The Organic Intellectual [Tribute to an Idea...]

[Hogwash] On The Minister of Natural Resources Open Letter to Canadians

2012-01-10T12:03:00.000-05:00

Yesterday the Minister of Natural Resources, Joe Oliver, published an open letter to Canadians on the Ministry's Press Room Website. It was also published on numerous official government websites, and throughout the day sound bites were played on the news in which the Minister essentially claimed thus: The Canadian regulatory review system (in particular the review of Enbridge's proposed

[Criminality] Problems Upholding Our Own Environmental Laws

2011-12-13T13:02:00.003-05:00

Two of today's leading headlines on CBC News read as follows: May Accuses Harper of Breaking Law Over Kyoto Environment Canada Struggling to Enforce Law The basic finding in the first article is that the Harper government is violating domestic law by withdrawing from the Kyoto Protocol without any kind of parliamentary debate or discussion, since the Protocol was ratified by the House of

[Occupation] Rethinking Grotesque Inequality

2011-10-19T23:48:00.001-04:00

I went out on Saturday to support the Occupy Ottawa movement. Notwithstanding the slow decision-making process of the protesters (in order to ensure all ideas were heard and to make the most of fairness and democratic order), it was interesting and inspiring to be taking part in a movement which is essentially about social and economic justice. Despite all the ridiculous rhetoric from Canadian

[Hack Job] Conservatives Take Out The Knife

2011-09-22T11:00:00.001-04:00

This is what happens when we allow the Conservatives to steal absolute power: Not only do they gut valuable public services, but through corporate tax cuts limit the government's revenue stream in the first place. It's the beginning of a downward spiral towards high unemployment, degraded public services, and minimal public revenues. A vote for the Conservatives is a vote for this triad of hell

[Sit In] Anti Tar Sands Demonstration

2011-09-22T10:54:00.002-04:00

Last month thousands of social justice and environmental activists organized a sit-in in Washington DC in front of the White House to ask the Obama administration not to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. A group of activists in Canada is now organizing a similar event here in Ottawa, scheduled for Monday, September 26th. Check out the details at OttawaAction.ca

[Trickery] Turning a Minority of Votes into a Majority of Seats

2011-05-04T13:15:00.000-04:00

Ma-jor-i-ty [muh-jawr-i-tee, -jor-] –noun, plural -ties. 1. the greater part or number; the number larger than half the total (opposed to minority): the majority of the population. 2. a number of voters or votes, jurors, or others in agreement, constituting more than half of the total number. Like any magic trick, it's based on deceiving and tricking the faculties of the audience's mind. The

[Dialogue] Advertorials and Objectivity

2011-04-29T16:43:00.001-04:00

The following is from an exchange I've been having with Alternatives, a leading environmental magazine in Canada that brands itself as part popular mag, part academic journal. I initiated my first letter after discovering an 'advertorial' for Suncor in the November 2010 issue of the magazine. The magazine has published two shortened versions of my letters. My words in green. Dear Editors, I was

[Recommendation] Required Reading

2011-03-23T12:24:00.001-04:00

With the Conservative budget likely to be brought down today by the opposition parties it seems we are headed for a spring election. As we prepare for a new political reality in Ottawa, one required reading is a compilation of essays edited by Teresa Healy on behalf of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The 47 contributors detail Harper's numerous attacks on democratic governance, his

[Strategizing] Fighting Sarah Palin's Conception of 'Sound Science'

2011-03-16T12:22:00.000-04:00

In December 2009 Sarah Palin wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post titled "Sarah Palin on the Politicization of the Copenhagen Climate Conference", where she basically argued that the USA should boycott the international climate change negotiations because the science on climate change wasn't 'credible' (she doesn't deny the existence of climate change; she merely doesn't believe humans play any

[Video] Making sense for more than four decades...

2011-03-10T19:18:00.003-05:00

The makers of Mad Men weigh in on the future of high-speed rail in America. Enjoy the clip!

[Sympathy] A Very Sad Day for Wisconsin

2011-03-10T12:40:00.001-05:00

It's an extremely sad day for Wisconsin. The Republicans have used slimy and insidious tricks to take away the rights of people to bargain collectively with their fellow workers. A very sad day indeed: The New York Times article by Monica Davey is quite informative in this regard: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/us/10wisconsin.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2 Let's wish the

[Redefinition] Rethinking Resilience

2011-03-07T20:30:00.001-05:00

The word 'resilience' sounded like a fluffy term the first time I heard it... and in fact it still has a cotton candy texture. But I've been rethinking resilience this last week, and now I'm wondering whether it's a concept that critical geographers and social nature theorists can use as an operative goal, perhaps even a replacement for the overused and increasingly meaningless "sustainable

[Social Nature] The Hydrosocial Cycle

2011-02-21T11:43:00.001-05:00

At the Association of American Geographers (AAG) annual meeting in Boston in 2008, a session was held on the "hydrosocial cycle". Not to be confused with the "hydrological cycle", the "hydrosocial cycle" was defined in the agenda as follows:"The 'hydrosocial cycle' is a way of representing the deepening entanglement of flows of water and social power relations (e.g. Bakker, 2003; Swyngedouw,

[Geography in a Photograph] The End of the Line

2011-02-16T12:29:00.003-05:00

A photograph of the train station (foreground, right) in St. Paul, Alberta; year unknown; taken by Ron Brown, and published in the 3rd Edition of The Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore: An Illustrated History of Railway Stations in Canada (Toronto: Dundurn Group, 2008): p. 41. Sometimes, ordinary photographs have an uncanny ability to capture our attention. This one (above) captured mine. I was

[Urban Geography] Ottawa’s Spatial Crisis

2011-02-04T13:47:00.000-05:00

@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } The City of Ottawa is suffering from what I suppose we could call a ‘spatial crisis’. Yet the crisis is largely a manifestation of human decisions. The problem is partly of our own making – and as such,

[Cultural Geography] On The Canadian

2011-01-31T19:46:00.001-05:00

@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } PART I (Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Travelling ‘Comfort’ Class on VIA Rail’s Cross-Country ‘Land Cruise’, and More…) Welcome to The CanadianVIA Rail is a crown corporation that owns and

[Good News] See Ya!

2011-01-25T15:19:00.002-05:00

Good news for once: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2011/01/25/edmonton-stelmach-resigns.html

[Confusion] Historical Geography or Environmental History

2011-01-13T11:00:00.000-05:00

Historical Geography and Environmental History share some common threads; the line between them is perhaps more accurately described as a permeable gradient. Take these Wikipedia statements: "Historical geography is the study of the human, physical, fictional, theoretical, and 'real' geographies of the past" "Environmental history can be divided into three key components... First, nature

[Bid-Matching] If China can do it, why can't Canada?

2010-12-07T12:11:00.001-05:00

Let's do a little comparison: The distance between Windsor and Québec City, with a slight detour to hit up Ottawa on the way is approximately 1250km. The Québec City- Windsor "corridor' is not only Canada's busiest transportation corridor, it also is one of the busiest transport routes in the world, and the cities along this route contain over half of Canada's population. The route between

[Hermeneutics] Understanding the Understanding of Understandings

2010-11-27T19:25:00.002-05:00

For too long the word "hermeneutics" has suggested (in my mind) something along the lines of the study of fictional hobbit communities. Needless to say, this is not really what the term means. Luckily, some of the readings that my colleagues and I looked at this week have enabled me to transcend (at least to a small degree) my former ignorance on this matter! We were reading about the turn from

[Mapping] Janus: God of Maps?

2010-11-17T14:01:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend, a friend who I hadn't seen for a while poked fun at me when he learned that I was doing a PhD in Geography: "So, you just sit around and look at maps all day?" Despite the antagonistic jibe, the reality is that most people out there associate geography with an intensive study of maps... yet in reality, most geographers (both in the human and physical streams) tend to be less

[Musing] A Brief Foray Into the Name of Political Ecology

2010-11-08T21:13:00.001-05:00

When Piers Blaikie wrote The Political Economy of Soil Erosion in Developing Countries in 1985, he helped lay the groundwork for what eventually would come to be known as 'political ecology' (so argue Raymond Bryant and Michael K. Goodman, 2008). Before then, explain Bryant and Goodman, the assumption in geography and other disciplines was that the environment could be understood and managed

[Methodology] Historical Materialism as a Geographical Method

2010-10-31T13:56:00.003-04:00

I've been reading a lot of David Harvey lately. In particular, I've looked at some of his earlier works when he more closely identified as a Geographer (today Harvey is technically a Professor of Cultural Anthropology at the City University of New York Graduate Center - but his formal training was in Geography). It may strike some readers as 'news' that Harvey is a geographer. After all, today

[Questioning] Is it time for legislation yet?

2010-10-27T12:19:00.000-04:00

It's truly amazing. The day Syncrude is fined $3 million for failing to prevent the deaths of 1600 migrating ducks that landed in one of the company's tailings ponds, CBC reports that more dead ducks have been found in other Syncrude, Shell and Suncor facilitites! See the CBC story here (or copy and paste this URL: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2010/10/26/

[Reflection] On Reality and the Academy

2010-10-26T12:34:00.003-04:00

Before reading on, watch this brief video (in short, test your "awareness" by keeping track of how many times the white team passes the ball): OK, so you've watched the video. You've tested your awareness. And hopefully, you've had a similar reaction to mine (and now you'll be extra vigilant when driving a car)! However, I bring up the video for a different reason: I find this video

[Reflection] What about the Phytoplanktocene?

2010-10-04T22:12:00.006-04:00

The term 'Holocene' - roughly translating to "recent whole" - refers to the geological era in which we currently reside. The Holocene began approximately 12,000 years ago, which means that by geological standards it is so young it's practically still a fetus. Despite this, the Holocene has seen geological transformation at an incredible pace, and a new force of change has prompted some to argue

[Reflection] Environmental Education

2010-09-27T16:03:00.005-04:00

The most recent issue of Alternatives Journal (Vol. 36, No. 5, 2010) focused exclusively on environmental education in Canada, and provided a list of 54 university programs related to 'the environment'. Skimming the cross-Canada directory, it is interesting to see the range of programs considered to fall under the broader category of 'environmental education' - whether it's the Tourism and

[Reflection] On the Academy and the Public Good

2010-09-20T22:16:00.007-04:00

The acclaimed American geographer Gilbert F. White always believed that "the role of higher education and research is to serve the public" (B.L. Turner II, "Contested Identities," 2002: 59). It is often suggested that academics play a role in changing the world by serving the public. We hear it all the time, and for the most part we don't disagree. Serving the public is a humble, perhaps noble,

[Reflection] Between Reproduction and Contestation

2010-09-13T16:39:00.004-04:00

I started a PhD in Geography today. While the next four years are certain to offer numerous opportunities to expand my knowledge and scholarly abilities, I will undoubtedly also be faced with tremendous challenges. One worry that I have about taking on a doctorate is the possibility of getting sucked into the permanent meta-coma of academia. In this nightmare I become just another

[Survey] Cycling in Ottawa

2010-08-19T10:25:00.002-04:00

I wanted to pass on a link to the City of Ottawa's Cycling Safety Evaluation Project. It's an on-line survey they've designed to help identify the most dangerous cycling areas in town (and thus to identify areas for improvement). As you know, there have been a number of cyclists killed in the Ottawa area in the last year - so this is an important tool initiative:http://www.ottawa.ca/residents/

[Billing] Vote in C-311 Tomorrow!

2010-05-04T11:00:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow, (Wednesday, May 5th), the House of Commons will conduct its FINAL VOTE on Bill C-311, The Climate Change Accountability Act. This Bill has been on the table for nearly four years, but has been subject to stalling pressure, death by election, and prorogation! Yet the Bill has been resurrected and survives! It is essential that all three opposition parties pull through and support

[Clip] Carleton: Divest from Apartheid!

2010-01-26T10:30:00.005-05:00

This is a fantastic clip made by students at Carleton University's chapter of Students Against Israeli Apartheid. The request to divest from five corporations profiting from war is logical and straightforward, but most importantly, it's the right thing to do.

[Devastation] Haiti Suffers at Two Levels

2010-01-15T10:03:00.004-05:00

The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that shook Haiti on January 10th, 2010 has resulted in tremendous damage to the country, and in particular the capital city of Port-au-Prince. The deathtoll is said to be over 50,000. Countless more have lost their homes and are struggling to acquire the basic necessities of life, like water, food, shelter, and medical treatment. By all means, a humanitarian relief

[Animation] The Story of Cap and Trade

2009-12-04T14:27:00.005-05:00

Another excellent movie from Annie Leonard and the people at The Story of Stuff:

[Clip] Tar Sands Blow

2009-11-24T23:04:00.005-05:00

A great clip! Check it out:

[Link] Reconsidering Gramsci

2009-11-02T10:26:00.002-05:00

An essay by Aaron Henry contemplating a closer analysis of Gramscian "good sense". The attached paper also explores the interconnections between some of the tougher theoretical concepts found in Gramsci and Lukacs, including power, hegemony, and reification.CLICK HERE TO OPEN "Power as Recognition"

[Purging] Forget Sustainability: How a tough concept is getting ditched!

2009-09-23T11:04:00.002-04:00

From environmental organizations to government bodies to the corporate sector, the idea of “sustainable development” is slowly being dropped from the lexicon of possibility. It is being replaced by other concepts that are perhaps more realistic, meaningful, or just plain easier to attain! For governments and the corporate sector, the new word of choice seems to be “responsibility”. Hence the

[Photo Essay] The Bitumen Trail

2009-08-12T22:54:00.030-04:00

At long last, a friend and I recently made a trip to the tar sands of Northern Alberta. We both had an interest in seeing first hand what this massive energy project - the largest in the world - actually looks like. We also wanted to talk to people along the way in order to get a more nuanced understanding of what is actually going on in this province in terms of resource extraction. Dan is a

[Irony] A Failure in Canadian Foreign Policy

2009-07-04T15:17:00.004-04:00

Yet again the Harper Conservatives have made a grave failure in their dealings with foreign matters. Soon enough the rest of the hemisphere - and the world for that matter - will look upon Canada as a backwards, market fundamentalist, war-mongering, anti-democratic and environment-destroying state in a new century that is marked by the ideals of environmentalism, peace and mass democratic

[Appeal] Let Galloway In!

2009-03-23T12:34:00.002-04:00

APPEAL:As many of you will know, last week Canada’s Border Services Agency decided that it would bar British Member of Parliament George Galloway from entering Canada. CBSA claims that Galloway poses a threat to Canada’s national security!Galloway is an outspoken critic of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and of Israel’s foreign policy. He was scheduled to do a speaking tour in Canada at the end

[Comparison] The Good ol' Union Bust!

2009-01-29T12:36:00.003-05:00

Yet again I am realizing how we have it all wrong here in Canada. The attitude towards unions has gotten so bad that a large number of employees who acquire union jobs do not realize that this is a position of privilege (and of responsibility) which has been won for them by their predecessors. Most Canadians just don't understand basic labor relations: They are almost always ready to side with

[Recollection] Oh yeah, we're still at war...

2009-01-26T21:16:00.005-05:00

Last week the war on terror ended... didn't it? Israel ended its horrific bombing campaign in Gaza; Iraqi troops are slowly taking over control of the US operations in their country; In his second day in office; Obama closed down the illegal torture prison at Guantanamo. Indeed, with the passing of presidential power from Bush to Obama, the war on terror is now officially over. We can all take a

[Paradigm Shift] The New "Everything"

2008-12-31T21:00:00.003-05:00

A few years ago I was told a joke about the five Jews who changed the world: Moses, who said “the law is everything”; Jesus, who said “love is everything”; Marx, who said “money is everything”; Freud, who said “sex is everything”; and Einstein, who said “everything is relative!”Indeed, those voices which have been most influential in history have tended to offer prescriptions for the success of

[Riddle] On our current constitutional woes...

2008-12-05T15:38:00.004-05:00

In order to commemorate the historical significance of our current constitutional woes here in Canada, I have crafted a riddle:I was elected into a minority government with 43% of the votes. I set forth to confront the unprecedented economic woes of our time, particularly by attacking the rights of labour unions. I accused the left of threatening our national unity and of trying to launch a “coup

[Link] Financing the Tar Sands

2008-12-05T11:11:00.003-05:00

The tar sands are the largest industrialized energy project in the world. The money has to come from somewhere! This article seeks to examine how the tar sands are financed.LINK TO DOCUMENT: "Inviting the World to the Tar Sands: Neoliberalism and the Financing of Alberta's Oil Boom"

[Misguided Logic] A Lacking Morality

2008-08-22T11:16:00.006-04:00

In what appears to be a sick replay of previous events, and a frightening warning of events to come, three Canadian soldiers were killed yesterday in Kandahar when a roadside bomb detonated next to their vehicle. Two of them have left behind wives and daughters, and if that isn't sad enough, it is an immense pity that I can almost guarantee that this exact type of death will occur again soon,

[Hypocrisy] Siding With China This Time Around...

2008-08-07T17:46:00.002-04:00

There is one thing I hate more than being told what to do, and that's being told what to do by someone who could use their own advice. I bet most people out there would probably agree with this statement. Yet, this is exactly the kind of hypocritical two-faced crap that China is barraged with by our failure-of-a-leader Stephen Harper and his worship George W. Bush.Every time the issue of China

[Slander] What a Friggin' Jerk

2008-06-06T11:27:00.003-04:00

Ed Sellmach: Selling-Out Alberta one Barrel at a Time They taught me at work to "attack the issue, not the person." But, what if the person is the issue?You see, Alberta's Premier, Ed Stelmach, is a jerk. His local monikers "Steady Eddie" and "Honest Ed" are totally inaccurate. A more appropriate nickname would be "Sellmach", as he has done his best to sell out Alberta and its people - barrel by

[List] 10 Reasons Why Alberta's Climate Change Plan is a Total Joke

2008-05-08T15:37:00.011-04:00

In January 2008 the Government of Alberta released its new Climate Change Action Plan. The original plan of 2002 (the first of its kind in Canada) has been reworked, revamped and perfected. As an additional effort to curb emissions in the province, the government implemented its carbon intensity reduction plan for industry in 2007, based on a carbon credit system. Given all the work our

[Equation] Lakes of Tar = Death

2008-04-30T13:06:00.006-04:00

[Photo caption: View of Syncrude plant and tailing "pond" in Northern Alberta. Not long ago this land was covered in ancient forests that acted as an important lung for the planet]It's as simple as adding things together. What do you expect to occur when you bulldoze miles upon miles of previously untouched forest, then dig out a series of gigantic holes, and fill them with toxic, sludgy,

[Synopsis] Imagining the Green Tar Sands

2008-04-29T12:32:00.006-04:00

It's a Tuesday Morning, and I'm listending to Sounds Like Canada, a CBC radio show hosted by Shelagh Rogers. She's talking to a guy named Murray who's involved in some program at the University of Alberta, and a guy named Simon from the Pembina Institute in Calgary. The show is about "greening" the Tar Sands. Murray is an environmental consultant for tar sands corporations, trying to find a way

[Appeal] Harper, the Media, and the North American Leader's Summit

2008-04-25T15:12:00.007-04:00

I wanted to share my discontent with the lack of coverage on the recent North American Leaders Summit in New Orleans. There has hardly been any coverage on the CBC website, which is a real shame in my opinion, given the potential for the CBC website to foment civic engagement in this country.An internet search for the summit on CBC.ca brings up the following stories, considered "most relevant" by

[Anecdote] Farmed Salmon

2008-04-21T18:19:00.003-04:00

Here's a quick but true anecdote I felt compelled to write about:Last weekend I was in Vancouver, helping to run a workshop for a non-profit organization I volunteer for. The workshop site was at a community centre in White Rock, right next to the beach. I was looking forward to the warmer climate of the West Coast, a chance to breath in the sea air, and see some flowers in spring. But more

[Time Wasting] Flags and Masts

2008-04-01T17:43:00.003-04:00

I can not think of a better way to waste time and public funds than spending question period arguing over whether or not the Canadian flag above the Peace Tower should be lowered to half-mast on one day of the year only - Remembrance Day - or on any day of the year that a Canadian soldier dies.Yet this is what our uninspiring, idiotic political representatives have been talking about ad nosium

[Good News?] Al Gore trying hard again...

2008-03-31T14:59:00.004-04:00

Well, at least this isn't BAD news...Some good news for once: Al Gore's Climate Change organization, The Alliance for Climate Protection, is initiating a $300 Million propaganda campaign in the United States, to help convince the American people that a radically new vision for curbing emissions is needed. It will be spent mostly on TV ads and the internet... and hopefully it will get through to

[Plea] Letter to the Environment Minister

2008-03-19T14:32:00.000-04:00

To The Honourable John Baird, M.P.Minister of the Environmentbairdj@parl.gc.ca Mr. Baird, I write this personal letter to you as part of a desperate plea – a plea for you to take a new approach on carbon emissions and climate change. As a citizen of Canada, I am responsible and complicit in the unacceptably high per

[Report] The IPCC Predicts Doom

2008-03-19T13:32:00.004-04:00

Here is the copy and pasted text of Article 3.3.1 of the International Panel on Climate Change's latest report on global warming (warning: get your Prozac ready):3.3.1 Impacts on systems and sectorsEcosystems The resilience of many ecosystems is likely to be exceeded thiscentury by an unprecedented combination of climate change,associated disturbances (e.g. flooding, drought, wildfire, insects,

[Desperation] A Case for Withdrawal

2008-03-14T13:28:00.002-04:00

Recently, a government-mandated commission led by John Manley was asked to prepare a report on Canada's role in Afghanistan and proposals for Canada's future role there. Canada has now effectively been engaged in a war there for six years, and the Manley report has called for an extension of Canada's mission until 2011 (provided NATO kicks in more support for the mission).As a result, a vote was

[Images] Visions of the Gigaproject

2008-03-07T16:46:00.006-05:00

Clear Water Media and White Pine Pictures have made a documentary film about the Tar Sands called Tar Sands: The Selling of Alberta. In their press release they offered some photos, which I am posting here with the captions they provided. This film offers yet more proof that we've got to stop this environmental and social disaster as soon as possible! File Name: Stig in HelicopterSTIG

[Loop of Hell] The Entrenchment of Neoliberal Policy in Canada

2008-03-07T14:11:00.005-05:00

Photo Caption: Heil Harper?I just read an excellent article by Bryan Evans regarding the Harper government's 2008 Budget, and how this is a tool to consolidate neoliberal economic policies in Canada. I highly recommend that you read this if you have any interest in understanding the basics of how neoliberal governments gut social spending and pave the way for the economic elite to consolidate

[Election Coverage] Sinking in a Blue Sea

2008-03-04T12:22:00.005-05:00

After yesterday's provincial election here in Alberta, I am closer to understanding what it must feel like to be a Maldivian in this era of rising sea levels.I knew that by virtue of living and working in Edmonton's Old Strathcona neighbourhood, my existence in this province was mostly constrained to the bubble of Alberta's "liberal oasis". In this area of town, almost everyone seems to be on the

[Appeal] The Bullies of the World

2008-03-03T11:36:00.005-05:00

What do Turkey, Israel and Colombia have in common?Well for one, these countries (geographically speaking) are absolutely beautiful, and they all contain an incredibly rich civilizational history. I have been to both Israel and Colombia, and I can honestly say that the extremely warm and caring cultures I was welcomed with made my visits to those countries wonderful.However, these countries also

[Facts & Figures] Jailed State

2008-02-29T13:33:00.006-05:00

This just in: A recent study by The Pew Center found that 1 out of every 100 American adults is behind bars. That's 1 percent of the population - in jail! At this rate, the typical American high school has 7 future inmates walking through its halls - scribbling their names on their desks during math class (based on the national average high school size of 752 students).Even more interesting is

[Good News Bad News] Carbon Tax

2008-02-25T17:58:00.003-05:00

Some semi-good news for once: The British Colombia government passed what in this day and age should be seen as very progressive legislation to combat carbon emissions. The main idea of it is this: start taxing carbon emissions - any fuel that pumps carbon into the atmosphere is going to be taxed at a rate of $10 for every tonne of CO2 that it puts into the atmosphere, starting this summer. That

[Petition] No New Approvals!

2008-02-16T22:31:00.003-05:00

Hey folks,This is a quick one. Please head to http://www.nonewapprovals.ca/ and sign their online petition to stop the Alberta government from approving any more tar sands development licenses. Please, this is just one of many steps. Please also write letters. We need to convince politicians to enact climate regulations! None of this "market mechanism", "cap and trade", "carbon offsets" bullshit.

[Comment] Ecosocialism

2008-02-16T20:14:00.004-05:00

There's a name for those of us who see the destruction of our planet as a byproduct of capitalism, those of us who see the ties between climate change and our global political economy, those of us who are both staunch environmentalists and Marxists: We are Ecosocialists. Ecosocialism sees the coming together of left and green perspectives into a unified ideology. There is an interesting article

[Disadvantage] Alberta's Down & Outs

2008-02-14T17:26:00.004-05:00

It boggles my mind that here in Alberta, where it is not unknown to dip down to -40 degrees below zero (Celsius) we can sleep comfortably knowing there are nearly 2000 homeless people struggling to find shelter in the city of Edmonton alone. According to statistics from 2002, some two hundred people are forced to find a bed every night (as the shelters are all full).A month ago, when it was even

[Election Scam] Stelmach or Mugabe?

2008-02-14T16:29:00.006-05:00

Yet again, the common Albertan citizen is being duped by her deceitful provincial government, and yet again she will do nothing much about it.After digging up some dirt on the officials hired by Elections Alberta to conduct the upcoming provincial elections, one of the opposition parties announced that one of the Returning Officers was the wife of the head of the nomination committee of a Tory

[Response] Words from the Opposition

2008-02-07T17:01:00.004-05:00

After hearing quite a lot of arguments against a free trade agreement between Canada and Colombia (which is being secretly negotiated behind closed doors), I wrote a letter to the Liberal Party's Official Opposition Critic for International Trade, Navdeep Singh Bains, who was conducting a survey to see what Canadians had to say about the issue.Unlike the Conservative parliamentary

[Our Impeding Doom] Ideological Profiling

2008-02-04T14:07:00.000-05:00

Here's an article my friend forwarded to me about the revamped Homeland Security Act in the United States:http://www.zcommunications.org/zmag/viewArticle/16314Perhaps CNN and Fox haven't "had time" to mention a whole lot about this, given their orgiastic coverage of the Presidential race. You know, news stories about the erosion of democracy just don't seem to garner as much attention as those

[Fearmongering] Stock Market, Shmock Shmarket

2008-01-28T12:02:00.001-05:00

I've compiled the following headlines to show how ridiculous an idea it is to forecast recessions and stock market crashes and economic booms. The stock market is really like playing the slots at a casino. It's a gamble. Yet only god knows why we put so much faith in this insanely volatile creature we call the "free market". If anything, this whole "we're plunging into a recession" fear shows how

[Revisitation] Ideas for Democracy

2008-01-26T20:07:00.000-05:00

CLICK HERE to see an interesting idea that a friend of mine forwarded to me.... (the link is at the end of this post too).The other day we got into a discussion about proportional representation. I was arguing in favour of adopting some kind of proportional representation, which I think is better termed "ideological representation". In the last election in Canada (2006) for example, the Green

[Shaming] The stats are in...

2008-01-23T12:49:00.000-05:00

Well, the stats are in folks. A study published by Martin Turcotte at Statistics Canada revealed that, after comparing all major cities in the country, Edmonton has the highest percentage of people who use a car to get around the city. Congratulations, Edmonton. You must be so proud to have this fact distinguish your city.Read about the study here.Now, even though I bike everywhere (followed by

[Letter] We need to act NOW

2008-01-10T22:47:00.001-05:00

The following is a letter I wrote to the Member of Parliament for my riding in Edmonton.Dear Mr. Jaffer,It is with extreme frustration that I write to you today. For years now there has been a global consensus on the crucial need to curb our carbon emissions. Yet today, not only has Canada seemingly DONE NOTHING to confront the issue, but we are actually moving in the wrong direction (at least

[Comparison] POLItics or AESTHEtics?

2008-01-10T22:22:00.000-05:00

With the US Presidential Candidate Race in full swing, some of us are finding the nature of American campaign politics to be a little too aesthetic - lacking any discussion about principles. Instead of talking about Obama or Clinton's actual platforms all we hear on the news is that Clinton garnered support after a public crying incident and Obama has the backing of talk show host Oprah Winfrey.

[Advice] Using Stelmach's Domain Wisely

2008-01-09T13:05:00.001-05:00

This morning one of the main news stories in Alberta was regarding a recent cease and desist notice from cowboy, I mean... Premier Ed Stelmach's lawyers to a UofA student Dave Cournoyer, for having purchased the web domain edstelmach.ca. Dave was using the link initially to forward to his blog site (http://daveberta.blogspot.com/). The lawyers threatened to sue Dave and wanted the $20/month that

[Power Grab] Real Freedom

2007-12-20T11:55:00.001-05:00

For all their talk of the "freedoms" brought on by capitalist democracies, neocons sure don't have a lot to show for it! Thanks to the religious morality imposed by neocons on today's dominant societal structure, there is no freedom for homosexuals, no freedom for women who choose to get an abortion, no freedom for those who have decided their time is up and would prefer to end their lives. And

[Dialogue] Venezuela Discussion

2007-12-14T16:43:00.001-05:00

This blog entry comes in four parts:First, I was sent an email link to an article by The Economist regarding the referendum in Venezuela. It was forwarded to me by a friend, who received it from their coworker and thought I would be interested. See it here: ECONOMIST ARTICLE.Second, I replied to my friend with the following response:Remember that article about Venezuela in the Economist that you

[Accuracy] Mainstream Media

2007-12-12T11:37:00.002-05:00

Finally, an accurate video about Venezuela!

[Fundraising] Government and Turkeys

2007-12-06T12:02:00.000-05:00

The following is from an email I wrote to CBC Edmonton regarding their annual Turkey Drive to raise money and food for local food banks.I have been inspired by Ron Wilson’s morning updates on the CBC’s Turkey Drive. Yet while these kinds of charitable fundraising projects clearly demonstrate the compassionate nature of many Albertans, they simultaneously highlight the provincial government’s

[Monopolyism] Grocery Stores

2007-12-02T17:18:00.000-05:00

There are only two large grocery stores within a couple kilometers from my home: Safeway and Save on Foods (I try to stay away from both of them as much as possible, favouring the weekly farmer's market, the two small organic food providers and other small businesses which provide local goods). Nevertheless, when I do go to either of the aforementioned grocery stores, I can't help feeling

[Proof] See for yourself

2007-12-02T16:34:00.000-05:00

Just to add credence to my accusations about the CBC's biased reporting (which I wrote about in my last posting), check out the image of the pro-reform rally on November 30th (the image of the Opposition Rally was included in my last blog post). The reporting about the previous day's opposition rally was was all over the Western media. Yet what did the CBC have to report about this demonstration

[Feedback] The Referendum

2007-11-30T16:37:00.000-05:00

The following is from a feedback card I submitted to CBC News on-line detailing my disappointment with their latest coverage on Venezuela. Included here is a picture of the opposition rally, which, to be fair, was quite large.As the referendum on proposed democratic reforms approaches, it is more important than ever to get accurate information on the situation in Venezuela. Yet recently the CBC’

[Note of Solidarity] Venezuela!

2007-11-30T11:46:00.000-05:00

This is a quick one:In Europe, over 150 politicians recently declared their support for the Venezuelan government's efforts to build an entrenched socioeconomic style of democracy - one that sees the democratization and fair redistribution of wealth. They also called for everyone to respect the outcome of this weekend's referendum. The statement was initiated at a Europe-wide conference in

[Prototype] The Nature Fridge

2007-11-22T00:57:00.000-05:00

When I was a child growing up within the tropic of cancer, it was hard to comprehend how the common fridge kept food cool when it was so hot outside. Now that I'm older and living north of the 50th parallel, what really boggles my mind is how every single household uses energy to cool their food - in the winter - when the temperatures plummet to far below zero degrees Celsius! Is there any logic

[Denunciation] Neoliberalism & Infrastructure

2007-11-16T13:19:00.003-05:00

The following is from a letter I wrote to CBC's The Current, after a show about failing water infrastructure throughout Canada and the rising cost of utilities as a result. I've also added a photo of the Montreal overpass collapse of last year.This morning as I listened to tales of severely underfunded and malfunctioning infrastructure in this country, I began to wonder .... does anyone not see

[Rhyme] I hate Coca-Cola

2007-11-05T23:50:00.001-05:00

The following is a cheesy rhyming song I wrote about multinationals:If you hear a shot ring out in the night,may it remind you of a different type of villain hard to sight:Based in America – but now all over the world -they’ve caused a shitload of trouble now that they’ve got unfurled.These fucking multinationals are completely irrational,spreading like a virus to every fucking capital,and other

[Notes from a Pedaler] Bicycle Revolution

2007-11-05T23:33:00.001-05:00

In the spirit of RTS (Reclaim The Streets) parades, most cities host weekly or monthly critical mass bike rallies. These rallies are a conglomeration of environmentalists, health conscious folk and community-oriented activists who see the great potential that bicycles have in confronting some of our biggest societal problems: Global warming, obesity, pandemic cardiovascular disease, smog and

[Poem] The Black Plague

2007-10-28T23:12:00.001-04:00

The following is a poem I wrote about oil... (with a picture of Canada's disgusting Tar Sands gigaproject beside it).The Black PlagueIt’s really a marvel! A marvel!Starts off as black sliminess extracted from the Earth –But then you refine it, barrel it, sell it,ship it, sell it, pump it, sell it,Let it course through the veins of the malleable alloy beast –like blood courses through us –

[Part One] Political Economy of Global Warming

2007-08-06T00:03:00.002-04:00

Towards the end of 2006, the frenzy of global warming seemed to be at an all time high. This was when Al Gore's movie was becoming ever popular, and campaigns to save the polar bears were growing on campuses across North America, and when the scientific community finally agreed unanimously that climate change was not just a figment of our imaginations. This media proliferation of doomsday

[Rant] Costa Rica contemplates CAFTA

2007-07-25T11:40:00.001-04:00

The following is an excerpt from a letter I wrote to friends and family while traveling in Costa Rica in July 2007... Those good old avaricious American neoliberals are at it again, this time targeting all of Central America with propositions of “free trade” through the Central American Free Trade Agreement.What makes CAFTA an obvious “win” for America, in my opinion, is the fact that the US

[Theory II] Gramscian Internationalism

2007-06-15T18:22:00.001-04:00

The following is taken from a paper I wrote on International Relations Theory. While Gramsci was particularly concerned with the class struggle on a domestic level, his theory could very well be applicable in the international setting.The revolution is coming. It may not happen tomorrow, but it will happen nonetheless. It may start in a local context, but its repercussions will be global. What

[Theory I] Neorealiberalism

2007-06-01T16:24:00.001-04:00

The following is taken from a paper I wrote on International Relations Theory. Those who have learned the basics of IR theory know that "realism" and "liberalism" are the two mainstream IR schools of thought. However, while these two theories have continued to gain credence in the academy and particularly within the US State Department, some theorists have observed that neo-realism and

[Diatribe] The 7 Wonders of Canada

2007-05-05T20:21:00.001-04:00

In the spring of 2007, CBC Radio's Sounds Like Canada and CBC TV's The National teemed up to run a gushingly nationalistic competition regarding the choosing of seven "wonders" of Canada. The response was considerable:at leaset 25 000 nominations were cast, and a shortlist of 52 "wonders" was prepared. Finally, on June 7th, Shelagh Rogers and Peter Mansbridge revealed that the winners were 1) the

[Introduction] The Organic Intellectual

2007-04-28T11:33:00.001-04:00

A spectre is haunting the world - the spectre of "neoliberalism"! Indeed, our current world order is marked by deregulation, liberalization, and privatization! These policies are upheld (and enforced) by the arms of American imperialism - from ideological institutions that represent thewealthy to the powerful military-industrial complex.Yet as environmentalists, trade unionists and social justice

[Link] Union Organizing Report

2003-06-01T15:00:00.000-04:00

The following link leads to a report conducted in June 2003 for the Canadian Labour Congress.CLICK HERE for "Union Organizing: A Look at Recent Organizing Activity Through Analysis of Certification Across Canadian Jurisdictions"