September 30, 2012

Profiles of (marginal) Canadians: Eddie Shack!

When I was a little kid, my favorite hockey player was Eddie Shack (#23). Its not because he was all that great, in fact by the time I became a fan of his, he was already the Joe Shlabotnik of Hockey. The first time I met Eddie was when I was in grade 1, and he came to our school to promote reading. Shack was basically illiterate. He was an apprentice meat cutter who tried out for the OHA on lark, thinking that he didn't have a chance, and would just go back to becoming a butcher. Instead, he won 4 cups with the leafs, and became a fan favorite.

Clear the track, here comes Shack! by the Secrets

Takes out the glass and starts a fight


Picks a fight with the St. Louis Blues and then chickens out


Becomes a spokesperson for just about everything because of his fun character



*just in the mood for some random nostalgia today!

September 27, 2012

Come Nov 7th

Obama will be in the white house, and hopefully more Dems in congress. But the religious right, purveyors of war, Wall street elite and the army of corporate lobbyists aren't about to give up. Casting a ballot is an essential first step in prevent a Republican catastrophe, but thats only the beginning.

Come November 7th, push left. Push HARD left, and keep pushing, so that maybe if we're lucky we'll see something that resembles what used to be the center. On Nov 7 2016, it might be Jeb smiling and waving, so a lot of work must be done before then.

The president and congress (and likely a supreme court pick) must be pushed leftward to address:
the environmental crisis that we are in.
They must be pushed left to restore civil liberties that have been eroded over the last 11 years.
They must be pushed left to create jobs that are sustainable and meaningful.
They must be pushed left to accept that 'market based solutions' and trade agreements are creating an extreme amount of wealth for the very few, and are simply a re-branding of "trickle down" economics.
They must be pushed left to accept that capitalism as we know it is deeply flawed and getting worse, and band aids aren't enough anymore.

As individuals it is incumbent upon each one of us to hold elected representatives feet to the fire. It is also incumbent upon every person to reevaluate whether their worth is calculated by the contents of their wallets, or the contents of their hearts. Every person who has a stake in the future should start realizing the status quo is crashing, and its up to us to decide whether we want to crash and burn, or manage a soft landing.

September 5, 2012

The game is much bigger now.

The stakes are higher, and the whole world is involved. Never before have so many people been able to communicate and organize, and never before has the right to communicate and organize been more important and at risk. If a free and open Internet ever falls to corporate control, then the 1% gain our greatest tool. If civil liberties continue to be curtailed in the guise of 'security', than the 1% will never fear retribution for their corruption.

These rights are bigger than political parties, as are the just grievances of an educated and connected generation that can now discuss corruption, examine propaganda and question the entire system that previous generations were resigned to accept as intrinsically unchangeable. What scares the PTB the most is not that people will temporarily snub the sugar coating, but that they'll realize that what their eating is economic,social and environmental soylent green.