Freedomland

When I was a kid/teen, I didn’t feel comfortable with the idea of moving to America. Not only cause all my stuff was here in the great white north, but because I found their gun laws completely terrifying. That so called land of opportunity down south was also a land of terrible violence.

When I was officially an adult and went off to university, I added another factor to my “I Don’t Want To Move To America” list: lack of universal healthcare. Since I was finally living away from home, I was facing the new experiences of visiting campus health centres and getting my own prescriptions. At first I grumbled about having to fork out any sort of money for medication, until I realized how lucky I was that it was the only thing I paid for, and that at a discount. I don’t pay for doctor’s visits or exams or routine tests, even during the times I was without employee benefits.

My twenties and teens are now long behind me and I’m seeing the world from a much more adult perspective. And add to the list another reason why moving to America terrifies me: anti-abortion laws. I just can’t fathom that a nation and the people (let’s be real, the MEN) who govern it could be so hostile to truth and agency and compassion towards half the population. I want no part of that! In fact I wish I could do more to change things down south but hey, I’m not USian.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to move and live someplace else in the world but I know it’ll never stick. For what it’s worth, my heart is stuck in Canada. :)

Jack Layton = #WIN

Goodbye To Canada's Champion For Social Justice

I’ve been meaning to write a post about Jack Layton for a few days now, but I’m finding it hard to come up with anything meaningful without revealing my political practices and affiliations for all the internet to see. Let me just say that when I came in to work Monday morning and my coworker casually mentioned that he had passed away, my first reaction was "haha very funny". Then I realized she wasn’t joking. I was shocked, in disbelief, and immediately scurried online to see if it was true. Honestly, I felt somewhat betrayed by fate, that right when the NDP was poised to make some great changes to the arena, its champion was taken away so suddenly. It wasn’t fair that Layton would never be able to take his party to the heights he had dreamed and worked so hard for. But the nation-wide outpouring of grief and condolences showed me I wasn’t alone in feeling so bad, and then when his letter was released, so full of optimism and hope, it felt good knowing that even in the end, Layton reached out to the country and encouraged everyone to make his legacy come true.


I don’t know if the NDP will falter now without it’s charismatic leader. But I’ll be going to the state funeral on Saturday with a bottle of Orange Crush. I’ll be remembering the one time I met Jack Layton, a few years ago at Earth Hour. He was just part of the crowd at Yonge-Dundas Square, enjoying the atmosphere like any other citizen, while graciously taking the time to speak with anyone who approached him. We briefly chatted about Earth Hour and how we hoped it would be a success that year, and then he was off to a couple who wanted a photo with him.

Seems like only yesterday I was ROTFLing over Layton using the words "hashtag" and "bling-bling" during the national debate. He will be sorely missed.

Liberal Thoughts

When parents neglect their children, we (rightly) call it criminal. When governments neglect their people, well, we might call it criminal if that government is a dark-skinned warlord who's stealing food intended for his country's starving citizens. But when a "civilized" government neglects to provide choices, resources, options for meaningful work, opportunities for participation in conversations about national needs and identity, cultural inclusion, some basic sense of being valued, to its citizens, we call that "democracy," and call criminal any display of frustration, despondency, rage at that grotesque injustice.

Read the whole post here at Shakesville, regarding the riots in London.

Crooks And Liars

Okay, well, needless to say I’m disappointed but unsurprised that Ford is now mayor of Toronto. Politics are so disheartening. I find that what’s happening up here is very similar to how I feel about politics in America as well. I don’t want to vote for the Conservative party, so I vote for the Liberals, but the problem is that ideologies aside, both parties are corrupt as hell and drunk on power and waste no time in screwing over the people.

I was going to say that I should run for city councilor because I know that I could do a way better job than the rest of these heartless monkeys, but then I realized that I live in a city full of greedy idiots. Clearly, I need to drive around in a van all day long, passing out feminist pamphlets in the hopes that my brothers and sisters finally WAKE UP. :P

Would You Stay Mine From Dawn Till Night

I hope my neighbours aren’t sick of Alex Gaudino yet; this past weekend was only the beginning. LOL.



I also seem to be feeling a lot of Rihanna lately. I’ve discovered this new song of hers that features my man Drake, called “What’s My Name”. (Note: all the versions on YouTube are sped up or slowed down, this one is sped up.)



Finally there’s the Rihanna song that’s all over the radio right now, “Only Girl (In The World)”. I actually didn’t like the song much when I heard it on the radio, but I saw the video on the weekend and it struck me as so joyful yet frantic too, somehow sensual and innocent at the same time, like she’s created a visual interpretation of what falling in love feels like. Kudos to her, I love it.



I can’t wait to play this song on Audiosurf. Perhaps tonight. Perhaps this instant, since I have the mayoral elections results already and now know that Toronto is (as I suspected) full of GREEDY IDIOTS. *headdesk*

My Thoughts...

... on the Toronto election, summarized in three words.


Yep, that about says it.

Too bad I think he's going to win. :(

Whoa, Unexpected!

Oh hey, I hear Prop 8 was overturned! Good times for my Cali peeps.

In commemoration, a happy song about love: Lollipop by Mika.



Cheers, y'all.

OH TORONTO NO

Thank god I fled the city this weekend. Good lord.

From CBC's Amber Hildebrandt, who has been in the crowds speaking to the protestors and the curious:

Beyond the masses of protesters and police and media, there is the contingent of curious onlookers, both citizens and tourists alike, who either get caught up in the madness or seek it out.

Finding it is not hard. Not only because following Twitter makes it exceedingly easy to track down the hot zones, but also because the entire downtown core has become a demonstration or standoff waiting to happen. Listen closely and you will hear the cop walkie talkies screech the latest news or you'll see a protester waving people in the "right" direction.

Among the people I have met are a 16 year old who secretly came down to the protest by the security fence and an 80 year old woman on Bay who asked the riot police to let her through to go to the pharmacy (the answer was no). She simply sat down on her walker to wait it out, unperturbed by the protesters shouting expletives at the riot police in front of her. She mumbled something about them not having money, but having too much time.

I also met a trio of tourists from Cincinnati in Toronto for three days, who had no idea the G20 was here... Until they arrived this afternoon and noticed Pearson airport was abuzz with unusual activity.

Joan Blumberg, 71, said she came down with her friend Nancy and Nancy's daughter, Martha, for a fun-filled weekend and decided to check out some of the action at Wellington Street and Simcoe, where police were evacuating folks away from the fence.

"I keep thinking about the criticism the police are gettig for not taking charge. But it doesn't look that way to me. I appreciate the restraint," said Blumberg.

Viola Baker will have a lot to tell her friends on Monday morning. The nine-year-old got to watch the action on Queen Street as riot police rushed to cordon off the streets leading north.

Standing on Beverley Street with her dad, Jeff, she said, "it's kinda scary but exciting at the same time."

Her dad, who works in film post-production, says he wanted to bring her out to show what a protest was really like. They live nearby on Grange Ave. and were just leaving a birthday party when they decided to drop by.

"(My dad) wants me to know what a real protest looks like so he's just trying to teach me," she said.

Baker, 47, said he wouldn't have brought his daughter if he felt they were in danger. "As soon as they start coming I'm outta here."

Say Non To Bill 94

Today's headline: Niqab gets 2nd Quebec student expelled. Okay, this is getting fricking ridiculous. To paraphrase someone else, forcing a woman to reveal part of her body is no different from forcing her to be covered.

*headdesk* QUEBEC, YOU'RE ON NOTICE. >:(

Snagged From Around The Internet

Today, it is all about the links.

The Bechdel Test and Race in Popular Fiction: an examination of just how short most media falls when put against a PoC version of the Bechdel Test. (Warning: that last link goes to TVTropes.)

How to Be Seriously Frivolous (or, Feminism is For Grownups): "Part of the difficulty in battling sexism and gender assumptions is that they are sometimes subtle, sometimes difficult to tease out. What makes [the book Fascinating Womanhood] so shocking is how blatant it is."

"She’s got you wrapped around her finger": fathers, daughters, and a variation on the myth of male weakness: a new father talks about comments he gets when he's with his daughter and how they propagate misconceptions.

Freed reporters say they were dragged into NKorea: Reporters Laura Ling & Euna Lee say communist soldiers "violently dragged" them back when they returned to Chinese soil after briefly crossing into North Korea.

THIS IS NOT COOL

U.S. journalists in North Korea sentenced to 12 years hard labor

North Korea's sham court convicted Laura Ling and Euna Lee, American journalists for Al Gore's Current TV, for "grave crimes" against the Hermit Kingdom.

I heard the news this morning on the radio while driving to work and my heart totally dropped into my stomach. I don't know why, but Ling and Lee being captured in N. Korea really scares and bothers me. I remember watching Laura's reports on TV and worrying not only about the profound poverty and lies the N. Korean people face, but also for Ling's safety.

Obama and the UN better step things up.

Canadian Content

Daily factoid:

The Dunning-Kruger effect is an example of cognitive bias in which people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it.

Hoo boy, I hate to paint people with the same brush but my first thought after reading this? Fox News. :P

Speaking of Fox News, not going to dwell upon the whole horrible event where the Canadian Forces were mocked on national television. The host apologized, but in a predictably smarmy way. "Misunderstood" my ass.

In other Canadian news (or should I say Torontonian news?) there's a kerfuffle going on over Karen Stintz taking public speaking lessons with the taxpayers' money.

Criticized for talking too fast and sounding "shrill" during city hall meetings, Councillor Karen Stintz decided she needed to do something about it.

So she spent $4,500 (U.S.) for public-speaking lessons last year. Then she got taxpayers to cover the costs.

The vocal opponent of Toronto Mayor David Miller used the services of Lynda Spillane, an author and vocal coach who has advised other female politicians.

Fnargh, I cannot stand the use of the adjective "shrill" when describing a woman's voice. It's a gender-coded insult; how many times are men described as shrill? Shrill is used to dismiss women, to shame them into silence. Using shrill to describe a woman's voice immediately detracts from the content of her message and focuses on its presentation. And isn't that a woman's lot in life, to have her content ignored in favour of her presentation?

And yet, women clearly recognize that to succeed in a man's world, you have to talk like one. Hence the lessons. Not saying that I approve of her using taxpayer money. There's a before and after video at the link above and frankly I think the voice lessons turned her into a lifeless automaton. When she was "shrill", she was speaking passionately and from the heart. Her voice was freaking fine the way it was and haters should have just sit down and shut up instead of criticizing a competent and successful woman's voice of all things.

(As an aside, I've been tweaking zee blog over the past few days. It's looking mighty shiny right about now. :D)

O This Brave New World We Live In

Good work, America. We didn't think you had it in you. :D

After the presidency was called by CNN, I went down to Dundas Square for the 'Welcome Back America' rally for fun. I arrived with a bunch of people after Obama had done his speech, so the party was beginning to disperse but it was still astounding how many people were cheering and chanting and shouting and honking the horns of their cars. We talked about how Canadian politics is so comparatively stale, and how we are all waiting for Justin Trudeau to get more experience. ;)

Waking up this morning, however, I am surprised to find that in some states gay marriage has been banned and gay couples are banned from adopting children. As overjoyed as I am that Obama was elected, I am still happy that I'm in Canada.

(Reactions to the props/initiatives passed.)

Quick Link

What's the Matter With Canada? - How the world's nicest country turned mean. A take on our country's politics by an outsider.