behind each story.
The opening sentence of the Star article reads, "Canadian officials have denied outspoken anti-war British MP George Galloway entry into Canada on grounds he poses a threat to national security."
The opening sentence of the Post article reads, "An outspoken British MP who's opposed to the war in Afghanistan says he intends to take legal action against the federal government over its decision to refuse him entry to Canada."
These two introductory sentences establish the same message as the headline with mostly the same information, yet constructed in proper sentence form. However, sometimes the more important sentence in an article is its closing; it finalizes the story and embodies what the reader will feel after finishing the article.
The final sentence of the Star article reads, " 'We applaud the Canadian government for keeping George Galloway, a man who thrives on his support of terrorists, out of Canada,' said CJC Co-President Sylvain Abitbol. "
The final sentence of the Post article reads, "New Democrat immigration critic Olivia Chow, meanwhile, called the move "pure censorship." 'That's not a good road to go on,' she said Friday."
It's interesting to note that the two final sentences are opposite of what one would expect given the assumptions we've made from the headline and introductory sentence. I'm not sure if this is done deliberately, but perhaps it is designed to leave the reader with a sense of disapproval in the conclusion, therefore leading the reader to remember the other messages from the article (headline/intro/content) and agree with those views over the final "disagreement". This may be a bit of a stretch, but it's something to notice. I'll try to remember this for future stories.
2. Where and how can you identify some of the following: citizen journalism; public sphere; issues of globalization; humanist photojournalism; war image; filters; discourse; interesting or problematic race/gender representation?
Citizen journalism isn't truly relevant to the article outside of Halloway's denied entry and reporting the truth about this conflict, which citizen journalism is usually involved in (truth and conflict). Filters, i'm not certain if they come in to play or not; discourse, however, is the fundamental factor in comparing these two stories. The tone of these articles varies in position, but not so much in structure. Word choice is my favourite way of conducting my pseudo-discourse analysis, and is an excellent strategy when thinking critically about news and how it's presented. The difference in headlines, for example, says a lot more than the average reader is aware.
3.What did you learn from reading / listening to news from a venue you don’t usually go to? What do YOU have to say about news?
Unfortunately I haven't ventured too far from reading news online; for my next entries I hope to try some different platforms of news, like radio, television news or television shows. I feel like another important factor in online reporting these days is the "Comment" box, where readers can respond and express their opinions if approved by a moderator (who functions mainly to prevent spam and nonsensical posts). More and more readers are taking advantage of the opportunity to "talk back" to news stories, unlike television and radio which, aside from featuring debates, rarely act as two-way media. They are the senders of the message, and we are the receivers. The messages they receive from us comes in ratings, phone-ins, letters. But with online interaction after the articles, more and more websites are able to understand their audience.
Now please put that and other predispositions aside (as any ethical journalist should try to do when reporting the news). British Member of Parliament George Halloway, known for his controversial protests against the Iraq invasion, was denied entry to the country today for his speaking tour. I know through my own experiences with border-crossing that my predispositions with guards and the immigration process might affect my reporting and discourse for this story. I therefore have to place myself in the opposite position on the spectrum and get both sides of the story as fairly as possible.
In this entry I'll be discussing two articles on the story by the Toronto Star and the National Post - two Canadian newspapers with different perspectives - in order to find out what messages they want to convey through their reporting. Hopefully these comparisons will shed light on their reporting as a whole.
1.How is news presented differently on these different platforms?
The Toronto Star Headline reads: Canada Blocks Outspoken British MP
The National Post Headline reads: British MP Denied Entry to Canada Threatens to Sue Government
In taking a closer look at the headlines, I noticed that while the Star posits Canada as the factor in blocking Halloway's entry, the Post uses Halloway as the main subject/noun in the headline. While each headline is an action, taking the subject and verb from each headline may clarify what i'm getting at; "Canada Blocks" vs. "British MP...Threatens" . In the introductory statement alone, one can begin to see the point of view behind each story.
The opening sentence of the Star article reads, "Canadian officials have denied outspoken anti-war British MP George Galloway entry into Canada on grounds he poses a threat to national security."
The opening sentence of the Post article reads, "An outspoken British MP who's opposed to the war in Afghanistan says he intends to take legal action against the federal government over its decision to refuse him entry to Canada."
These two introductory sentences establish the same message as the headline with mostly the same information, yet constructed in proper sentence form. However, sometimes the more important sentence in an article is its closing; it finalizes the story and embodies what the reader will feel after finishing the article.
The final sentence of the Star article reads, " 'We applaud the Canadian government for keeping George Galloway, a man who thrives on his support of terrorists, out of Canada,' said CJC Co-President Sylvain Abitbol. "
The final sentence of the Post article reads, "New Democrat immigration critic Olivia Chow, meanwhile, called the move "pure censorship." 'That's not a good road to go on,' she said Friday."
It's interesting to note that the two final sentences are opposite of what one would expect given the assumptions we've made from the headline and introductory sentence. I'm not sure if this is done deliberately, but perhaps it is designed to leave the reader with a sense of disapproval in the conclusion, therefore leading the reader to remember the other messages from the article (headline/intro/content) and agree with those views over the final "disagreement". This may be a bit of a stretch, but it's something to notice. I'll try to remember this for future stories.
2. Where and how can you identify some of the following: citizen journalism; public sphere; issues of globalization; humanist photojournalism; war image; filters; discourse; interesting or problematic race/gender representation?
Citizen journalism isn't truly relevant to the article outside of Halloway's denied entry and reporting the truth about this conflict, which citizen journalism is usually involved in (truth and conflict). Filters, i'm not certain if they come in to play or not; discourse, however, is the fundamental factor in comparing these two stories. The tone of these articles varies in position, but not so much in structure. Word choice is my favourite way of conducting my pseudo-discourse analysis, and is an excellent strategy when thinking critically about news and how it's presented. The difference in headlines, for example, says a lot more than the average reader is aware.
3.What did you learn from reading / listening to news from a venue you don’t usually go to? What do YOU have to say about news?
Unfortunately I haven't ventured too far from reading news online; for my next entries I hope to try some different platforms of news, like radio, television news or television shows. I feel like another important factor in online reporting these days is the "Comment" box, where readers can respond and express their opinions if approved by a moderator (who functions mainly to prevent spam and nonsensical posts). More and more readers are taking advantage of the opportunity to "talk back" to news stories, unlike television and radio which, aside from featuring debates, rarely act as two-way media. They are the senders of the message, and we are the receivers. The messages they receive from us comes in ratings, phone-ins, letters. But with online interaction after the articles, more and more websites are able to understand their audience.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Late-Night Thoughts on Financial Woetry
The full moon is out tonight and I can't fall asleep, it's almost like a horror movie. Luckily around midnight I managed to catch the half-hour episode of John Stewart's Daily Show. Expecting more political humor and goofery, I was surprised to find the entire episode dedicated to Stewart's interview with CNBC Mad Money Correspondent Jim Cramer, a depart from his regular routine for the show. In the interview, he discussed and criticized Cramer's reporting and CNBC's financial reporting - in particular, the lack of journalistic integrity in CNBC's reporting prior to and now during the economic downturn. In a way, Stewart made a discourse analysis by questioning Cramer and the role his show plays in portraying factual financial news. So, in this entry, when I wake up tomorrow morning (I'm tired now), I'll yap about the differences between the Daily Show and Mad Money and their niches. For now, goodnight!
1.How is news presented differently on these different platforms?
While Stewart's satirical news piece The Daily Show acts as a critic of recent financial behaviour and the mass media's role in the economic crisis, Cramer's Mad Money does little to lead the viewer outside of the woes of wall street. An example of Stewart's critique to the matter is the interview with Jim Cramer, where their discourse leads the viewer to think about or critique the issue at hand. The discourse in Mad Money, on the other hand, often focuses solely on money and criticizing the political spectrum for its lack of assistance. In the interview, Stewart proved this point by showing the audience a clip from Mad Money where Wall Street workers were booing and slandering President Obama for his "absence" during the Wall Street meltdown, despite his funding of over a trillion dollars in taxpayer's bailout money.
2. Where and how can you identify some of the following: citizen journalism; public sphere; issues of globalization; humanist photojournalism; war image; filters; discourse; interesting or problematic race/gender representation?
Citizen journalism is taking effect by displaying the effects of the financial crisis on the citizens and not the wall street brokers or capitol investors. Filters certainly come into play with the CNBC's reporting in comparison to the comedic Daily Show, where news can be presented with satire and criticism. Discourse is a vital factor in determining the audience's reaction to both presentations of news, and differs between the two. Gender representation wasn't displayed in either outlets as a factor, but it was noticable in the clip Stewart aired that the room on Wall Street was full of male investors, with only a handful of females in the room at work.
3.What did you learn from reading / listening to news from a venue you don’t usually go to? What do YOU have to say about news?
From viewing Mad Money and Jim Cramer's presentation of financial news from a critical point of view, I learned that, in some outlets, filters play a heavy role in determining what a reporter can publicly criticize. I don't pay much attention to financial news myself, mainly because I never found it newsworthy; to me, it was strictly a report on the financial movements of Wall Street, not a critique or analysis of financial news internationally. Perhaps now that the economy is in a so-called "crisis", we can expect our news outlets to better express their right to investigate and report financial news ethically and responsibly.
1.How is news presented differently on these different platforms?
While Stewart's satirical news piece The Daily Show acts as a critic of recent financial behaviour and the mass media's role in the economic crisis, Cramer's Mad Money does little to lead the viewer outside of the woes of wall street. An example of Stewart's critique to the matter is the interview with Jim Cramer, where their discourse leads the viewer to think about or critique the issue at hand. The discourse in Mad Money, on the other hand, often focuses solely on money and criticizing the political spectrum for its lack of assistance. In the interview, Stewart proved this point by showing the audience a clip from Mad Money where Wall Street workers were booing and slandering President Obama for his "absence" during the Wall Street meltdown, despite his funding of over a trillion dollars in taxpayer's bailout money.
2. Where and how can you identify some of the following: citizen journalism; public sphere; issues of globalization; humanist photojournalism; war image; filters; discourse; interesting or problematic race/gender representation?
Citizen journalism is taking effect by displaying the effects of the financial crisis on the citizens and not the wall street brokers or capitol investors. Filters certainly come into play with the CNBC's reporting in comparison to the comedic Daily Show, where news can be presented with satire and criticism. Discourse is a vital factor in determining the audience's reaction to both presentations of news, and differs between the two. Gender representation wasn't displayed in either outlets as a factor, but it was noticable in the clip Stewart aired that the room on Wall Street was full of male investors, with only a handful of females in the room at work.
3.What did you learn from reading / listening to news from a venue you don’t usually go to? What do YOU have to say about news?
From viewing Mad Money and Jim Cramer's presentation of financial news from a critical point of view, I learned that, in some outlets, filters play a heavy role in determining what a reporter can publicly criticize. I don't pay much attention to financial news myself, mainly because I never found it newsworthy; to me, it was strictly a report on the financial movements of Wall Street, not a critique or analysis of financial news internationally. Perhaps now that the economy is in a so-called "crisis", we can expect our news outlets to better express their right to investigate and report financial news ethically and responsibly.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Thoughts on an Early Sunday Morning: March 8th, 2009
Tomorrow is a relative's 54th birthday. Not quite news for the world, but still special to me.
Today, I will watch/explore the news through two different platforms: this time, the online news presented by http://www.cbc.ca compared to that of http://www.bbc.co.uk. I will examine if budget/public funding (as they are both public stations for two different countries) and how they affect the answers to the founding questions below.
1.How is news presented differently on these different platforms?
On www.cbc.ca:
- 3 of 9 "top stories" are local/national - remaining 6 are international
- Categories presented in: Home, World, Canada, Health, Arts and Entertainment, Technology and Science, Money, Consumer Life, Diversions, Weather, Your Voice
On www.bbc.co.uk:
- 1 of 8 "top stories" in the international section are local/national (U.K.) - local stories reserved for U.K./Nat'l section, somewhat similar to CBC's Website
- Categories first displayed by continent, then by Business, Health, Science & Environment, Technology, Entertainment, Also in the News
In discussing the March 8th, 2009 update of Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, BBC specifically mentioned that the Prime Minister was grieving his deceased wife in the neighbouring country of Botswana; an important factor in displaying Tsvangirai's power as Prime Minister under President Mugabe's rule. CBC reports the founding information and the news that official government reporters provided, but not much in regards to the opposing perspective. However, most of what BBC reports seems more authentic and researched-into than the story that CBC.ca quickly published.
2. Where and how can you identify some of the following: citizen journalism; public sphere; issues of globalization; humanist photojournalism; war image; filters; discourse; interesting or problematic race/gender representation?
Citizen journalism is more prevalent in the BBC.co.uk article about Tsvangirai's injuries and trip to Botswana in comparison to Cbc.ca's article about the same matter: the website displays pictures of an injured Tsvangirai, his toppled car and other issues Zimbabwe has faced in the past. On the subject of globalization, the issue revolves around the post-colonial Zimbabwe and two conflicting governments; this is further exemplified by BBC.co.uk's story of Tsvangirai fleeing to Botswana, but also reported equally by Cbc.ca (despite their attempt to paint Mugabe as a caring figure by visiting Tsvangirai in the hospital). Race representation may be affected by the article in presenting the two conflicting views of a post-colonial African country; there is no one definable way to represent all Zimbabweans.
The war image of the political crimes in Zimbabwe is being filtered out - not sure for what reason - but it isn't reaching the two main networks being compared in this entry, which shocks me; the images of starving citizens work most effectively against political corruption, yet the major outlets have shown little outside of the faces of Tsvangirai and Mugabe.
3.What did you learn from reading / listening to news from a venue you don’t usually go to? What do YOU have to say about news?
I usually open my Firefox internet browser with a Cbc.ca news feed attached to the home page - it wasn't until I really took a critical look at the website in comparison to www.bbc.co.uk, a larger and wider-distributed public broadcaster, that I saw what Cbc.ca was missing. The BBC's perspective seemed a bit more international with regards to Tsvangirai's whereabouts in comparison to Cbc.ca's lack of foreign information. However, in defence of the CBC, I am accessing this story at an early time during an off-period for news delivery (outside of rush hour, dinner hour news time slot, etc).
Today, I will watch/explore the news through two different platforms: this time, the online news presented by http://www.cbc.ca compared to that of http://www.bbc.co.uk. I will examine if budget/public funding (as they are both public stations for two different countries) and how they affect the answers to the founding questions below.
1.How is news presented differently on these different platforms?
On www.cbc.ca:
- 3 of 9 "top stories" are local/national - remaining 6 are international
- Categories presented in: Home, World, Canada, Health, Arts and Entertainment, Technology and Science, Money, Consumer Life, Diversions, Weather, Your Voice
On www.bbc.co.uk:
- 1 of 8 "top stories" in the international section are local/national (U.K.) - local stories reserved for U.K./Nat'l section, somewhat similar to CBC's Website
- Categories first displayed by continent, then by Business, Health, Science & Environment, Technology, Entertainment, Also in the News
In discussing the March 8th, 2009 update of Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, BBC specifically mentioned that the Prime Minister was grieving his deceased wife in the neighbouring country of Botswana; an important factor in displaying Tsvangirai's power as Prime Minister under President Mugabe's rule. CBC reports the founding information and the news that official government reporters provided, but not much in regards to the opposing perspective. However, most of what BBC reports seems more authentic and researched-into than the story that CBC.ca quickly published.
2. Where and how can you identify some of the following: citizen journalism; public sphere; issues of globalization; humanist photojournalism; war image; filters; discourse; interesting or problematic race/gender representation?
Citizen journalism is more prevalent in the BBC.co.uk article about Tsvangirai's injuries and trip to Botswana in comparison to Cbc.ca's article about the same matter: the website displays pictures of an injured Tsvangirai, his toppled car and other issues Zimbabwe has faced in the past. On the subject of globalization, the issue revolves around the post-colonial Zimbabwe and two conflicting governments; this is further exemplified by BBC.co.uk's story of Tsvangirai fleeing to Botswana, but also reported equally by Cbc.ca (despite their attempt to paint Mugabe as a caring figure by visiting Tsvangirai in the hospital). Race representation may be affected by the article in presenting the two conflicting views of a post-colonial African country; there is no one definable way to represent all Zimbabweans.
The war image of the political crimes in Zimbabwe is being filtered out - not sure for what reason - but it isn't reaching the two main networks being compared in this entry, which shocks me; the images of starving citizens work most effectively against political corruption, yet the major outlets have shown little outside of the faces of Tsvangirai and Mugabe.
3.What did you learn from reading / listening to news from a venue you don’t usually go to? What do YOU have to say about news?
I usually open my Firefox internet browser with a Cbc.ca news feed attached to the home page - it wasn't until I really took a critical look at the website in comparison to www.bbc.co.uk, a larger and wider-distributed public broadcaster, that I saw what Cbc.ca was missing. The BBC's perspective seemed a bit more international with regards to Tsvangirai's whereabouts in comparison to Cbc.ca's lack of foreign information. However, in defence of the CBC, I am accessing this story at an early time during an off-period for news delivery (outside of rush hour, dinner hour news time slot, etc).
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Guideline
GUIDELINES:
You are asked to keep a blog in which you regularly write about news from at least 2 different platforms (eg., print, tabloid, current affairs, podcasts, radio, TV, internet, blogs, Twitter etc.) and reflect upon:
1.How is news presented differently on these different platforms?
2. Where and how can you identify some of the following: citizen journalism; public sphere; issues of globalization; humanist photojournalism; war image; filters; discourse; interesting or problematic race/gender representation?
3.What did you learn from reading / listening to news from a venue you don’t usually go to? What do YOU have to say about news?
You must have at least 5 entries spaced evenly over a 2-month period (JAN 27-MARCH 24) and a total of 2,000 WORDS.
You are asked to keep a blog in which you regularly write about news from at least 2 different platforms (eg., print, tabloid, current affairs, podcasts, radio, TV, internet, blogs, Twitter etc.) and reflect upon:
1.How is news presented differently on these different platforms?
2. Where and how can you identify some of the following: citizen journalism; public sphere; issues of globalization; humanist photojournalism; war image; filters; discourse; interesting or problematic race/gender representation?
3.What did you learn from reading / listening to news from a venue you don’t usually go to? What do YOU have to say about news?
You must have at least 5 entries spaced evenly over a 2-month period (JAN 27-MARCH 24) and a total of 2,000 WORDS.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
News and My Opinions! Jan 27, 2009
What is news? Well, what is going on in the world today? Quite a bit. Maybe outside of our own peripheral bubble, but nevertheless, quite a bit.
In good ol' Canadaland, we're returning to our parliamentary meltdown which rendered fond memories of last fall when we all fled to the polls with not much difference in result. The Liberal party seat count fell to an all-time low of 70-something and the Conservatives gained a fair chunk, but neither party has the power they thirst for. It all comes down to the cute little session they'll have at 4 PM today where they list a bunch of numbers I won't understand and a bunch of statistics and fancy words to confuse the mass populace. When did government become something outside of "for the people"? You'd think if it were equal and fair to everyone it wouldn't be so hard to understand for all the stupid people who elect these people in office.
So I'll be here to complain about whatever happens at 4. I'm hoping this cute Iggy boy stands up to evil lego-hair Harper and rides the Obama liberal wave of happiness into the p.o.'s office. Things are looking much better for the liberal party, from what I've read; Iggy has brought the party's approval rating up by more than 10 percent, toppling the conservatives and bringing the NDP back to red-head stepbrother status. Many of my NDP-supporting friends are wary that the coalition will fall apart, particularly in a time where their legislative action is supporting the TA/Grad Assistant movement at York University. Personally, while I do support the right of people to strike and demand better working quality, the students are entitled to the education that we forked thousands of dollars over. Otherwise, they certainly deserve a refund or a free year or something of the sort. I don't know what I'd do with myself if Ryerson were to strike; it already took me 4 months to find a part-time job. Finding another one to make grounds meet would be near impossible at this time. I mean, who hires for February?
Locally, not much is going on. Toronto is cold and dry. The poor students at York have nothing to do. 4 people were arrested at York U protests today.
One news item that's kept my interest throughout its unfortunate duration is the conflict between Israel and Palestine, particularly because the reporting of information makes so much of a difference in each individual pereception of what is happening so many miles away. Most recently, the former Palestinian President Abbas (who was overthrown by the Hamas rebels/party/your interpretation in 2007) has condemned the Gaza attacks and blamed them on Hamas, saying that they (Hamas) brought their own land to destruction. A fairly bold claim in the name of around 700 civilians, nearly half of which were children. Former President Abbas has also said that from his interpretation of the war, "Israel doesn't want peace." Another fairly bold claim. I'm starting to get nervous just typing about it! Well, if Israel doesn't want peace and Hamas doesn't want peace, that's too bad, because I do. If anyone truly believes that their holy land is worth dying over, and that God grants his retribution through death, violence and bloodshed, its hard to convince them otherwise. How do you prove that a god gave you land?
On the brighter side, how about that crazy Hollywood place. Apparently Britney Spears and Kevin Federline reunited at a family barbeque recently. I wonder if the universe collapsed. Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, Aretha Franklin and Sharon Stone have all been vandalized with the words "Fur Hag!" Of course, leave it to animal-rights activists (self-included!) to use a Metallic Sharpie to vandalize the Hollywood walk of fame. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a hidden animal extract in that marker! ;)
Oh, and lastly, a lady gave birth to octuplets recently. Holy crap.
In good ol' Canadaland, we're returning to our parliamentary meltdown which rendered fond memories of last fall when we all fled to the polls with not much difference in result. The Liberal party seat count fell to an all-time low of 70-something and the Conservatives gained a fair chunk, but neither party has the power they thirst for. It all comes down to the cute little session they'll have at 4 PM today where they list a bunch of numbers I won't understand and a bunch of statistics and fancy words to confuse the mass populace. When did government become something outside of "for the people"? You'd think if it were equal and fair to everyone it wouldn't be so hard to understand for all the stupid people who elect these people in office.
So I'll be here to complain about whatever happens at 4. I'm hoping this cute Iggy boy stands up to evil lego-hair Harper and rides the Obama liberal wave of happiness into the p.o.'s office. Things are looking much better for the liberal party, from what I've read; Iggy has brought the party's approval rating up by more than 10 percent, toppling the conservatives and bringing the NDP back to red-head stepbrother status. Many of my NDP-supporting friends are wary that the coalition will fall apart, particularly in a time where their legislative action is supporting the TA/Grad Assistant movement at York University. Personally, while I do support the right of people to strike and demand better working quality, the students are entitled to the education that we forked thousands of dollars over. Otherwise, they certainly deserve a refund or a free year or something of the sort. I don't know what I'd do with myself if Ryerson were to strike; it already took me 4 months to find a part-time job. Finding another one to make grounds meet would be near impossible at this time. I mean, who hires for February?
Locally, not much is going on. Toronto is cold and dry. The poor students at York have nothing to do. 4 people were arrested at York U protests today.
One news item that's kept my interest throughout its unfortunate duration is the conflict between Israel and Palestine, particularly because the reporting of information makes so much of a difference in each individual pereception of what is happening so many miles away. Most recently, the former Palestinian President Abbas (who was overthrown by the Hamas rebels/party/your interpretation in 2007) has condemned the Gaza attacks and blamed them on Hamas, saying that they (Hamas) brought their own land to destruction. A fairly bold claim in the name of around 700 civilians, nearly half of which were children. Former President Abbas has also said that from his interpretation of the war, "Israel doesn't want peace." Another fairly bold claim. I'm starting to get nervous just typing about it! Well, if Israel doesn't want peace and Hamas doesn't want peace, that's too bad, because I do. If anyone truly believes that their holy land is worth dying over, and that God grants his retribution through death, violence and bloodshed, its hard to convince them otherwise. How do you prove that a god gave you land?
On the brighter side, how about that crazy Hollywood place. Apparently Britney Spears and Kevin Federline reunited at a family barbeque recently. I wonder if the universe collapsed. Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, Aretha Franklin and Sharon Stone have all been vandalized with the words "Fur Hag!" Of course, leave it to animal-rights activists (self-included!) to use a Metallic Sharpie to vandalize the Hollywood walk of fame. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a hidden animal extract in that marker! ;)
Oh, and lastly, a lady gave birth to octuplets recently. Holy crap.
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