I love to give my opinion even when people don’t want to hear it. This is one outlet where I can say what ever I want without interruption. So what ever pop’s into my head is likely to show up. If I’m not talking to myself, which is a very good possibility, let me know what you think.
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I just finished watching Michael Moore's Sicko. It's his latest documentary on the American Health Care system. I have never seen a Moore documentary before, at least not in its entierty. Of course I have heard about many of his previous works, such as Fahrenheit 911 and Roger & Me. I can safely say that I haven't watched a movie that has moved as strongly as Sicko has in along time. I know that our Health Care system has many things wrong with at the moment, wait times being the most problematic, but I can't believe what is happening just across the border. Most Canadians have heard horror stories of outrageous cost's of getting sick in the U.S. and wouldn't dare travel with out some type of insurance to protect themselves, but I can't believe how out of control things have gotten. The show starts with a couple in there late fifties, early sixties, who could be my parents or some of yours, moving out of their home and in with their daughter. This couple was fairly well off, had a nice home, put all their kids through college etc. That was until their father suffered from a series of heart attacks and then their mother was diagnosed with cancer. This couple had nice jobs with insurance but as soon as they got sick their insurance company looked for a reason to cut them off, when they couldn't find one they hiked there premiums up so high (something close to $9000 a year) and drove the couple in to bankruptcy. What kind of choice is it when you have to sell your home just to get life saving treatment. It just made me sick(no pun intended) that this could happen in North America. My own mother went through a battle with breast cancer recently and what if we had to come up with ten's of thousand's of dollars to keep her alive. We would have figured out a way to come up with the money one way or another, but your supposed to be focusing on healing not how your going to pay a bill. There was another gentleman that had an accident with a table saw. He was uninsured. The saw cut of the tip of his middle finger and almost did the same to his ring finger. When he arrived at the hospital he was told that to fix his ring finger it would cost him $12,000 and to reattach his middle finger it would be $60,000. He had to decide which finger he could afford to save. Which one would you choose? Cut to Canada where a similar gentleman had cut off all four fingers on one hand. After more than 24 hours of surgery with four highly specialized surgeons he left the hospital with all his fingers reatched and no bill. Health Care in the U.S. is a business and like all business's the object is to make as much money as possible, and if that means a few people have to die, so be it. I know that I'm not doing this film justice, but I think all Canadians should try to see this documentary. We have a conservative government in this country calling most of the shots, trying for a majority so they can control all the shots. I promise you that if they succeed in an election we will be hearing alot more about private health care and how it will save our system. In fact, it will probably help, just only those who can afford to pay for it. Those who can't pay, will end up like the American citizen's who right now as you are reading this, are being put in taxi cab's, by private hospital's when they can't pay for treatment, and dumped (literally) in hospital gowns on the street outside shelters. It just makes me sick.
Rev. Jerry Falwell is dead. Here are some of his greatest hits:
“AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals”
“Homosexuality is Satan's diabolical attack upon the family that will not only have a corrupting influence upon our next generation, but it will also bring down the wrath of God upon America.”
"It is God's planet - and he's taking care of it. And I don't believe that anything we do will raise or lower the temperature one point."
"God almighty does not hear the prayers of the Jew."
"I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen."(His belief of who was responsible for the 911 attacks)
He used our community and homophobia to rake in millions of dollars while he traveled around the world in a private jet spreading his hate.
I can't say I'm sorry he's gone.
How appropriate he died alone on his office floor.
Just as Julius Caesar was warned "beware the ides of March" so should we all. Just for clarification the ides of March actually falls on March 15th each year. The date that we all need to watch is March 19th. That is the day that Harper and his merry band of zealots bring down there budget. Its also most likely the day that Harper will engineer the fall of his government. Make not mistake, Harper will be the one behind any election call, he and the fanatics will blame it on the Liberals or maybe the NDP, but with the latest poll results in his favor, he wants an election now. Harper needs and wants a majority government so that he can radically change our country without the checks that a minority government provides. Its also not surprising that the Liberals have slipped slightly in the polls recently. After the bombardment of conservative attack ads that the party started showing recently. If these election type ads are not a sign of an election I don't know what is. Remember the outrage that the conservatives displayed when the Liberals showed there own attack ads during the last election, where's that outrage now? I guess it's different when the shoe's on the other foot. What a bunch of hypocrites. I thought conservatives where fiscally responsible? I can only imagine the millions spent on these commercials, some airing during the Super Bowl and American Idol two of the most expensive advertising slots on television. I think what frustrates me the most about the conservative party is the fact that they try to distance themselves from George Bush and the Republican party in the United States. Let me preface my comments with the following. I have traveled through a fair amount of the United States and have always enjoyed the time spent there. I have never had any negative experiences, and found Americans to be a very nice and helpful people. That said, there is a big difference between the American people and the American government. Harper is up in arms over the recent defeat of the extension of two anti-terror laws. One of the clauses in question allowed are government to detain any Canadian (you or I) for 3 days with only the suspicion of being involved in terrorist activities. This law was enacted by the Liberal part shortly after 9/11 and they were wise enough to included a clause that called for the expiry of the law if it was not ratified by Parliament every five years. I think that was quite a brilliant addition. For those of you who remember the political climate shortly after 9/11 it was terrifying. This law and similar ones enacted in the US were knee jerk reactions to a new perceived reality, but after five years and some sober second thought.... The Liberal party realizes that there is no need for this infringement on our basic human rights as Canadians and with the help of other opposition parties voted to allow this law to expire. You maybe wondering what brought on this rant. That is if your still reading, as this is one of the longest posts I have done lately. It's all because of Ann Coulter. Many of you may not recognize the name Ann Coulter,and if you don't your lucky she is a vile hateful woman who spreads her bigotry across the US and Canada. On Friday she was a speaker at Conservative Political Action Conference a meeting for most of the Republican hopefuls running for their parties nomination for President and she was her normal vile self.
As vile as she is, I expect it from her. The most disturbing part of this video is the crowds response. The laughing and clapping from the audience is quite terrifying and demonstrates the hate that conservatives are capable of. The fact that this woman constantly spews hatred and bigoted comments comes as no surprise, what does come as a surprise is that the Republican party invited her to speak knowing what she stands for. Of course on Monday all the Republicans running for President will come out denouncing her hate speech, and how she doesn't speak for them, yet they still invite her to talk at some of there most important gatherings. Actions speak louder than words. Stephen Harper is a good friend of George Bush and the Republican party. Just keep this video in mind even while Stephen Harper tries to distance himself from George Bush and the Republicans in the next election because they share the same values. Gerard Kennedy said it best:
"I want to beat Stephen Harper because I think his vision for Canada is a dangerous one, and I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think I could do it. The Conservatives have taken a page from the Republican playbook, working to divide this country and rule with fear."source
Divide the country and rule by fear....sounds like the last year of Politics in Canada doesn't it. Think twice before you cast your next vote.
I will admit that I am an awards show junkie. I love them all. The music awards shows are great especially The British Music Awards, there is always some group on the show that I have never heard before and can't wait to get there music. It was only a couple of years ago that I watched the Scissor Sisters perform there song "Take your Mama out" and instantly fell in love with that group.
Here is the video of the song. It was their first hit in '05.
Back to the point and the Grammy's last night.
Over the past summer I heard the Dixie Chicks new song "I'm not ready to make nice" while I was working out of town in Tweed. Now I had heard of the group before, they were really popular in the southern U.S., but they were country music singers and I hate country music, so I never really paid too much attention to them. After hearing the new song I had to find out more about them, it was just so good. Turns out that the lead singer Natalie Maines made what she thought was a relatively innocent comment at a concert "We're ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas". The fact that she made this comment on the eave of the iraq war ignited a huge firestorm of controversy and boycotts from right wing fanatics in the U.S. Here is the trailer for the documentary that was made on the scandal.
I can't wait for the movie to come out on dvd to watch it. So last night the Dixie Chicks came back with a bang winning five Grammy Awards, one in every category that the were nominated in. Including record, album, and song of the year.
Here is the song that helped launch their comeback.
I'm not ready to make nice.
I especially like the ling form the song that says, "forgive sounds good, forget I'm not sure I could", it just has a resonance with me that I will have to explain in some later rant.
Their newest hit is called "The long way round". It's another great song, but there is no denying that its an all out country tune. The last one was kind of pop with a bit of country thrown in so I could lie to myself and say it wasn't a real country song. Which brings me to me final comment of the night. The signs of aging. . Starting to appreciate and worse enjoy country music is yet another step along the path of aging.
It was one year ago on January 23, 2006 when the Canadian people said that they were tired with Liberal rule and had to pick someone else.
Thats how we got Stephen Harper and his merry band of Conservatives.
Lets take a look back at a year with Stephen Harper as Prime Minister.
First their is David Emerson the Liberal turncoat who Prime Minister Harper welcomed in to his Cabinet. After his party called Belinda Stronarch such charming names as Tramp and Slut for leaving the Conservative party for a party that more closely represented her political beliefs.
We can't forget about Michael Fortier who was Harper's campaign co-chair during the election. Who was and still is not an elected member of Parliament. (He had an opportunity to run in a few by-elections this year but declined, maybe because he couldn't win) This from the Prime Minister who promised that he would bring a new sense of accountability to Ottawa.
Then there was the Conservative "Environmental Plan" that had such lofty targets for reduction of pollutants some where in the year 2057... But wait when he realized that Canadians were not dumb enough to fall for his plan, he fired the Minister for the Environment, Rona Ambrose, and replaced her with John Baird. Who's new plan is the old Liberal initiative that Harper canceled when he took power.
There was also the cancellation of funding for Women and Aboriginals groups. Traditional strong supporters of the Conservative party....wait maybe that's where they went wrong.
Of course there was the whole same sex marriage debacle. An issue that was decided before he was even elected, was brought up again to appease his right wing fanatical voter base. Irregardless of the fact that he once again was attacking hard won rights of a minority.
Income Trust's remember that promise? Harper was not going to change the rules at all, and he did. Who lost the most? The people who could afford it the least our Seniors. Billions were lost overnight that many will never be able to recoup.
Alright thats enough for now this is starting to depress me.
We are fed up with hearing how everything is the Liberals fault, your in power now. You are now longer Canada's "new" government and it's time to take responsibility for your governments actions.
Mr. Harper please don't forget that you and your party were not elected based on your political beliefs, but the fact that a message had to be sent to the Liberal Party.
They seem to have got the message.
There will be an election before this year ends and I can't wait to send Mr. Harper a message of my own.
With the Gay Marriage debate in Canada finally put to rest, the debate is heating up among our friends. Last year while Mark and I were on a holiday with two other couples that we have been friends with for years, the marriage question came up. Okay I brought up the marriage question if were going to be honest. I wanted to see what the other couples were thinking. It was an even split. First of all a bit of history, Mark and I are the "newest" couple at 13 years the other two have been together about 17 years and 25 years approximately. I was really surprised by the fear that the discussion brought out. I have always seen myself as being married at some point, but it was only in the past few years that it became a legal option, and took on more relevance for me. I have discussed marriage with Mark to some degree and he really does not want to get married. I don't think that it has anything to do with our relationship, at least I hope not, but he always tells me that its just a piece of paper. I won't go into all the reasons that it's not just a piece of paper as that's not the point of this rant. Currently as a common law couple we share all the benefits of a married couple in the eyes of the law as well as our respective employers. The company that Mark works for and I used to work for is a very progressive employer and offered domestic partner benefits almost fifteen years ago. This was a time when there was no other legal option for gay and lesbian couples other than a common law situation. Now that there is an option, how long until companies start insisting that employees be legally married to continue to receive these same benefits. I don't think its a huge leap to make. Here is a link to an article from the U.S. where the trend has already begun. Just something to think about while were on the quest for equality.
The Liberal Leadership Convention is in full swing tonight. I have been sitting here watching the speech's of the top five candidates. There has been some very exciting speech's, and some that were not so good. Its very interesting to watch because the winner of tonight's leadership bid is almost guaranteed to be come Prime Minister, maybe not in the next election, but soon. I don't get a say in the matter, but I think that after watching for the last few months that the best person to lead the party and our country is Gerrard Kennedy.
No matter what happens over the next couple of days, it's very nice to see that Liberal party is renewing themselves, and preparing to do battle with Stephen Harper before he undoes 50 years of Liberal accomplishments.
If your interested in learning a bit more here are a few links for you.
Michael Richards apologized again for his racist rant today, on the Reverend Jesse Jackson's radio broadcast. If your not familiar with the controversy click here for an update. There are two things concerning this scandal that I want to talk about. The first thing. It seems quite ironic that Michael Richards first apology was introduced on the David Letterman Show by Jerry Seinfeld. Call me cynical.
I'll wait.
Jerry Seinfeld made something like 250 Million dollars from the original syndication of the Seinfeld series. I wonder why he wanted Michael Richards to apologize on national television.
It's all about money. If people stop watching Seinfeld because of Michael's hate speech, no more residuals for the stars.
The second thing I wanted to talk about is the use of hateful names and expressions.
There are many words that most politically correct people would never dare speak. Not unlike the N-Word used by Michael Richards.
A small aside. I work with a lot of young people (15-20 somethings).
Over the last few years I have witnessed the increase of popularity of the expression "That's so gay".
Most of the people that I work with that have used this comment really don't mean it as an insult to gay people, but just to demonstrate how they don't like something.
Another aside. I no longer feel the need to conceal my sexual orientation in my life. Personal or work.
Here is what I usually do when one of my staff makes this statement and I over hear it.
When I hear someone say "That's so gay" I look at them and in the most serious tone that I can muster I tell them how that I find that personally offensive. I don't really find it that offensive in most cases, because the people saying it don't mean it as an insult directed towards me or other gay people. It is really quite fun to watch their expression when they think that they have insulted me.
Whats the point?
Let me pause and wave my Pride flag high. Even though most people don't mean any harm or disrespect by using this comment, they don't realize the harm that they are truly causing.
Just by the fact of comparing something they don't like or disapprove of to being gay, their disrespecting all gay people.
My mission is to equate saying "That's so gay" to uttering the N-Word.
The Conservative government announced there new plan for the environment today and it’s called the “Clean Air Act”. Great news by 2050 we will cut green houses gasses by fifty percent. Yes folks that’s right 2050. In the meantime the conservatives will set “intensify based” targets. Basically this means as companies get bigger they can pollute more. There was the announcement that industry would have targets to meet in reducing smog, but they plan to spend the next four years discussing possible targets with the same industries that are polluting. There were no actual reduction amounts announced. Liberal leader Bill Graham put it quite well when he asked "How on Earth could they(conservatives) have laboured so long to now tell us there is not one single new action in this decade that will stop climate change or reduce air pollution?" The Conservative Party has always been about big business and not about the common person. Alberta, the site of the biggest oil reserves outside the Middle East, emits more greenhouse gases than any other province and emissions are poised to grow as companies boost production. Coincidentally Alberta is also the founding Province of what would become the Conservative party. Gilles Duceppe said that this plan “was written in Alberta and made in Washington.”
Looking back it seems like its been quite awhile since I have talked politics and with a the release of a new poll on Stephen Harper's approval, I figure its about time. First to the poll. Though at first glance its not great news, Stephen Harper and his Right wing Conservatives are starting to slide. If you also take in to account that the Liberal party hasn't even selected a new leader yet, it doesn't look so positive for Harper. You can almost guarantee that this puts on hold Harper's plans to call a spring election. I'm not going to get too excited, it is a tie after all, but Harper is losing even bigger ground in Quebec. If he ever hopes to win a majority government he must win over the province of Quebec which he seems to be failing at. The NDP and The Block remained basically unchanged with there support levels, but the Green Party was a bit of a surprise doubling their support. This might just be a result of Elizabeth May winning their leadership campaign, but it seems significant. So what has our Prime Minister been up to lately? It wasn't long ago that he announced that he would introduce his motion on gay marriage in the fall. The motion would basically ask if Parliament should reopen the debate on same sex marriage. Well were halfway through fall and we have yet to hear when this motion will be brought forward. Could this be the result of pressure from the Religious right within his party and the country to delay the motion? Why might he delay? Well simply because the motion is almost certain to fail with the make up of Parliament as it is today. Harper and his religious zealots are probably only going to get one more chance at a vote and they now want to wait until after the next election, when they hope that they will hold a majority in Parliament.
Remember during the last couple of election campaigns when the Liberals tried to portray Harper as scary and having a hidden agenda? What happens if they succeed in reopening the debate and taking away this basic right from Canadians? Most likely the first court challenge to it (and there will be many) will declare it unconstitutional. The only option that would be open to Harper then is to invoke the not with standing clause and don't think he wont. If your not familiar with this clause basically it allows the Prime Minister to ignore what the courts have ruled and do what ever he wants. I find this very scary.
Do you also remember Harper's 5 Priorities during the election? I hope you do because he certainly doesn't. I will admit he has worked on a few, but what about health care wait times. Arguably one of the biggest problems facing this country and it just disappeared off his political radar. Then there is John Baird, one of Harper's star MP's, who during a municipal election campaign has interfered in the light rail debate. Many people have argued that it's a long standing fight with current Mayor Chiarelli that prompted his interference. The Ethic's commissioner has been asked to investigate his actions and so far Harper has refused to act. Just another example of Harper's governments selective accountability. Is it not also scary that Harper has to muzzle his MP's. Rona Ambrose the Minister of the Environment held a press conference to announce Harper's "Environment Policy" in Vancouver and Harper flew to Vancouver to do all the talking. Maybe that's because Ambrose criticised the Liberals for spending 100 million dollars on carbon credits. When pushed for proof of this supposed spending spree Ambrose was forced to admit that she made a "mistake" and there was no purchase of credits. What was the big environmental announcement? Basically that in the future they would be announcing a policy.
One last comment before I quit for now. Harper announced 1 billion in spending cuts two weeks ago, even though we are running record surpluses. Who will be affected by these cuts? Non Conservative supporters. He cut the funds from some of the most vulnerable parts of our society. He cut literacy programs, Women's programs, aboriginal programs, and a court challenges program that has been used by many minority's including the gay community to fight for their basic human rights.
I will say that I don't read Newsweek Magazine on a regular basis but when I saw this I had to share. Newsweek publishes all over the world and the cover story may differ from area to area. Here is one the latest covers. In case you think that it has been altered I put the Newsweek link here so you can check for yourself. Seems that the photographer Annie Leibovitz is more popular than stories on Afghanistan. You be the judge.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
I find lately that I have started to become more political and feel the need to fight back when government or groups try to take my rights away. One of the most vocal groups out there trying to deny people their basic human rights is the American group called Focus on the Family. So when I stumbled across this site that details ways that you can get free material from Focus on the Family I had to share it. The idea is you order your free stuff, up to $100 and you help spend the millions of dollars that they have amassed. It looks completely legal, but I’m no lawyer so if you’re an adult make up your own mind.
Slightly off topic and you will see why I say slightly. Remember the facts of life? They just released the first two seasons of the show on DVD. I was very excited because it’s show I loved to watch growing up. So I googled the show to see what came up. I was more than a little surprised to find out what Lisa Whelchel had been up to the last few years.
Seems that a few years back (probably when acting jobs dried up) Lisa was born again. Now she is a mouthpiece for Focus on the Family, having written numerous books on the family and “proper” child rearing. I won’t go in to details on her many creative punishment techniques but shocking is putting it mildly. I think I was disappointed because my favorite character on the Facts of Life was always Blair the character she played, and then to find out she’s a right wing fanatic.
Do to scheduling conflicts (working to pay the mortgage) I will be missing the parade for the first time since 1993. Hope everyone has a great time and I will make sure that we are there next year. In the spirit of the day here is a great little commercial.
It’s not all great news, but it seems Harpers honeymoon is over with the Canadian people. Even with out a viable leader for the Liberal party, Harper's support is on the decline. This could really throw his plans for a majority government into jeopardy. It’s rumored that he will deliberately let his government fail this fall to force another election in hopes of garnering a majority while the Liberals are weakened. It would seem that Canadian’s do not agree with Harper’s view of a measured response to the Israeli/Lebanese crisis. As a side thought I’m thoroughly fed up hearing how everything that is going wrong in our country is the fault of the Liberal party. Mr. Harper you’re in charge now, and any blame falls on your shoulders, stop trying to pass the buck.
On the positive side were fighting back. I don’t know if I completely agree with the tactics of Know Thy Neighbor, but I give them credit for standing up for all of us. A very vocal religious group going by the name of Florida 4 Marriage has been amassing name on petitions to prevent gays and lesbians from obtaining the basic human right of marriage. Know Thy Neighbor thinks that if you believe strongly enough that you would deny a minority basic human rights that its fair game to have your name and address published. All the names are a matter of public record. I think, if you believe strongly enough in your stance against basic human rights, then you shouldn’t have a problem with your neighbors knowing how you feel.
What a publicity stunt. After days of inaction over Canadians stranded in Lebanon Prime Minister Harper took his military airbus to Cyprus to help bring back 100 Canadians today. Call me cynical but his spokes person said that most of his staff and all journalists were booted of the plane to make room for as many people as possible. Except one, there apparently was plenty of room to bring a long his staff photographer. It’s just very disappointing to hear things like this from someone who claimed that he would clean up our government. It’s shameful to use people fearing for their lives as propaganda. If the former Liberal government had shown such poor leadership Harper would have been all over them calling for resignations. It has been reported that the family killed over the weekend in the bombings tried all weekend to contact the Canadian embassy but it was closed. Where is the leadership? At least now we know what Harpers hidden agenda might be. If this is a “measured response” in his mind what is this man capable of?
