Hypocrisy Alert

I was just announced that George Galloway, an outspoken peace activist and British MP, will not be allowed into Canada because of his ties with a terrorist organization. This organization being Hamas. However, it has been noted throughout the blogging world of bit of hypocrisy that Jason Kenney, minister of immigration and the person in charge of Galloway's denied access, has been involved with since it was he who addressed a anti-Iranian government group, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), a year after it was declared a terrorist organization by the Canadian government. 

I first heard of the piece a few days ago on a progressive blog by an American by birth, Canadian by choice. 

Thousands March in London to welcome the G20

Books not Bombs!

While the US wages a war with Islamic terrorists along the Pakistani Border, American ex-pats are waging a more important campaign. A campaign of education and information. Education is the only thing that can save the world from humans and save humans from other humans. Women's literacy is the single most important criteria to know how "developed" a nation is. Education is also critical for the consolidation of democracy. Educated women are also far more likely to have fewer children to aid in our over population crisis. The importance of education and information should not be over estimated.  Education is Liberation!

Little Bill O'reilly

Free Documentaries

I am a big fan of documentaries so here is a short list of a few websites that offer free streaming documentaries. 

Documentary24

Freedocumentaries.org

Freedocumentaries.net

Surfthechannel.com

Enjoy!

Terrorizing Dissent

A four part series of documentary films were introduced to me last fall that covered the protests at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in St. Paul Minnesota last August. The footage is quite shocking as police proceed to make mass arrests and use whatever means necessary to disperse the crowds. Over 30 journalists were arrested during raids and mass arrests including Amy Goodman from Democracy Now! The footage has very little commentary but very shocking footage and I highly recommend it if you love direct action the way I do. Follow the link here. 

Break Dancing in Phnom Penh

Since this "blog" is for my Globalization class I thought this video was the perfect of example of globalization. It is a video about a youth center in the capital of Cambodia. This youth group teaches break dancing but also life and social skills.

Japanese Whaling

I've been strongly supportive of animal rights for as long as I can remember and here is an article I wrote in the Meliorist in Fall 2008 regarding the Japanese Whaling efforts and the defense of these creatures by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, of the most entertaining direct action groups out there. 

Whaling

On November 17th, 2008, the Japanese whaling fleet set sail to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to conduct “research,” which involves the industrial slaughter of 1 000 whales.

The whaling industry has had a long and dark history, which dates back almost six thousand years. However, with the invention of new technology, the industry has grown in size and destructive capacity, hunting many species into near extinction and some populations into complete extinction. In 1946, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) was created to conserve whale stocks and make it possible for the whaling industry to continue to hunt “sustainably.” Initially, the IWC was dominated by whaling nations and took an “anything goes” approach.

By the 1970s, the number of whales had been reduced drastically to the point where only a handful of species remained off the threatened or endangered species list. In response, the global anti-whaling movement persuaded the majority of nations involved in the IWC to press for a complete moratorium on commercial whaling by 1986. This meant that no whales could be hunted commercially anywhere in the world. However, the moratorium had some very large loopholes. Whaling could be conducted if it was for “scientific research” or “aboriginal subsistence programs.” This allowed nations who wished to continue whaling to do so under the pretext of conducting ‘research.’

Nations that have continued whaling under the banner of research (or just completely rejected the IWC moratorium) include Japan, Norway, Faroe Islands and Iceland, as well as some small aboriginal communities in Russia and the Caribbean. International pressure has forced some of these nations to halt operations temporarily, but the Japanese continue to be the largest and most vocal opponents to the ban.

The Japanese whaling fleet is operated by the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), which is a privately owned, non-profit organization. Once the “research” is completed, the whale carcass is given to Kyodo Senpaku, a for-profit government subsidized company that processes the whale meat for global markets. Kyodo Senpaku sells $60 million worth of whale meat every year. One of the provisions of the IWC moratorium requires that any whale killed for research must not be wasted, which is very convenient for those wishing to make a quick buck off the industry.

The Japanese plan to catch 1 000 whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary off Antarctica this year with their industrialized fleet. The fleet includes several spotter boats, two “killing” boats and a large factory ship to process and package the whale meat. The fleet left the Japanese port city of Hiroshima amid tight security. A Kyodo Senpaku spokesperson has said that it cannot disclose any information regarding its departure out of consideration for the safety of the crew.

Ironically, the “research” being conducted this year is to determine the natural mortality rate and age of the whales. This is the only research needed by the IWC that requires the death of the whale; the only way to tell definitively how old a whale is is to examine a part of the inner ear. This is a piece small enough to fit in the palm of your hand and its extraction requires the death of the animal.

These actions by the Japanese fleet are not going unopposed. Australia and New Zealand, which both claim territorial rights to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, are both strongly opposed but have done little to stop the hunt. Strong opposition has also come from the United States and the European Union, but since most of the whale meat is sold within Japan, few economic actions can be taken to punish those engaging in the hunt. However, pressure on the Japanese government has grown over the years and has forced the whale industry to cut its quota in the last year.

Greenpeace have also been vocal and aggressive critics of the slaughter of whales ever since the organization was founded in 1971. They have used non-violent direct action to try and interrupt the whaling fleet by recording the killing and sending the videos to world media sources, as well as using small boats to drive between the kill ships and the whales to prevent the ships from firing their harpoons.

Another (and much more controversial) group called the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has been very active in the anti-whaling campaign. The group is led by Paul Watson, who was a co-founder of Greenpeace, but was kicked out for being too radical. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society have been labeled as pirates and terrorists. They have a long history in direct conflict with whaling, including the sinking of nine whaling vessels around the world. The most notable was the scuttling of half the Icelandic whaling fleet in the 1980s by two Sea Shepherds with monkey wrenches.

The group caught worldwide attention last year when they tossed bottles of Butyric Acid (rancid butter) on the decks of the Japanese factory ship, making the deck unworkable because of the horrendous smell. They also had two activists climb aboard the Japanese ship and attach themselves to the ship while delivering a handwritten message to the captain. These actions were heavily condemned in the international community, but also celebrated by many global citizens. In the conflict, Paul Watson was shot in the chest by an unknown gunman. Fortunately for Watson, he was wearing a Kevlar vest (which he always wears) because the Ecuadorian Mafia has a contract out for his death. The incident was caught on tape and relayed around the world. The Sea Shepherds are currently docked in Melbourne, Australia, and are ready to deploy and interfere with the whaling operations. They also currently have a series on Animal Planet called “Whale Wars,” which has highlighted last year’s campaign.

The combined efforts of Greenpeace and the Sea Shepherds resulted in a disappointing catch season for the Japanese fleet in 2007-2008. The fleet missed its quota by almost half, citing environmental groups as the main reason.

This year’s whale hunt is sure to bring action to the high seas as the two opposing sides come head to head once again. While international pressure is mounting and many young Japanese have disapproved of the hunt, the slaughter will continue in the name of “research.”

Melirorism V. 2.0

I found out how to post articles so I will post my articles here but if you want to see the official web version follow the links below. 

Democracy Lost While we Watched

Once again, the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta has been successful in eroding democracy without provoking even ripples of concern among the vast majority of the Albertan population.

The March 2008 election was the most chaotic and ill-managed election in recent Canadian history. Up to twenty-five percent of the voting population were left off voting lists and had to be sworn in at the ballot stations. The Elections Alberta website also crashed on voting day so that those who did not receive voting cards had to search their neighbourhood to find their ballot station, often to find it was the wrong one. This fiasco resulted in a dismal 41 per cent voter turnout among registered voters, meaning that it is possible that as few as 30 per cent of eligible Albertans granted the Ed Stelmach government an “overwhelming” mandate to govern.

As a result of the election fiasco, Lorne Gibson, Alberta’s chief electoral officer, put forward numerous suggestions of how to improve Alberta’s creaky electoral system. Suggestions included having returning officers, people who oversee elections, be selected on a non-partisan basis and not from within the membership of the Progressive Conservative Party. Another suggestion was to give the chief electoral officer the power to prosecute offences of the Election Act such as violations of campaign finance. Currently, the power to prosecute rests with the Alberta department of justice, which is headed by Allison Redford, a PC MLA. This is important because nineteen campaign finance violations were reported in the 2008 election and the Alberta Department of Justice has failed to act on even one.

These suggestions where by no means “radical” and would be expected in any liberal democracy; it’s important to note that not one of Gibson’s one hundred recommendations has been acted upon.

However, Gibson, for his work was essentially fired last week when an “all-parties” committee decided not to renew his contract by an eight to three vote. I have placed “all-parties” in quotations because while the committee contains members of all the parties represented in the Alberta legislature, the eight votes not to renew Gibson’s contract came from the eight PC members on the committee while the three dissenting votes came from the opposition members.

The Progressive Conservatives have claimed that Gibson’s contract was due to expire and he was not offered a new one because of the calamity of the March 2008 election. However, while Gibson was responsible for the election, he claims he duties were restricted because he required returning officers to conduct proper enumeration. As mentioned above, these returning officers are appointed by within the structure of the PC party. These returning officers were not appointed in time for Gibson’s office to do the work, which led to the disorganized election.

Gibson claims his dismissal was politically motivated, and it’s tough to argue against such a claim, since it was only weeks ago that he released his critical report on the election. But this act sends deep chills into the spines of Albertans who care about democracy and care about keeping the “government” separate from the party that governs. Many positions in our government are independent positions and act on behalf of democracy and Albertans as a whole. This is to prevent the kind of situations found in dictatorial regimes where the governing party does as they wish without any barriers. Gibson’s position held one of those positions and this action sends a dangerous message to other independent legislative officials such as the auditor general, ethics commissioner and ombudsmen, who may hesitate next time they have something critical to say of the government.

This is just one many cases where the PCs have been successful at eroding democracy. With a party that has governed the province for over forty years, it is becoming increasingly difficult to view the difference between the Progressive Conservative Party and the government as a whole. Yet stories like this barely make a wave among Albertans and these incremental steps at eroding democracy fail to make the majority of the Albertan populace to even reflect on the state of democracy in this province. Perhaps this will just become another sad story in Alberta’s history of apathy and political disengagement.

Downstream streaming online.

Here is the link to the film "Downstream" which looks at the effect of the Alberta Tar Sands on the communities (generally aboriginal communities like Fort Chipewyan). The film has caused quite a stir and was short listed for an Academy Award. The film was also the target of the Alberta minister for arts who called for a closer inspection of what types of projects got provincial funding because this film was very critical of the government. Which makes it sound like the minister of arts wants to only fund pro-government films and thats propaganda ...or "P.R."

Melirorism V. 1.0

The following is an article by myself in The Meliorist, the University of Lethbridge's student newspaper. This article appear in late september or early october. 

.... however, for some reason I cannot paste the article to here so here is the link. (I'm not sure if it's a problem with my computer or a strategy to avoid plagerism)

And this is a link to my other articles and letters to the editor.