in the news...
google politics
Jun 13th
wow this experiment turned out way better than i thought, easy as 1 2 3
in text form:
search string – site:ndp.ca homeless*
results found: 196
search string – site:liberal.ca homeless*
results found: 66
search string – site:conservative.ca homeless*
results found: 2
search string – site:ndp.ca environment
results found: 2280
search string – site:liberal.ca environment
results found: 1590
search string – site:conservative.ca environment
results found: 1060
search string – site:ndp.ca war
results found: 1190
search string – site:liberal.ca war
results found: 715
search string – site:conservative.ca war
results found: 77
search string – site:ndp.ca gender
results found: 773
search string – site:liberal.ca gender
results found: 563
search string – site:conservative.ca gender
results found: 2
a nice bar graph would do wonders here, but let’s not get carried away.
try it with your own search terms and leave the results in the comments!
that’s a big ass graph
May 31st
yikes: farewell, fair weather
This surge in disasters and attendant costs is yet another reason we need to declare a coordinated war on climate change akin to the wars on drugs and terror. It’s a matter of national security.
good bye, rudy tuesday
Feb 6th
yeah i stole that from somewhere, big whoop, you wanna fight about it. i’m still torn between hillary and obama, and i think it comes down to pragmatic rationality (clinton actually having experience with the painfully debilitating bureaucracy of transnational democratic capitalism and maybe having a chance of navigating it) and charismatic hope (obama who might actually inspire people, and not being such an easy target to the republican attack machine). but with regards to the whole race-gender thing, isn’t it great that hillary is in many ways the cold-hearted, rational one (traditionally ‘masculine’ traits) and obama the emotional, irrational one (traditionally ‘feminine’ traits)? either way, whoever wins would be foolish not to pick the other as their running mate. for the sake of the fuckin planet they better run together.
but holy fuck did the world dodge a bullet with giuliani dropping out, that man is a nutbar:
i don’t know the ins and outs of the criminal justice system, but isn’t this a hate crime? i don’t mean just in it’s absurd racism with its characterization of “a perverted people”, but in its shocking depravity? like that is some messed up shit.
and giuliani was considering cheney as a running mate! fuck! cheney is like some sort of unkillable super-villain… in alien versus predator versus cheney, alien mother’s blood might be slightly more acidic than cheney’s, and predator is maybe slightly uglier, but cheney will shoot you right in the fuckin face, man.
so mccain looks to be the republican nomination, and even though he’s all pro-iraq and pro-tax cuts for the rich, i kinda have a soft spot for the dude for being somewhat of a moderate (by republican standards), not being a crazy evangelical (at least not yet), and for giving a frank interview about the military-industrial complex in why we fight.
man i wish canadian politics were this exciting. dion and harper are such a bore fest. and while i think layton is quite dynamic (especially after having met him and watching him in action), he’s not lighting any fires either. there are certainly some advantages to our boring system, in which policy is given more priority than personality (as chomsky says, in the american system, “The elections are run by the same industries that sell toothpaste on television”), in an era of increasing political apathy, we need some new blood in canadian politics. this is no country for old men.
look who’s stalking 2: the wreckoning
Jan 28th
i write this post because no one responded to my call for more sharing, so at least one of you fuckers better start using del.icio.us and then add me as a friend (or digg or last.fm or whatever). or leave your username in the comments section and i will add you… god you’re so lazy, anonymous reader.
and also i write this post because i’ve discovered the perfect metaphor for social networking sites: the reverse peep hole!
“Our policy is, we’re comfortable with our bodies. You know, if someone wants to help themselves to an eyefull, well, we say, ‘Enjoy the show.’ ”
c’mon friends (ian, jeff, biggie, brian, sioned, megs, sarah, anyone?), i wanna read what you think is worth reading, listen to music you think is worth listening to, and such and such.
had we already been e-friends, you could have read excellent essays on the age of ambition (nyt op-ed), age of consumption (nyt op-ed by jared diamond, author of guns germs and steel), and age of quirk (atlantic).
so alberta’s fuckin up
part 1: vice documentary series
part 2: globe and mail – “shifting sands”
don’t worry, alberta has a plan.
2050! 2050! that’s so awesome. it’s such a good idea, you better go
lobby to retain u.s. interest. deja vu.
hey ian, what the fuck?
good thing ol shark eyes gives a shit. the liberals should run on just reminding canadians harper earned us the fossil award, and is an utter failure when it comes to environmental policy, just like his backwards province. they should be taxing the shit out of Sunco and Syncrude. harper’s “Climate Change Technology Fund” only takes $15 per tonne, starting in 2010, while the “National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy” said that if canada wants to meet its pledge to reduce Canadian emissions by 45 to 65 per cent by 2050, it would have to be $190 to $240 per tonne.
i wish alberta would just leave canada, and then the only window into their country was thru a hilarious reality show based on the hills… just need some dumb young spoiled kids (hard to find in calgary, i’m sure), a theme song by a “hot new indie band”, perhaps “a lesson in crime” by tokyo police club would be appropriate… coming to cbc this summer… the tar sands…
sangria, saskatchewan and a shooting
May 15th
whoops i havent talked about myself on this ol gal in months. i havent been doing much besides (not)writing essays this past little while (first year grad school is done, but not without taking a piece of my soul these past 6 weeks), but some of it is gathered thru random photos culled from flickr and facebook. sorry to people who actually took these pictures, you get absolutely no credit.
i went skiing at seymour, where i took a huge bail and some punk 12 year old chirped me as i lay on the ground like a chump.
and i went skiing at whistler, which im so happy got captured in such an exhilarating action shot
and st paddys day was in there somewhere
and i dressed up as a freezie for halloween with my brother.
wait a minute facebook, that was years ago!
and i’m finished marking papers so i wasn’t in my favourite coffee shop much this past week (i would switch, but jj beans just isn’t open very late)
and the other day we drank a gallon of homemade sangria on the beach and then played soccer with a couple of 6 year olds…. many hours later, goldeneye was played.
i also saw lcd soundsystem, it was a mind blowing show. my mind is blown.
i’m going to saskatchewan (yeehaw!) and south america (which is cool i guess) in a couple weeks, then back to ontario to see as many friends as possible before i drive cross country with an elite squad of diversely talented road trippers. im hoping to pee on every border between provinces, mark my territory from ontario to bc.
finding comedy in the iraqi clusterfuck
Mar 15th
for all the hoopla around the dems winning back the house and the congress, and now pushing for total troop withdrawal by the end of 08, the war can’t go away anytime soon. nothing can happen during the rest of bush’s term: they’re digging in, there’s not enough support and bush would just veto anyway. looking ahead till 2009, even with an obama or a clinton in the white house, they can’t just abandon their permanent military bases.
How can anybody tell if the Bush administration is actually withdrawing from Iraq or not? Sometimes, when trying to cut through a veritable fog of misinformation and disinformation, it helps to focus on something concrete. In the case of Iraq, nothing could be more concrete — though less generally discussed in our media — than the set of enormous bases the Pentagon has long been building in that country. Quite literally multi-billions of dollars have gone into them. In a prestigious engineering magazine in late 2003, Lt. Col. David Holt, the Army engineer “tasked with facilities development” in Iraq, was already speaking proudly of several billion dollars being sunk into base construction (“the numbers are staggering”). Since then, the base-building has been massive and ongoing.
…
Whatever top administration officials and military commanders say — and they always deny that we seek “permanent” bases in Iraq -– facts-on-the-ground speak with another voice entirely. These bases practically scream “permanency.”
chomsky brings clarity as usual, but there’s no realistic hope on the horizon. it’s all a joke.
jerry seinfeld “iraq war / terrorists”:
there were some interesting new strategies in these wars in iraq and afghanistan: dropping of bombs and food at the same time. this is new. this is creative. this is something only we americans could think of. that is an american idea: we’re gonna drop some bombs on you… we’re gonna drop some food on you too… ok? it’s not gonna be all bombs. we’re gonna mix it up. certain things will be exploding… other things will be delicious.
this week in the news
Jan 18th
hey america: fuck off. “Bush is counting on Canada to achieve the U.S. goal to wean the country off Middle Eastern oil — a goal now defined as a national security objective.” it should be *really* interesting how harper responds to this humble oil request, in light of dion making the environment a major part of his platform. and Polls showing the environment is the number one concern of Canadians (so obviously proof that the ndp and the green party deserve more representation in parliament). with afghanistan going to shit and the slow unfolding of an energy crisis in tandem with a climate change crisis, canada’s relations with america will certainly get a little more dicey in the coming years. personally, i dont think we should increase our oil exports until they give us alaska. to sweeten the deal, they can have saskatchewan, then the map will look like america is giving the world the finger. which, of course, they are.
i think i stole that joke from jeremy hotz. and i’ve probably used it on this blog before… my lameness aside, salon has a great article on the lack of an anti-war movement with where’s the outrage:
When America got rid of the draft, it also got rid of the ultimate check against presidents who lead the nation into foolish wars: people power. I am not advocating a return of the draft. But its absence is undeniably the single largest reason that there is no antiwar movement. People are capable of genuine concern for their fellow citizens, but self-interest is an exponentially more powerful driving force.
the toronto star has a series on the war on poverty:
a constant state of dread
New way to fight hunger
Struggling on $1,008 a month
Tackling poverty benefits all society
As Canadians, we like to think we live in a just society, one that gives fair treatment and opportunity to individuals and groups and a rightful share of our common wealth. But how just and inclusive is a society where children go hungry, some working people cannot earn a living wage, and the homeless crowd into shelters because they cannot afford a place to live?
hows about some peace on earth?
How about we start with equality in and among nations, a social commodity — says a just-released UN think tank study — in grotesquely short supply.
…
The new study — the first ever to tally, for the entire world, all the major elements of household wealth, everything from financial assets and debts to land, homes, and other tangible property — finds some $125.3 trillion worth of wealth about in the world, as of the year 2000.
…
How concentrated? The richest 5 percent of the world’s adults — minimum net worth, $150,145 — hold 70.6 percent of the world’s wealth. The richest 1 percent — minimum wealth, $514,512 — hold 39.9 percent of the world’s wealth all by themselves, 13,000 times more than the entire bottom 10 percent.
and lest we forget that its the economy stupid, it’s a good idea to keep in mind What $1.2 Trillion Can Buy (cost of the new and improved iraq)
new year’s e-resolutions
Jan 4th
i’ve always been a fan of excuses to do things (like holidays = drinking), so new years resolutions seem like a good idea to me. the roomie and i exchanged a list of 10 for each other. for the record, hers were much more harsh than mine. shit about respect and displacing blame, far out. i told her to get out more, and “get phd and become dr. bond”
for myself, i’ve decided to learn more about philosophy and economics, which means listening to lectures on plato on my ipod and getting a subscription to the economist. and trying to read articles in the business section of the globe such as hopes, fears and bold predictions for 2007. what is it dear readers, are we doomed in the 07 by increased energy costs or gigantic american debt or net selling of U.S. Treasuries by foreign central banks or terrorism or some wicked concoction of all four? i’m not usually this apocalyptic, it’s something about the medium of blogging i think…
speaking of the apocalypse, robert fisk is mandatory reading in these end times. “How the West armed Saddam, fed him intelligence on his ‘enemies’, equipped him for atrocities – and then made sure he wouldn’t squeal”: A Dictator Created Then Destroyed by America and He Takes His Secrets to the Grave. Our Complicity Dies with Him
happier things!
the nobel peace prize this year went to Muhammad Yunus, the guy who created microcredit. My thoughts exactly on this whole problem of “terrorism” and “the middle east” and “war”:
I believe that putting resources into improving the lives of the poor people is a better strategy [for combating terrorism] than spending it on guns.
and here are some other such good things commies like me can be happy about for 2006.
revolutionary idea for 2007? open course ware, by [the real] m.i.t. read about it in “how to go to m.i.t. for free“. for my fellow fake mit graduates or other mediaphiles, they have a Comparative Media Studies program and a Media Arts and Sciences program, including graduate classes.
speaking of open-source, my homeland is going open source too.
i mentioned last.fm and firefox and hype machine as technocessities (copyright!), i forgot digg.com. and now i have a profile and you could see which stories i dugg, if one were so inclined. once again, join and add me as a friend.
(i wish i had more nerd friends who would actually do such a thing)
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