i.e., soviet-socialist bias
― obliquity of the ecliptic (rrrobyn), Saturday, 26 May 2012 14:29 (11 months ago) Permalink
― flopson, Sunday, 27 May 2012 22:59 (11 months ago) Permalink
I haven't read this--not sure that I will--but Ignatieff has a long piece in The New Republic:
http://www.tnr.com/article/books-and-arts/magazine/103336/michael-sandel-philosophy-liberalism-democracy-market-economy-morality-income-inequality
― clemenza, Tuesday, 29 May 2012 13:47 (11 months ago) Permalink
the title alone sounds really exciting.
― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 13:50 (11 months ago) Permalink
Spurned at home, he's taken all his charisma and magnetic star power back to America.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 29 May 2012 13:53 (11 months ago) Permalink
so where do we talk about this insane person on the news right now?
― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Thursday, 31 May 2012 03:26 (11 months ago) Permalink
The foot thing?
― everything, Thursday, 31 May 2012 08:51 (11 months ago) Permalink
Oh, let's not!
― poxen, Thursday, 31 May 2012 12:15 (11 months ago) Permalink
i like this take on the quebec protests (of course i do): http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/1207910--canadians-owe-a-debt-to-quebec-s-student-strikers
― obliquity of the ecliptic (rrrobyn), Friday, 8 June 2012 16:29 (11 months ago) Permalink
― flopson, Friday, 8 June 2012 18:29 (11 months ago) Permalink
grrrrrreat article, robyn
― flopson, Friday, 8 June 2012 18:32 (11 months ago) Permalink
We owe them for taking a shot at saving our national honour in the eyes of the world.
didn't bother reading after this line
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Saturday, 9 June 2012 10:44 (11 months ago) Permalink
it gets better!
― flopson, Saturday, 9 June 2012 15:54 (11 months ago) Permalink
also look at that tiny jpeg of him, he's old, forgive him one corny line about national honour!
― flopson, Saturday, 9 June 2012 15:55 (11 months ago) Permalink
For real? A last name and pretty face can do this?:http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/trudeaumania-part-deux-poll-suggests-trudeau-pm-liberal-173335433.html
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 19 June 2012 00:01 (11 months ago) Permalink
I meant to post about this last week, when Rae took a pass. There was disbelief/derision when I threw out Justin's name right after the election (you'll find it upthread); the day Rae took himself out, the CBC had a story that one of his main reasons was the prospect that Justin would run. (Also that the New Brunswick premier would run...I think it was the premier.)
Doesn't surprise me at all that JT would poll well.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 19 June 2012 00:10 (11 months ago) Permalink
If he did run, of course, it would get ugly fast. So I'm not saying he'd necessarily survive.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 19 June 2012 00:12 (11 months ago) Permalink
Holy shit: http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/06/22/ndp-out-ahead-of-the-tories-with-38-support-liberals-struggling-poll/
If the NDP can come close to maintaining this support in Ontario (a first?) and Quebec by the time of the next election, a majority government might be conceivable.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Saturday, 23 June 2012 18:04 (11 months ago) Permalink
Oh, I think they had these kinds of ON numbers in 1990-91 (which did not end well, of course).
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Saturday, 23 June 2012 18:06 (11 months ago) Permalink
about Trudeau - and i'll preface this by saying he may well be too young/inexperienced - i am pretty much impressed everytime he opens his mouth/tweets/whatever. he's bright and articulate (which even i'll admit our PM *can* be) (some of the time) and he can take a stance on an issue without being hyper-partisan or ott frothing at the mouth about things (which no one in our current ruling party seems to be able to do). i mean - the amount of people saying he'd pull them toward voting Lib right now might not be saying it for the same reasons as me (ie - the face and name thing may be the majority reason there) but this kid is no dud and i am growing more and more impressed by him.
― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Saturday, 23 June 2012 20:17 (11 months ago) Permalink
he can take a stance on an issue without being hyper-partisan or ott frothing at the mouth about things
I had the opposite impression tbh, thinking of things like this: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20120214/quebec-justin-trudeau-speratist-comments-120214/
but it's possible that I'm being totally unfair.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Saturday, 23 June 2012 21:11 (11 months ago) Permalink
i'd file that under "dumb" as opposed to hyper-partisan or mouth-frothing. but ya, he should have phrased that differently. but ASIDE from that one, he's normally pretty bright.
― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Saturday, 23 June 2012 21:33 (11 months ago) Permalink
Mea culpa from the Post!: http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/07/17/jonathan-kay-the-triumph-of-hard-headed-socialism-is-destroying-canadian-conservatism/
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Wednesday, 18 July 2012 01:36 (10 months ago) Permalink
will not read any further after the FIRST paragraph mentions the "boom years" of George W.
― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Wednesday, 18 July 2012 01:40 (10 months ago) Permalink
god WHY... WHY did i keep reading - they can't even mention Chretien's successful policies with out adding "with some intelligent tweaks, by Stephen Harper"... what FUCKING bullshit. of course they don't mention specifics; because they can't. the stuff that has paid off the most for Canada was fought tooth and nail by the goddamn cons.
― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Wednesday, 18 July 2012 01:48 (10 months ago) Permalink
alright. i'm calm now.
― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Wednesday, 18 July 2012 01:56 (10 months ago) Permalink
The voters may be starting to tire of the prime minister's bullying
is this a thing or the economist's usual hedging
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 18 July 2012 02:04 (10 months ago) Permalink
The NDP has been steadily polling ahead of the CPC in the past month or two if that's what you're asking: http://www.threehundredeight.com/p/canada.html
Thermo: I get what you're saying but come on, it's a big deal for a Post guy to say this in the first place! And the US economy only really crashed in 08, right? He wasn't giving W credit for any economic boom.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Wednesday, 18 July 2012 03:04 (10 months ago) Permalink
The Post is still a toilet and you're looking at shit.
― Ówen P., Wednesday, 18 July 2012 04:33 (10 months ago) Permalink
*smiles!*
― Ówen P., Wednesday, 18 July 2012 04:34 (10 months ago) Permalink
wow - check this one out:http://www.canada.com/news/Rahim+Jaffer+sought+secret+info+about+Canadian+satellite+technology+court+documents+words/6948597/story.html
― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Wednesday, 18 July 2012 04:36 (10 months ago) Permalink
Well guys, it finally happened -- Elections Canada sent me a letter saying that they're taking away my right to vote because I've been out of the country for a measly five years as of September. Ridiculous and unacceptable. Five years is such a stupidly short and arbitrary amount of time for them to decide that a person isn't invested enough in the country to be allowed to vote... as if they have the right to make that decision in the first place.
― salsa shark, Friday, 3 August 2012 18:05 (9 months ago) Permalink
:(. You're still a citizen but you can't vote? That sucks.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Saturday, 4 August 2012 03:22 (9 months ago) Permalink
Yeah! I'm like only a half citizen now.
― salsa shark, Saturday, 4 August 2012 14:09 (9 months ago) Permalink
Salsa, did the news of your status change arrive via robocall?
― doug watson, Saturday, 4 August 2012 15:32 (9 months ago) Permalink
Seriously, is this policy available online?
yeah that's ridiculous! you still have a passport and are canadian! i guess you don't pay cdn taxes though... eesh
― obliquity of the ecliptic (rrrobyn), Saturday, 4 August 2012 16:17 (9 months ago) Permalink
LOL, robocall. The 'policy' is apparently part of the Canadian Elections Act, though I have no idea how it was ever passed since goes against the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
I think the issue of taxes is problematic, a lot of people see it as being wound up with the right to vote but they forget (or don't realise) that there are Canadians living in Canada who don't pay taxes for various reasons -- but nobody would say they're unworthy of a vote (well that's not true, some people probably do). But it's really a separate issue, imo, paying taxes doesn't make a person a citizen.
More info here, anyway: http://www.letcanadiansvote.com/
It feels esp brutal when you compare it to how other countries allow people to vote. I mean, I'm allowed to vote in UK elections and I'm not even a citizen here (yet), and Britishes living abroad are given 15 yrs to keep voting. France and I think a few other countries have even created extra seats where the elected members are chosen by people living abroad. The weirdest one to me is that apparently American citizens who have never even lived in the US (people with citizenship through parents) can vote in their federal elections, depending on the state their parents are eligible to vote in. And it's not like I plan on staying away forever...
― salsa shark, Saturday, 4 August 2012 18:34 (9 months ago) Permalink
anyone got any good reads on the provincial election? ive been out of town and out of the loop for weeks and need to catch up
― reductio ad burzum (flopson), Monday, 6 August 2012 23:19 (9 months ago) Permalink
Basically everybody I know dislikes all 3 parties. Expect record low voter turnout.
If I had to guess I'd say it's probably going to be a PQ minority government, but it's gonna be close so who knows really.
― aspiring barkitect (silverfish), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 01:04 (9 months ago) Permalink
PQ minority was my prediction as well. That might well be OK. I don't think a PQ minority would be very aggressive about sovereignty?
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 01:32 (9 months ago) Permalink
(But yeah, I find it really hard to get behind any QC provincial party.)
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 01:52 (9 months ago) Permalink
I don't think that even a pq majority government would be particularly aggressive about sovereignty. So there's no chance a minority government would be.
― aspiring barkitect (silverfish), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 01:59 (9 months ago) Permalink
why doesn't quebec vote for the ndp provincially? does the provincial party just lack credibility?
― running like a young deer (symsymsym), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 02:10 (9 months ago) Permalink
Because there isn't a provincial ndp party in quebec
― aspiring barkitect (silverfish), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 02:13 (9 months ago) Permalink
For whatever reason (that someone else can probably elucidate better than I could), the unions and activist groups - the constituencies that would support the NDP anywhere else in Canada - have traditionally got behind the PQ, at least since the 70s, as I understand it. Could a social democratic federalist party be at all feasible on the provincial level?
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 02:19 (9 months ago) Permalink
quebec solidaire?
― reductio ad burzum (flopson), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 16:12 (9 months ago) Permalink
Quebec Solidaire is sovereignist, but they are probably what comes closest to a provincial ndp party.
― aspiring barkitect (silverfish), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 17:08 (9 months ago) Permalink
o sorry federalist gotcha
― reductio ad burzum (flopson), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 17:26 (9 months ago) Permalink
See, this is the sort of thing that doesn't make me feel so great about the PQ:http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/08/07/quebec-votes-2012-day-7-promises.html?cmp=rss&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
(Where in QC is it very hard to be served in French btw?)
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 22:23 (9 months ago) Permalink