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By Stephen Elliott-Buckley, on May 14, 2013, at 6:22 pm Here we are: only hours to go until the polls close.
What will be the next BC government?
What are your hopes, fears, dreams, goals?
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Please add in your comments below
What are your seat predictions? What do you think will be the final popular vote results? Will Christy Clark lose her seat? If the Liberals lose, will Christy Clark (a) resign tonight, (b) vow to rebuild the party, or (c) take time to reflect on her future?
/*< ![CDATA[ */ setTimeout(function(){live_blogging_poll("6029");}, 15000) /*]]>*/
15.49
OK, final popular vote:
NDP: (Read more…)
By The Ranting Canadian, on May 5, 2013, at 7:06 pm
I just saw that today, May 5, is the birthday of Karl Heinrich Marx (1818-1883), the German economist, historian, journalist and philosopher. I post this video in honour of the occasion. It’s a bit silly, and I’m not sure of the intentions of the creators, but I’ve been waiting for an appropriate occasion to share it.
I haven’t read any Marx in a very long time, other than passages that other people quote, but his writings are certainly still relevant today, especially in this era of economic collapse, ongoing exploitation of workers, growing inequality and top-down austerity measures.
Marx wasn’t (Read more…)
By The Ranting Canadian, on May 5, 2013, at 3:14 pm
Here’s my final photo from the International Workers Day rally in downtown Toronto on May 1, 2013. I couldn’t resist snapping a pic of this “Bourgeois” tour bus parked near the starting point of the Mayday march. Obviously I wasn’t the only one who saw the dry humour in this, because someone else posted a photo of that bus here: http://toronto.mediacoop.ca/story/mayday-toronto-2013/17365
By The Ranting Canadian, on May 5, 2013, at 2:45 pm
Toronto Mayday 2013 – Photo set 3
These are various photos of the International Workers Day march in downtown Toronto during the evening of May 1, 2013. A wide range of groups, individuals, causes and ideologies were represented — under the common banner of working class power.
By The Ranting Canadian, on May 5, 2013, at 2:23 pm
Toronto Mayday 2013 – Photo set 2
Two current issues that were emphasized at the 2013 International Workers Day rally in Toronto were the deaths of hundreds of garment workers in a recent factory collapse in Bangladesh (and the continuing systematic exploitation of all sweatshop workers in that country) and the Porter Airlines fueller strike, which has been going on since January 10.
One company that has a contract with the Bangladeshi factory that collapsed is Joe Fresh, which is owned by Loblaw, which is owned by the Weston family, which is one of the richest families in the world. (Read more…)
By The Ranting Canadian, on May 5, 2013, at 12:53 pm
Toronto Mayday 2013 – Photo set 1
These pictures are from the starting point of the International Workers Day rally in downtown Toronto in the early evening of May 1, 2013. The trees and sunlight in these five photos highlight the other, much older, aspect of Mayday: nature, rebirth and the arrival of spring. It was a great night with warm weather and no trouble (as far as I know). Fortunately the police behaved themselves, unlike in Montreal and some other cities.
By The Ranting Canadian, on April 27, 2013, at 2:53 pm
It’s April 27, 2013: a few days after my blog’s first anniversary, the weekend of Rebelfest in Hamilton, and a few days before International Workers’ Day (aka Mayday, aka the real Labour Day). Additionally, April 28 is International Day of Mourning for workers who were killed or injured on the job. A lot has happened since my last post, and here are just a few tidbits.
● Rita MacNeil – singer, political activist and sex abuse survivor – died on April 16 at the age of 68. The down-to-earth artist was always on the (Read more…)
By The Ranting Canadian, on April 8, 2013, at 7:09 pm
In grade 9 or 10 French class, we had an assignment to write a page of text in French and accompany it with some graphics. I chose to write about the French Revolution, and for the picture, I cut out magazine photos of Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan and Brian Mulroney and used them to represent the French aristocrats getting their heads cut off by guillotines. I learned much later that my teacher reported this to the vice-principal, concerned that I was disturbed and violent. She was way off base, and when the vice-principal contacted my parents, they told him so.
. . . → Read More: The Ranting Canadian: In grade 9 or 10 French class, we had an assignment to write a…
By The Ranting Canadian, on April 8, 2013, at 5:54 pm
What a wonderful day! Maggie Fucking Thatcher is finally dead, dead dead! I heard the news while getting ready for work this morning, and I was in a good mood all day!
I have bookmarked a bunch of anti-Thatcher videos just for this occasion. I will start off with the classic Elvis Costello song “Tramp the Dirt Down”. It’s a beautiful song about an ugly human being. It includes the brilliant lines:
Well I hope I don’t die too soon I pray the lord my soul to save Oh I’ll be a good boy, I’m trying so hard to behave (Read more…)
By The Ranting Canadian, on April 7, 2013, at 3:39 pm RBC declares war against Canadian workers:
Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) is firing dozens of its employees in Canada and replacing them with lower-paid temporary foreign workers. RBC is forcing their soon-to-be-unemployed Canadian employees to train their own replacements. RBC made $7.5 billion in profits in 2012. Also about a year ago, they increased their service fees.
The RBC website insanely claims that it is:
One of Canada’s “Best 50 Corporate Citizens” One of Canada’s “50 Most Socially Responsible Corporations” One of the “Best Workplaces in Canada” Canada’s 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures
Don’t be confused into believing
. . . → Read More: The Ranting Canadian: RBC declares war against Canadian workers
By The Ranting Canadian, on April 5, 2013, at 10:47 pm
Ever since the world economy started crashing in 2008, a lot of news has been uncovered about Ponzi schemes, financial institutions ripping people off, crooked government bailouts, banks laundering money for gangs and terrorists, large-scale tax cheating, money hidden away in offshore numbered accounts, thefts from pension funds, politicians stealing tax money for partisan or personal uses, and other types of white collar crime.
Despite all of these offences against decent people who play by the rules, there has been very little punishment for the criminals and very little compensation for the victims. That is because white collar criminals and (Read more…)
By The Ranting Canadian, on March 27, 2013, at 7:28 pm Wife of Bank of England governor turns herself into a guillotine-magnet:
Diana Carney – wife of the new Bank of England governor (and former Bank of Canada head) – had a Mary Antoinette moment on March 25, 2013 when she whined on Twitter that she and her husband were having trouble finding suitable housing in London.
British taxpayers are giving her husband Mark Carney an annual salary of £624,000 (more than $959,000 CAD) plus an annual housing allowance of £250,000 (more than $384,000 CAD). No doubt he is also getting a bunch of other benefits and privileges. This is
. . . → Read More: The Ranting Canadian: Wife of Bank of England governor turns herself into a guillotine-magnet
By Guest Contributors, on March 27, 2013, at 12:00 pm The Role of The State in Gentrification, the Housing Crisis, and its Ability to Relieve or Maintain the Current Situation
by Rachel Goodine
Pidgin, a new fine-dining restaurant located on Vancouver’s Downtown East Side, moved in to the neighbourhood on February 1 of this year, prompting plenty of controversy. It’s located right off of East Hastings on Carrall Street, directly across from the notorious Pigeon Park. Many who do not live in the neighbourhood regard Pigeon Park as a drug haven, however for many residents the park is known as a gathering spot that hosts various festivals and street markets (Read more…)
By The Ranting Canadian, on March 21, 2013, at 8:36 pm Interview with Glen “the Hamilton Kid” of the Steeltown Spoilers:
The above link is to an interview with Glen “the Hamilton Kid” of the punk band Steeltown Spoilers.
Glen talks about his band of course, but he also discusses the economic decline and political destruction of the city he loves. The interview reveals some real insight into to the economic and cultural situation in Hamilton since the traitor Brian Mulroney started the ball rolling on globalization, and subsequent Liberal and Conservative governments incrementally continued the class war against Canada’s workers. He speaks in plain language and tells it like
. . . → Read More: The Ranting Canadian: Interview with Glen “the Hamilton Kid” of the Steeltown Spoilers
By Stephen Elliott-Buckley, on March 11, 2013, at 4:00 pm
Donald Smith was protesting a sign at Glenmore Landing in Calgary’s southwest Sunday that bans political demonstrations. [CBC]
The privately owned parking lot near the prime minister’s constituency office asserts that protesting is prohibited. On the surface, this looks like the prime minister is impeding the constitutional rights of expression and peaceful assembly.
I’m sure he finds this all quite convenient, but a large hidden issue in this is the privatization of public space.
Can I prohibit protest in a space I own? Possibly.
Can I lament at the amount of space deemed to be public [parking lot, shopping mall] (Read more…)
By Stephen Elliott-Buckley, on March 8, 2013, at 1:00 pm Men, especially white men, sleep too easily at night while women earn 70 per cent of what we do. Secretly, I think we’d prefer to not have to talk about this much. Sure, March 8 and December 6 are days we set aside for reflecting on this, but, most likely, we don’t want to be bothered with it every other day of the year. Plus, the NHL is back.
One conversation I have never had, goes like this. I’m in the lunchroom at work with a group of men discussing workplace realities. The topics drifts around to how women in (Read more…)
By Stephen Elliott-Buckley, on March 7, 2013, at 6:35 pm Hugo Chavez died of cancer on March 5, 2013. He represented an ideological pushback against neoliberal globalization. He pursued a progressive hemispheric trade agenda. He raised oil royalties dramatically to improve the social capacity of people in and around Venezuela. He revolutionized and democratized Venezuela’s constitution. He attracted the ire of American imperialists who supported an amateurish, botched coup. And while we never saw the formation of Cubazuela or some kind of socio-economic cooperation that would elevate Haiti out of its status of hemispheric whipping boy, though that may be on its way, his legacy begins this week.
Thanks (Read more…)
By Travis, on March 3, 2013, at 3:57 am
The long version is here. Apparently Mr.. Waldmann was tricked into reading Matt Yglesias on monetary policy. Waldmann’s observation goes something like this in short from:
Hey Matt you have been consistently wrong in your predictions on the power of monetary policy, if fact your predictions have been so wrong the only prediction you should make is that your predictions on the power of monetary policy will be miserably fucking wrong because your theory is miserably fucking wrong. And do not ever trick me into reading your miserably fucking wrong predictions again.
Ok so that was almost (Read more…)
By The Ranting Canadian, on February 17, 2013, at 12:03 pm
Inspired by news stories of the last week or so:
What do the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the Vatican, the Canadian senate, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Conservative Party of Canada have in common?
They are antiquated, dysfunctional, corrupt, racist, sexist, homophobic, elitist, perverted, deceitful, abusive, secretive, right-wing, hierarchical, criminal-like organizations that are mostly controlled by bigoted, old, rich, white, authoritarian men, yet are mostly funded by lowly, non-wealthy working people – many, or most, of whom naively hold faith that those institutions are designed to serve the general public.
Those state-sanctioned gangs have directly and
. . . → Read More: The Ranting Canadian: Inspired by news stories of the last week or so:
What do the…
By The Ranting Canadian, on February 10, 2013, at 11:07 am
Here’s some 2009 footage of Canadian Conservative Senator Mike Duffy on CBC Newsworld’s Power & Politics. The title given to the Youtube video is 100% accurate: “a Drunken Mike Duffy attacks the Canadian Press, elected Members of Parliament”.
I remember seeing it the first time it aired. Duffy was attempting to justify massive overspending by thieving, gluttonous, patronage-appointed senators, including himself. I don’t recall the Harper Conservatives ever doing anything to crack down on this flagrant misuse of taxpayer dollars. On the contrary, the problem seems to have gotten worse.
Duffy is such a crooked, self-entitled, lying piece of crap!
By The Ranting Canadian, on February 9, 2013, at 11:47 pm
Any fool who still says “better dead than red” in this day and age should have to prove it.
Try both options and get back to us.
By Travis, on February 1, 2013, at 1:40 am
Far be it from me to cast a pox on what has been one of the only few bright lights in the last few years but premises matter. In Krugman’s recent Looking for Mr. Goodpain he presents a reasonable derision of those pushing austerity in the face of zero evidence it actually works to restore growth. Unfortunately he starts badly:
Three years ago, a terrible thing happened to economic policy, both here and in Europe. Although the worst of the financial crisis was over, economies on both sides of the Atlantic remained deeply depressed, with very high
. . . → Read More: Relentlessly Progressive Political Economy: Looking for Dr. Goodpain? Check the Reflection in the Mirror Dr. Krugman
By Stephen Elliott-Buckley, on January 30, 2013, at 12:00 pm
Should academic work be locked up like Disney[tm] artifacts?
I’ve been quite inspired by this very good analysis of the context surrounding Aaron Swartz’s suicide.
As news spread last week that digital rights activist Aaron Swartz had killed himself ahead of a federal trial on charges that he illegally downloaded a large database of scholarly articles with the intent to freely disseminate its contents, thousands of academics began posting free copies of their work online, coalescing around the Twitter hashtag #pdftribute.
via How academia betrayed and continues to betray Aaron Swartz « The Berkeley Blog.
The willingness of scholars
. . . → Read More: Politics, Re-Spun: Aaron Swartz, Intellectual Property and the Public Good
By Guest Contributors, on January 28, 2013, at 12:00 pm By Rachel Goodine
The FSAs, or Foundation Skills Assessment tests, administered annually in British Columbia since 2000 to students in grades 4 and 7, are once again under way. They began on January 14 and will continue until February 22, 2013. In the meantime, the debate is on.
For many, it’s simple: How is testing our children and being notified of their progress a bad thing?
Well, that’s the problem. The BC Liberals are hoping the public will buy this overly simplistic defence of the FSAs. The Ministry of Education’s webpage states the tests will give a “snapshot” of student
. . . → Read More: Politics, Re-Spun: Foundation Skills Assessment: Another Dirty Trick
By The Ranting Canadian, on January 27, 2013, at 1:16 am
Here are a few photos from the January 25, 2013 protest against the incompetent, unethical, non-progressive Ontario Liberal Party, outside their leadership convention in downtown Toronto.
Hopefully our new temporary premier, Kathleen Wynne, will admit to the many mistakes that she and the Dalton McGuinty government have made, and will work tirelessly to repair the damage that they have inflicted on the province. If she is serious about turning this have-not province around, she and her minority government will cooperate with Andrea Horwath and the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP), and follow their advice.
Also, hopefully Ontario’s teachers and other
. . . → Read More: The Ranting Canadian: Here are a few photos from the January 25, 2013 protest against…
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