Which one was it, Hopenhagen or Brokenhagen?

Well, I’ve been back from Copenhagen, Hopenhagen, Brokenhagen (choose your own) for 10 days now. I can’t decided whether progress was actually made there and am taking advice from where ever it is available. Most pundits choose the Brokenhagen route although there are a few who see how politics actually works and consequently prefer Hopenhagen.

There are an unprecidented number of us who actually recognize the parlous state of the planetary ecosystem or Gaia and have no time for the baby steps that reality dictates. No major shift in culture has ever occured fast enough whether it be slavery, womens emancipation, racial equality, gay liberation, animal rights, or……  choose your own.

As with these other issues many will suffer and these problems will not be resolved completely, ever. All we can hope for with the Climate Crisis is that we avoid the worst – human survival. If we continue at the present pace and positive feedback effects kick in then the worst will happen. Things are changing incredibly rapidly if we step back a little and try to see how far we have come in a relatively short time.

About a month ago I heard Derrick Jensen speak on a video link. He asked us to consider whether there is anything we would be prepared to die for – this is the level of comittment that must emerge. I don’t think I have that sort of courage but hopefully there are some Nelson Mandelas, Martin Luther Kings, Chico Mendezs, Gandhis, Emily Pankhursts, etc. out there who do and will lead us.

Which one was it, Hopenhagen or Brokenhagen?

Statement by Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff on the deaths of four Canadian soldiers and Canadian journalist Michelle Lang in Afghanistan

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff made the following statement today regarding the deaths of four Canadian soldiers and Canadian journalist Michelle Lang in Afghanistan:

Statement by Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff on the deaths of four Canadian soldiers and Canadian journalist Michelle Lang in Afghanistan

Statement by Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff on the deaths of four Canadian soldiers and Canadian journalist Michelle Lang in Afghanistan

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff made the following statement today regarding the deaths of four Canadian soldiers and Canadian journalist Michelle Lang in Afghanistan:

Statement by Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff on the deaths of four Canadian soldiers and Canadian journalist Michelle Lang in Afghanistan

Statement by Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff on the deaths of four Canadian soldiers and Canadian journalist Michelle Lang in Afghanistan

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff made the following statement today regarding the deaths of four Canadian soldiers and Canadian journalist Michelle Lang in Afghanistan:

Statement by Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff on the deaths of four Canadian soldiers and Canadian journalist Michelle Lang in Afghanistan

Little runaway

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.
~John Muir

funny how getting out and about and staying away from the dam news makes a person so much happier. Could the lowered anxiety level be from the wandering around with the ghosts and the dead of Barkerville?

Could the lessening of tension and stabbing pain in the stomach be a by product of not delving too deeply into the newest maneuver by Canada’s despot to suspend Parliament thereby running away from the scandal of tortured Afghanis, giving them time to stack the Senate and attend the Olympics…or is the pain free stomach just from staying away from wheat and gluten products?

Indeed it seems to becoming all too obvious that walking around in the outdoors soaking up the vitamin D taking a photo here and there is medicinal for the mind body and soul.

And if this is indeed the case that people are healthier and happier if they just go about their business and not worrying about the antics of a bunch of losers in their ivory towers who are running the country then we are really in trouble for without the unrest of the people, without the outrage of the people the door is left wide open for abuse of power, tyranny and a government who governs without care of who they are governing for.

And Heaven Help us all here in Canada if the present leadership continues to govern like it has done with a minority government and Saints have mercy on our souls if they get a majority.

This party will not take its position based on public opinion polls. We will not take a stand based on focus groups. We will not take a stand based on phone-in shows or householder surveys or any other vagaries of pubic opinion.
Stephen Harper

Little runaway

Cynicism and Calculation

The Prime Minister’s latest move, to pick up the phone and ask the Governor General to shut down parliament until early March, proves once again his extreme cynicism and mastery in political calculation.  As commentators, from Jeffery Simpson, to John Ibbitson, to Andrew Coyne have pointed out, there is no excuse for this affront to democracy.  But as Ibbitson noted, Harper is probably right in guessing that in the week between Christmas and New Year, on New Year’s Eve, not enough people will be outraged.  As Kady O’Malley pointed out, you cannot even dream up the talking points for this one.  Parliament gets in the way of Olympic games?  Athletes will find Question Period an artificial performance enhancer?

There is no precedent for this.  Amazingly other nations have managed to have government continue during the Olympics. PMO flak Dimitri Soudas, last seen in Copenhagen  haranguing and wrongly accusing Stephen Guilbault of a prank that embarrassed Canada, announced that prorogation was necessary as the government’s economic approach required “recalibration.” “Recalibration”–  there’s a word to conjure. Obviously having Parliament in session would exude vibrations  interfering with the total stillness required for recalibration.   As Coyne said, this is “bilge.”

What now?  We need to expect the unexpected. We need to kick and scream at this insult to democracy — because that is what it is.  We need to support each other, efforts by other parties, non-political leadership. Wherever a clear and compelling call for democracy emerges, that voice must be supported.

When I wrote my last book (”Losing Confidence- Power, politics and the crisis in Canadian democracy”) I thought we had seen the most outrageous abuse of our system of government. But this is worse. Harper’s move this week is premised on the assumption that enough Canadians simply do not care about democracy or the role of Parliament.   It presumes that Parliament can be shuttered for trivial political reasons;  that legislation, committees, government accountability, a climate plan, progress on pensions, the investigation of the alleged cover-up in the treatment of Afghan civilians and other detainees — that none of that matters enough to have consequences for Mr. Harper.

In the interests of democracy, let’s hope this time his cynicism has miscalculated.

Cynicism and Calculation

Message from the Conservative Party of Canada. (A Creative Revolution)

To all Canadians: Pretty much the same as the last time….Isn’t it? We don’t need no stinking parlimentary democracy…. Why do they hate Canada? (BTW. Feel free to use wherever, whenever…. although many of us got this message a long time back…..)

Source : A Creative Revolution (subscribe)

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Message from the Conservative Party of Canada. (A Creative Revolution)

Here we go again….

I remember the first time I heard the word prorogue.  Stephen Harper was going to Rideau Hall because he was intimidated by the idea of a coalition of the Liberals, NDP, and Bloc.  Now, he is trying to do it again.  He wants to prorogue parliament, so that we can focus on the Olympics.  He wants to have three months where his government does not to think about votes on legislation, matters of confidence, and question period.  He does not want to answer for his actions or inactions.  He wants to have political immunity.

This cannot happen.  We need to get active and protect our democracy and stay true to our platform from the past regarding real democracy.  Let’s write letters and call Rideau Hall and anyone else who will listen, that this is wrong!

Thoughts?

 

 

Here we go again….

Harper’s prorogation shuts down Parliament to perpetuate cover-up of Afghan detainee controversy

The decision to prorogue is about one thing and one thing only – avoiding the scrutiny of Parliament at a time when this government is facing tough questions about their conduct in covering up the detainee scandal.

Harper’s prorogation shuts down Parliament to perpetuate cover-up of Afghan detainee controversy

Harper’s prorogation shuts down Parliament to perpetuate cover-up of Afghan detainee controversy

The decision to prorogue is about one thing and one thing only – avoiding the scrutiny of Parliament at a time when this government is facing tough questions about their conduct in covering up the detainee scandal.

Harper’s prorogation shuts down Parliament to perpetuate cover-up of Afghan detainee controversy

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