By walking out on a vote that is tied to a motion of non-confidence the Liberals have proven their point. The question remains: What is their point?

The Liberals have no opinion. If the Liberals do not believe in the Bill that is being voted on and they walk out they are saying something. And they are saying it very loudly and clearly. They are saying “Do what you will. Carry on. Be the government that we cannot be.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Through their inability to gain ground, popularity and position, even through all their posturing, they are Pandas. They cannot score and are slowly become extinct. The music is playing, the sex demonstration video is running and the keepers are watching in anticipation. Mei Sheng sees his mate, but rather munches on his bamboo shoots. The sex utopia created for Mei Sheng does not appeal to him. With every possible means by which to score, Mei Sheng prefers to watch all opportunities slowly fade away. It is unclear whether Mei Sheng realizes the importance of his action. By doing nothing except serving his own immediate interests Mei Sheng proves to be the poster child for erectile dysfunction.

Mei Sheng was a rising celebrity and was supposed to provide hope for the future of the Panada population. But the stress of this job and the inability to realize any potential led to a great depression which was only superseded by the vast and imminent demise in the stake Pandas would hold in the future. Mei Sheng appeared everywhere and with every word demonstrated his dysfunction and inability to secure a future for Panda-kind. And, for now, Mei Sheng prefers to leave the room rather than re-articulate his ineptitude.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
not a pataphor, just a hyper-extended metaphor.

Does a group whose stated purpose is to “promote a life without religion or superstition” fit into the list below? Is “promotion” the same as “proselytization?” In my opinion, if the Laurier Freethought Alliance were to remove the line referring to promoting their beliefs and stuck with what they argue their intention is, then there would be nothing to quibble about.

The group says they meet to discuss topics among themselves. Conversion, so it appears, is not their goal. As such this group should be an official Campus Club. As long as they aim to proselytize the group should not.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Aboriginal Students Awareness Accounting Association
Ace Laurier
Amnesty International
Anthropology Society
Archaeology Society
Association of Black Students

Badminton Club
Best Buddies
Biology Students’ Association
Boxing Club

Canadian South Asian Business Association
Catholic Campus Outreach
Chinese Students’ Association
Communications Students’ Association
Culinary Arts Club
Cricket Association

Drama Club
D R E A M S

East Meets West
E Biz
Economics Association
Equestrian Club

Film Production Club
Financial Math Association
Friends of Capitalism

German Culture Society
Global Studies Club
Greek Council

Habitat for Humanity
HawkSquad
History Students’ Association

Italian Club

Jewish Students’ Association

Kult of Gaming
Kayaking Association
Korean Students’ Association

Ladies Softball Club
L A S A L A S
Laurier Activist New Democrats
Laurier Campus Conservatives
Laurier Chinese Christian Fellowship
Laurier Campus Greens
Laurier Christian Fellowship
Laurier French Club
Laurier Liberals
Laurier Marketing Association
Laurier Musical Theatre
Laurier Ski & Snowboard Club
Laurier Students for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
Laurier Students Public Interest Research Group
Lifeguard Club

Music Association
Music Therapy Students’ Association
Muslim Students’ Association

Photography Club
Political Science Association
Psychology Society

Religion & Culture

S K I F F Y
S. O. C. A.
Society for Esoteric Exploration
Students Against Sweatshops
Students’ Association of Music Educators
Students Helping Students Association
Students of the Carribean Association

Tennis Club
Toastmasters Club
Triathlon Club

Ukranian Klub

World Affairs Society

X L E R A T E

Sudan, specifically Darfur, is a situation which needs to be dealt with and much talk and publicity has been circulated. Another issue which I would love to have as much time, care and devotion spent on in the media is Congo. Don’t forget Sudan, but remember Congo.

Since 1998 more than 5 million people have died as a result of the conflict. This is the highest death toll for any on-going conflict since WWII. (note: the Wikipedia entry only covers the “official war” and not the on-going conflict.) This is a rate of 45,000 per month.

A peace deal for the Eastern Congo has been signed between 20 militias and the government. But the question remains (as does the pessimism), will this last?

Doubts exist for a number of reasons. A large one exists because the issues do not necessarily regard ideological differences. Rather it is mostly about resources. Greed and not grievance. While the latter might feed into the former, that is not primarily the case.

Another reason is because the on-going conflict was propelled by Western corporations.

If you watched “Blood Diamonds” or understand the issue of blood diamonds, and you feel that it is wrong to wear diamonds from war-torn areas then maybe you should feel the same way about technology as you do about jewelry. Why? Because Congo had the greatest riches in resources out of all African countries. Diamonds, copper, coffee, cobalt, crude oil, gold, chromium and so on. Much of these are used everyday. Copper, cobalt, gold and chromium are used in electronics. Something from Congo likely is in your computer right now.

For example, North American companies have been mining coltan in Congo (I should add allegedly, because they deny it). “Coltan is the colloquial African name for columbite-tantalite, a metallic ore used to produce the elements niobium and tantalum.” (wiki-pedia). And is used in capacitors.

UPDATE: Tantalum is another resource found in Congo and used in capacitors. Tantalum capacitors are a key component for cell phones. 80% of tantalum is found in Africa and a majority of that is found in Congo.

Maybe it is time for people to stop thinking about the false economy of diamonds and look to issues which their daily choices control. Many will say they need their computer, I understand that. But the choices which are out of your hands are the ones you need to get your hands on.

Maybe the peace in Congo will last a day, maybe a week, maybe a hundred years, maybe it won’t. 45,000 were dying every month and over half were under 5 years old. They need medication. They need water. They need peace.

UPDATE 2: A link for those who might be more curious – MakeItFair.org

Conflicts with a larger death toll than the Second Congo War.

• World War II (1939-1945)
• An Shi Rebellion (756-763)
• Mongol Conquests (1207-1279)
• Manchu conquest of the Ming Dynasty (1616-1662)
• World War I. (1914-1918)
• Conquests of Timur (1369-1405)
• Russian Civil War (1917-1921)

Not only does everyone need water, but everyone needs clean water. Everyone should have access to water. No one should be denied water.

But what do we do with water in the West? We bottle it up and sell it in future litter and landfill filler. But even that does not bother me so much as does this.

What the hell? I enjoy going to the water slide as much as anyone could. But I don’t believe that $7 million dollars of public money should be spent on this so that a private owner can make money from it. The tax-payer waste aside, it is ridiculous that this is how we treat something as precious as water.

No matter how much the kids will piss in the pool, the water will be cleaner than that which much of the world enjoys. And it will likely have tighter restrictions and regulations than does bottled water.

This is a waste, a water park in Winnipeg funded by $7 million public dollars when there are problems funding the already existing capital projects? When there are other programs which could actually benefit the people of Winnipeg, specifically the poor? When a water-slide only provides an escape rather than a solution.

I am curious where this will be placed. I doubt it will be the North End or the West End. How about West Broadway, Burrows, or Spence? My guess it will be someplace like South Dale or South St. Vital. But no matter where it ends up, I bet it won’t really provide anything of meaning or consequence. It’s not like Winnipeg would become known as “Water World.”

Everything in the US ideology, it has been said, needs to be compressed to less than 3 seconds in order to allow for proper consumption. I think that is too generous. 3 words or 3 syllables. For example:

U – S – A
O – bam – a
Hil – ar – y
Huck – a – bee
Support – Our – Troops
Bring – Them – Home
Read – My – Lips
No – New – Taxes

But this was not always so. Consider the following Republican campaign film from 1940 urging Americans to stop the New Deal, lower taxes, stop government spending except where the military is concerned. Where the military is concerned, ahem, “Raise – Our – Taxes” or “Support – Our – Troops.” (Not quoting from the video, just thought it fit in, and it does.) If I am right, and I am, then you will agree that neither Americans or Canadians would really care much for the length of the video. Especially during prime-time or before a movie in the theatre.

Since using the embedding feature from the Internet Archives appears to be rather unworkable right now, I would suggest visiting the site and watching it there. Download it if you like, it is public domain.

When we relax and seek pleasure and entertainment, Mr. Taxes always joins us. And, we must pay for him too!

[flashvideo filename=http://www.archive.org/download/TruthAbo1940/TruthAbo1940.flv /]

Decadence, some may say, is a vice. I would argue that it is the grandest of virtues. Capitalists rely on decadence to keep the economy moving. An increase in spending may mean a shift towards poverty for some and enslavement to mortgage brokers for others. This is not necessarily the case for everyone. Even if this were true for everyone, the worst case scenario is that everyone lives a happy life, even though it is centered around the bank rather than society, community and family. Happiness is achieved, even if it is a faux-happiness. Happiness is, by definition, happiness.

The critique of Capitalism that it disenfranchises the poor, creates more poor, and harms everyone except the top five percent is unfounded. If Capitalism increases the so-called gap between the rich and the poor by creating more poor then (even though this is entirely false) it is doing a tremendous service to all of humankind. Tragedy, poverty, and death bring friends and family together. This creates community and binds people together. And other people, people that would be otherwise overlooked, are brought into the picture and completing it. People such as the local Loans Officer and the community Collections Personnel. These are, as Sesame Street aptly would define them, people in your neighbourhood.

Socialists want to devour this picture and demonize those within it. Socialists want to eradicate the cycles of supply and demand; of wage-earning and property-ownership. Socialists glorify and idolize the poor all the while vilifying and demonizing the rich. At the same time as they are worshipping the poor they are demanding that we all be rich together. To be rich, much like the very few they loath and despise.

Socialists state that Capitalism will crush under its own weight and then Socialism will fill the void. They, however, insist on preempting this process, which they declare is inevitable, by bringing out the imminent prematurely. Karl Marx believed in progress and process. Step-by-step we will achieve our goals, and society will achieve its goals. You Socialists must wait.

In the Interim, Socialist of every stripe should declare decadence for yourselves and for everyone for at least three reasons. Firstly, this would appease your Capitalist enemies and lull them into a false sense of security. Secondly, this would expedite the crush of Capitalism and make it a much grander and diabolical spectacle for everyone with a Hammer and Sickle branded on their backside. And lastly, this would make the journey to your utopian world that much more enjoyable.

“Climate Change” is a much discussed feature of decadence and is something which almost everyone can subscribe to. This, for everyone, is not a tragedy but the greatest achievement of humankind in all of history. Millions of people will die. Land and property will be destroyed. The world will erupt in warfare and many more will be lost. Economies will crumble. Empires will be eradicated. Through all of this all of humankind will be united as one force; United by a common misery and a common goal. The global community will, for once, actually act as a community.

The environment, once destroyed and on life-support, will be a masochist’s wet-dream, yet the remaining humans will rebuild and start anew. The problems of war and poverty will be removed due to their new-found commonalities. The world’s ecosystem will begin to repair itself and, as the world becomes stable once again, the people of earth will repopulate.

This is a call for everyone, everywhere, to purchase more goods, become a greater consumer and an even greater polluter. Use but don’t reuse. Reduce your recycling. And recirculate your income as quickly and fully as possible. No matter how things play out happiness is assured; the Capitalists are happy that the economy is moving; the Socialists are happy when they will see the cracks begin to appear; and the environment will erase all of our mistakes in one massive, impressive and very broad stroke, thereby ensuring future happiness.

This is a call for Decadence; the earth will not destroy itself, and Capitalism needs help reaching critical mass.

Year of Numbers

It is now twenty-oh-eight. I spell it out because that is how we have said the years prior to twenty-nought-nought. (i.e. nineteen ninety-nine). The number of the year is 5%.

I am referring, of course, to the GST. More precisely, I am referring to the amount that the GST tax cut will actually help the average Canadian. 5% of the help Canadians actually need is so close to zero percent that it does not actually do anything. 1-2% decrease in a sales tax helps nothing, unless you can afford to buy something worth $1,000,000 and thereby save between $10,000 and $20,000.

A Decrease in GST of 1%

If you spend $1 you will save $0.01
If you spend $10 you will save $0.10
If you spend $100 you will save $1
If you spend $1,000 you will save $10
If you spend $10,000 you will save $100
If you spend $100,000 you will save $1,000
If you spend $1,000,000 you will save $10,000

Child Poverty in Canada

Eight years after the deadline is significantly late. Child Poverty in Canada was to be eliminated 9 New Year’s days ago.

Do the math — 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008.

Why don’t we just re-write the page of definitions again, so that the history books will praise us and our generosity? Liberals and Conservatives alike are to blame for dropping the ball and letting everyone down.

Looking for the Root Cause.

I would suggest that the problem is largely systemic and the fact that the problem exists at all reflects on our society as a whole. Violence is should not be attributed to one cause or another cause, but to the linkages of societal patterns which manifest themselves down through generations. (Societal Linkages: Consider the fact that North Americans abhor the idea of raising a family in an apartment whereas this is not an issue for many Europeans.) Why is it that Montreal had no murders last year and Winnipeg has had two already this year? (I really want an answer for this one, especially from a Conservative.)

Physical violence makes the news and is sexy but when violence utilizes the sword of poverty people are appalled until commercial break. Then the fascination of the market place overwhelms.

Lowering tax rates for low income earners will not fix the problem. They do not have enough money to make the difference significant. And this goes throughout the provinces too. The NDP in Manitoba is not a socialist party, they are a Social-Democracy. (Whereas I would be a Democratic-Socialist.)

My Suggestion

Eliminate taxes for everyone who falls below the poverty line. Someone not able to afford adequate food, shelter, clothing and other essentials does not need to be taxed. The Basic Personal Amount should equal or exceed the poverty threshold.

I think I understand Dion now.

From the CBC

“We will choose our time about when to put the government down. It will not be tomorrow [Wednesday],” Dion said. “The key point is that we will not choose to have three elections in three-and-a-half years.”

Dion and the Liberals are tired of having to tell people how good the Liberals are. It must be tiresome to convince someone of something that is not true.

The Liberals seem to think that the best way to serve Canadians is to choose when enough is enough. And right now it appears as if we can handle more Stephen Harper.

Dion seems to think that being a politician is only about holding a seat and not at all about Good Governance.

That is unless Good Governance means letting policies you don’t agree become law because your thumbs are not done twiddling. Because, as we should all know, Good Governance is a choice.

I could blame Harper for the direction Canada is going but at least he is acting on his principles. Dion, not so much.

If Harper really wants an election all he has to do is outlaw thumb-sucking, nose-picking and mouth breathing.

Some highschool girl in Winnipeg was estolling the virtues of vegetarianism at school when she was being heckled which prompted her to drop out and become home school.

I say “RIGHT ON SISTER!” not because I agree with her. But I would not want anyone to have to go to a school where they have to listen to someone talk about vegetarianism.

I understand the argument. And I support her in her belief. but the classroom is not the place for such a discussion.

Maybe a lunch meeting where people choose to go. But not in a class where people have to listen. The students had a choice to take the propaganda but they did not have a choice in being in the class.

I am a Christian, but I would not be allowed to preach in a classroom. And even if I did, I would expect hecklers. Even if I provided something scientific, someone would counter that.

If someone can talk in class about how wrong it is to eat the flesh of a cow then I should have the right to speak on how right it is to eat of Christ’s body and drink of his blood.

Spineless piece of fucking shit. I can not believe this. Seriously, what a wimpy, no-balls, cowardly example of Liberal ineptitude Dion is proving to be.

Unless Dion has some secret card he is planning on playing, I can not understand what they are thinking.

To say that Canadians do not want an election is bullshit. And who cares what Canadians want? What is it that Canadians need? More Stephen Harper?

The subtext of the Throne speech is that the Conservatives will continue to be in power until someone does something. It is parliamentary inertia. I do not think that the Liberals are the equal and opposite force to stop the Conservatives.

The subtext to Dion’s speech is that the Liberals may not like Harper or his ideas, but they are good enough for now.

If Dion is seriously “very critical” of the Throne Speech then I want to see him actually do something or say something. What parts are you critical of? Is there anything you actually dislike? What is it that you like so much that you are willing to forget about the environment?