Feel Like I’m Fixin’ to Cry…

 

Saw this on Facebook, and just for old times sake (yeah, I am that old…) I watched the video, and instead of  ‘enjoying’ it, for the first time I noticed just  how truly angry Joe MacDonald was, and I noticed that  the  young guys in the audience were sort of ‘enjoying’ it but they really hesitated  when he kept  insisting that they sing along…took  ’em awhile to  get into the  bouncy, portentous tune…and I thought about that, about the fear  that they must have been feeling, about the inevitability of the draft…and it made me cry all over  again…for  those young boys who all must  have known what was to come, and  for  what was back then  my country…

Woodstock  was a long time ago,  ‘Nam was a long  time ago…and at the time, I had no idea that I would wind up in  Canada in ’72,  getting a bit tired of all the  draft dodger jokes directed at me, but  trying to be  good humored about it, since  some of my own  California  friends were up  here, sheltered by this country that at the  time, understood…

Now, thinking about all the millennials who cannot find jobs, who are the generation  unable to leave home because  as adults they must rely on the support of their parents…and I wonder if  their new President will find  jobs for them elsewhere…in another stupid  pointless  horrific war..that’s a rich corporatist’s  wet dream, because there’s no  profits like war profits, and  with slave (free) labor to boot, in the form of  cannon fodder paid for  by  the  ones  who are taxed….

 

Just Woke Up….

I know it’s been a long, long time since I posted..I’ve been in shock for so many  weeks now,  just  sort of  coming out of it  a bit..but instead of nattering on and on about what a ho…

Source: Just Woke Up….

Just Woke Up….

I know it’s been a long, long time since I posted..I’ve been in shock for so many  weeks now,  just  sort of  coming out of it  a bit..but instead of nattering on and on about what a horrible scary year it  has been I’d like to take this opportunity to  thank those of you  who read/followed my blog, who commented, who engaged and who generally cared about the  state of the world  in 2016..

I’m not a  PC kinda person, so saying  Merry Christmas, Happy  Hannukkah,  Happy Kwanzaa, etc …or just Happy Holidays –  doesn’t sound like much, I know, but it is what I have..it won’t be easy for many of us, but we need to regroup  for what is to come…

Please  enjoy  a peaceful season and rest up for the fight  ahead…for fighting is becoming the norm these days..we need to stop complaining and start acting, responding..for those of us in BC Canada, there is no greater fight  ahead than  stopping  the Kinder Morgan pipeline…and in Canada in general,  making sure that Justin  Trudeau lives up to his promises to all of us…no more selfies, be a  decent human being and back up  your election  promises in a  concrete way..and that includes proportional representation…

For  the USA, no declaration of  problems  is necessary..you  possibly have the biggest  one of all in your new president to be..good luck with that…

For the rest of the world, I can only wish  for peace…

Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics (with apologies and an acknowledgement to Mark Twain..)

 

 

 

ttps://www.facebook.com/BCLiberalCaucus/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED&fref=nf

 

 

http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2016/08/23/Critical-Services-Suffering-in-BC/?utm_source=weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=290816

 

In their latest propaganda piece  the  BC Libs are  attempting, lamely, to counter  research that shows that BC has one of the lowest education budgets per student in the country..not much of a surprise  for most of us who watch with dismay as they continue to dismantle our  hard-won  public infra-structure… and they have the  gall to claim that they have spent  huge amounts on education, increasing  the budget every year…they are the  worst  bookkeepers in the country, too…

Apples and oranges…when you are pretending to play catch-up it sounds like a lot of cash..but the truth is they have been ‘increasing’ while taking away..Every year, demands are made for trustees to cut billions of dollars from shrinking  school budgets, while  closures force more  and more students into fewer schools, which are then instructed to  tighten the purse strings  even further…the BC Lieberals don’t bother factoring that in..right up there with ‘increasing’ the disability rate while simultaneously removing the subsidized bus passes..result? A huge loss from those who can ill afford it..

Anecdotally,  my SAFER grant  keeps disappearing..when I get it at all,  and this  is because I’ve had to fight twice, hard, fill out reams of  paperwork again and again  in the last two years to retain what little of it  they  feel  I’m entitled to..last year, my pension  went up   a glorious $8.00 per month…result?  SAFER monthly grant dropped by  $24 per month..a head-scratcher, that one..and,  in fact, my rent  had  gone up, and I was paying  my own hydro…result?  I end up  paying  around 65%  of my total income for rent and  utilities…according to the bumpf from the  BC Libs,  seniors are so much better off than  before…oh, and let’s not forget they also  took away our  free ferry passenger  ‘deal’ …the Libs giveth but the  Libs  mostly taketh away…

I protest  the stats that say that  seniors are rapidly becoming the largest age group…for why would any senior outside the 1% ers  vote for a party that does it’s damnedest to  make sure our retirement years are anything  but golden? Let’s all  try to make sure and  encourage seniors,  parents and  all   voters to  look at the hard realities of living here…

 

Green Party ReGrowth?

Elizabeth May could quit as Green Party leader this month

‘Broken-hearted’ May says boycott Israel policy has her on verge of stepping down as leader

By David Cochrane, CBC News Posted: Aug 12, 2016 5:00 AM ET Last Updated: Aug 12, 2016 5:00 AM ET

Is the Green Party ready for life after Elizabeth May?

Popular leader will leave mixed legacy

By Éric Grenier, CBC News Posted: Aug 13, 2016 5:00 AM ET Last Updated: Aug 13, 2016 8:55 AM ET

Elizabeth May is  yesterday’s  leader..and I say that with  a bitterweet smile.

While she was and is still, for the most part, a formidable parliamentarian,  like Tom Mulcair , ousted NDP leader,  she has fallen  behind her constituency when it comes to  values and political philosophy..

May always seemed to have a lamentable tendency to go along with whatever  spew Harper chose to throw at Parliament, and her voting  record does not bode well for the progressives being increasingly attracted to her  party..you could argue that her  party has now swung Left while she remains firmly mid-Right on everything except the  environment..not a pretty picture  for those of us who are frustrated with the NDP  foot-dragging, and want an alternative..

Although she might decide to tough it out, this is  an opportunity for fresh blood to lead the  party, and I  believe that she  knows it’s time…

BDS is no BS – They Call the State “Pariah”

Jewish groups condemn Green Party for supporting Israeli boycott policy

Leader Elizabeth May ‘disappointed’ by party’s vote at its national convention

The Canadian Press Posted: Aug 08, 2016 10:09 AM ET Last Updated: Aug 08, 2016 10:09 AM ET

World Sees Israel as a Pariah State, Senior Gov’t Official Says
Strategic Affairs Ministry aims to change the way Israel is perceived in the international arena, director general Sima Vaknin tells lawmakers; says victory will be achieved when Israel won’t be equated with apartheid.

Barak Ravid Aug 07, 2016 12:49 PM
read more: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.735598

I have  been  flirting with the idea of voting Green Party lately because of  its stand on issues I consider important regarding our  environmental and  economic future here in  Canada, and especially BC..and  to be honest I  am (was?) a great admirer of Elizabeth May..she is always prepared and always erudite, makes other  politicians look sloppy and  uninformed for the  most part, and  is  killer in debates..but  this  issue has me rethinking  my all but unconditional  approval ..

May  has  often had  an unfortunate tendency, on international issues, to be blindly partisan..and not with her own party, as evidenced by this delegate vote  in support of BDS  when it comes to  the  Israeli treatment of  Palestinians..something I have always regretted that the other  parties always capitulated on…something that the  party I  usually vote for  (NDP) does not address, but simply goes along with whatever spew comes from the other  two parties..this is political expediency at its worst..why is it  that we can support Syrian and other refugees escaping war and  genocide, but  our  ‘leaders’ refuse to acknowledge the very real  ugliness being perpetrated on Palestine  by the  Israelis?  I  cannot answer that in any way  except to point out  that, like the NRA in the States,  the  Jewish voting  bloc  (that exists  to  a lesser extent than might be imagined) must be worshiped and catered to,  lest they turn away from  voting for whatever party is molly-coddling them at the  time..

Cheers for  the Green  Party delegates who voted to  support the initiative designed, as it was  with  South Africa, to  express disapproval of  the actions of the Israeli regime..if you need  an education on these actions, may I recommend either the Haaretz   News or  Jews for Peace – both are  good sources of  information  on this issue..the  MSM is, decidedly, not..

Ms. May, may  these delegates be a reflection of the changes  the party needs to make  in order to  grown into  its position  of viability..I am betting that these   delegates were young people, part of a world-wide  movement that recognizes that the hypocrisy of the old democracy is a relic, and needs to  be replaces with a humane and caring system for all of us…when you, as leader, recognize and agree to support such actions, I may break down and actually vote  Green..

Disclosure statement:  My mother’s family  is Jewish…in case you were wondering…

Just another E-Mail from the Real World…

A friend sent me this article,  and  I am  adding my  answer…I don’t have permission to print out the article in its entirety, but  you  can  look for it  at FP..it’s short and succinct…

WORTHY OF THEIR ANGER

Our leaders’ unpunished failures have led to furious voters

Stephen Walt

For Foreign Policy magazine

Dear K….

Actually, that is  Germany post WW1, and  this is the same response to a  conman that the  Germans gave to  Hitler..and yes, i a, terrified..but  Klaas I am a  Bernie fan all the way, and if this sort of  seemingly mindless  anger is what is necessary to clean house..well, so be it..the only way people seemingly learn is the hard way, and though all these  writers  trash this and that elite, who allowed them to get into power, and maintain it all these years?  The people, who treat participatory democracy like a  joke,  most of those angry  ones probably never  bother to vote or even  do a little reading/research to find out what is really going on…

Don’t want to make you feel bad, but a real microcosm of this attitude is  a union..how many meetings did anyone actually attend? In the twenty years i was  with the  City I tried to attend as many as i could, I participated and  got  frustrated because the powers that were entrenched in that Union office  knew what Trump and the  others  knew..that  people are lazy, don’t want to be bothered and they would do whatever the  Union  told them was for  ‘their won good..”  When I tried to  fight that I succeeded, but then, apathy set in again and  people quit caring,  and quit coming to meetings, etc…and so it goes…

The  same thing happens  here (and in the US and Britain)..sure everyone  got all antsy and decided they’d had enough of  Harper, but who died they vote for?  And how is Trudeau any different?  He isn’t…and so it goes…it’s gonna have to get a lot worse here before it gets better….and  Canadians haven’t  even gotten angry yet..I have no idea  what that is going to look like…

W

Gordon Campbell..back in the Soup…

Ottawa announces diplomatic shakeup with 26 new appointments

Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion removes high-profile Harper-era appointees

By John Paul Tasker, CBC News Posted: Jul 19, 2016 11:27 AM ET Last Updated: Jul 19, 2016 3:02 PM ET

It’s about time, by any standards of  political heel-dragging, that  the Harper appointees go gently into that  good night, but look out,  BC,  Gordo  “three martini” Campbell  will be back in town, very shortly..you remember, the guy with the  9% approval rating, the guy who created the reno-viction  plague, the guy who made  ‘leaky condos’ a  phrase for the ages in BC, the guy who dismantled the trades apprenticeship program  and  made  elevator inspectors, hairdressers and others mere  wage slaves  with no training necessary…that  guy, the one  who got arrested for  driving  drunk in Hawaii while still Premiere of this province..who  wept  like a Southern televangelist on TV begging for forgiveness for his sins, but who refused  to  do the  honorable thing and  quit..you know,  the  abject liar who swore he wouldn’t implement  the HST, pre-election,  and did just that anyway…his reward from his  overlord Harper?  Why, a plummy job in the UK as a  ‘commissioner’  at  Canada House..whatever it is that   the position entails, I would bet it pays well…I could go on and on, but, you get the drift…

Yep, that guy..and now he’ll be  back, and  we have to wonder how  Christy  Clark is gonna feel about that…she’s  sunk almost as low in the  polls, and his  imminent return will  make it so  easy to do a comparison between them.., and I thought the RNC  was the only excuse I had for popcorn….

There’s Somethin’ Happening Here…

I’ve been holding back on commenting….reality has been so overwhelming and I feel as if, for the first time since possibly the War of  1812, that  the West is  slowly, inexorably being pulled into  another war, this time on home turf..perhaps  even  CW2..(Civil War)…

If we look at what is  happening around the world, it seems that, indeed, the center will not hold..everywhere are signs of  right wing  insanity and left wing resurgence, and we all know that the power rests in the  hands of the corporatists…but how  do they propose to deal with  the  singular  seemingly guerrilla war tactics of  the disaffected?..these are increasing in  number and seriousness..who  would have thought that any  mentally unstable individual  could out- do  Orlando for sheer  horror and numbers?  I  give you Nice,  France…

And  while all of this  is  going on,  the people  are marching in the streets of the US and to a lesser extent, Canada,  and no one seems interested in anything  except  stifling  dissent, whatever it may be directed towards..just saw a nasty vid on FB  of   a protest on private property (the protesters were invited  to occupy the property by the legal owner) in the Southern US where the cops literally pushed the protesters onto public property so they could be beaten on and  arrested, and they knew they were being filmed..do they care?  No!  Because no one is being held  responsible for their actions anymore, there is too much happening at such an insane pace that no one  can deal with it..Emotional overload..Obama goes public with a lot of mumbling about  terrorism and  violence and guns blah blah blah..then signs a bill allowing  Monsanto to keep on poisoning us under the law…

On the home front, our selfie-loving PM  has  obviously decided, like all politicians, that to actually keep his word regarding  pre-election promises might  be….well, premature,  and so  we go on, insecure about whether or not in fact  we can  do something about  pipelines and oil tankers invading the  West Coast and despoiling  what little we have left…bill C-51 is gonna be a  shoo-in, mark my words, and as for  local  problems like  contaminated soil being  legally dumped  on the hills overlooking a source of our  drinking water in  Shawnigan Lake, well, that seems to be cracking on, apace…

In other news, Jon  Stewart  obviously couldn’t resist  the temptation of  overseeing the Republican Convention, and so will join his old sidekick,  Stephen Colbert as an ‘analyst’ on Late Night..something to look forward to,  the odd smile to  try and keep the numbing horror  at bay while the fiddlers screech on – as Rome  does a slow burn…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

T

Brexit – Stage Left…

The Guardian view on post-Brexit politics: perilous times for progressives

Editorial

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn leaves his home in north London in the wake of resignations from his shadow cabinet. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Sunday 26 June 2016 20.12 BST

 

Frankly, I don’t see why all the panic is being created..it’s terrible that immigrants feel unsafe, and that the bigots are on holiday, assuming that they have ‘won ‘ something, but really, there are lots of positives in Brexit that no one seems to be talking about..could that be because the Right chose to support it to destabilize a surging Progressive tide? All over the world, conventional politics are being questioned, if not derided, and all over the world, the young are questioning the very validity of so called ‘democratic’ principles , of politics by committee, and the obviously corrupt and costly situation that is the EU…Farage may think that he’s ‘won’ something, but in fact, the bigots were always with him, but they are a minority..
The problems are with the media, as always a tool of the elites..
Once things settle down – and Blairites quit exploiting the ‘chaos’ by trying, yet again, to unseat the only decent leader that UK  Labor has had for a long while – it might be seen as obviously a good thing that Corbyn didn’t get too involved in the process…why is it that Brits continue to believe that leaders are there to brainwash the electorate..they are there to carry out the will of the people, not to force the people to their will…

Now the BritCons are faced with explaining to the  Leave voters that in fact all the promises they made might  have  been hyperbole..overstated, at best…and Corbyn had nothing to do with that…the bigots who  crawl out from  their sewers and spread filth and fear are always with us, and  they may feel vindicated, but they will soon  find out that their stupidity (how many of them actually voted?)  will be answered with pushback…the young of the  UK are vindicated, they want a one world system to level the playing field and this sort of thing will cause them to vote in vast numbers, like never  before, for progressive candidates who  share their values…you can see something similar in the States happening with  Clinton looking less and less like the progressive she  tries to convince voters that she is, and more like the corrupt  Dem/Rep inseparable from  her supposed  rivals …

The fact that Corbyn didn’t  bite is  a  positive for me, and shows foresight…let them hang themselves  Jeremy, watch and wait and strike at election timed..those who appreciate your stance will be with you, and I believe,  like  Bernie Sanders,  you will prevail..