things that make you go......hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Thanks for joining the call to save our forests and rivers.

PM Harper is trying to force through this budget bill quickly, and we need to rally support to get Conservative MPs to stand up to him now.

Help grow this campaign by sending the email below to friends and family, and post this link on your Facebook wall.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/sneak_attack_on_the_environment/?tta

Thanks again for your help,

The Avaaz team

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Dear friends across Canada,

The Harper government is forcing a massive “budget” bill through Parliament that secretly guts our environmental protection laws and threatens our forests, water and wildlife -- we only have days to help stop this outrageous bill before it passes.

This sneak attack would overhaul our social and environmental laws in one fell swoop, giving Harper’s Cabinet complete discretion to approve oil pipeline projects regardless of their impact on threatened species or water. But a member of Harper's own caucus has threatened to vote against it -- we can create an unprecedented outcry calling on Conservative MPs whose districts would be affected by these pipelines to reject the budget. If just one MP breaks ranks, others could follow.

This week, opposition parties are forcing votes on hundreds of amendments -- let’s support them and show Conservative MPs that the budget is too risky to pass unchanged. When 50,000 Canadians sign, we’ll deliver our voices to key Parliamentarians -- sign the petition and forward to everyone:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/sneak_attack_on_the_environment/?tta

22,000 barrels of oil just leaked into Alberta’s wilderness when a pipeline ruptured, yet Harper’s so-called budget bill would systematically undo the environmental protection laws designed to prevent these spills. If this bill became law, Harper and his cronies would have free reign to snake pipelines across threatened habitats, gut the Fisheries Act, and unleash massive amounts of climate-cooking gases into the world's atmosphere.

This bill would also prevent some seniors from receiving the Old Age Security benefit, make deep cuts to the CBC and toughen requirements for Employment Insurance, all while laying off thousands of government employees. Harper gave MPs just four days to debate this 400-page bill, despite the massive legislative changes it contains.

The stakes could not be higher -- this bill would wreak havoc on Canada’s gorgeous natural environment, could have a devastating impact on a generation of seniors and the unemployed and makes a mockery of our parliamentary process. But with a huge public outcry we can show Conservative MPs that constituents across the country will fight Harper’s misguided budget. Click below to sign and forward to everyone:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/sneak_attack_on_the_environment/?tta

Time and again we have raised our voices to triumph over bad policy and corrupt leadership, to promote fairness and vie for responsible government. Let’s show Harper that we won’t back down in this fight for the Canada we know and love!

With hope and determination,

Emma, Ari, Ricken, Laryn, Melanie, Stephanie and the entire Avaaz team

Sources

Andrew Coyne: Bill C-38 shows us how far Parliament has fallen (National Post)
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/04/30/andrew-coyne-bill-c-38-shows-us-how-far-parliament-has-fallen/

Four former ministers protest 'taking the guts out' of Fisheries Act (Globe and Mail)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/bc-politics/four-former-ministers-protest-taking-the-guts-out-of-fisheries-act/article2446031/

‘To allow C-38 to masquerade as a legitimate omnibus bill will bring our institutions into greater disrepute’ (Maclean's)
http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/06/04/point-of-order-2/

It’s time to speak out for nature and democracy (Pembina Institute)
http://www.pembina.org/blog/626

Opposition parties joining forces to delay passage of ‘Trojan Horse’ budget bill (National Post)
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/06/05/opposition-parties-joining-forces-to-delay-passage-of-trojan-horse-budget-bill/

Harper's real agenda visible in budget bill (CBC)
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/05/01/pol-vp-greg-weston-harper-anniversary.html

Old Age Security affordable without changes, watchdog says (CBC)
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/05/17/pol-old-age-security-parliamentary-budget-officer.html

Sunday, March 13, 2011

A pinch of the wheel...

If you had asked him why he was so angry, he normally would have responded with a quick barb to the effect of "I'm not angry, you just don't understand". However, on this day, things played out much differently. Yes. He had intended to hit the dog. Yes... he knew it would come charging out of the lane way, as was its custom. Yes, if this were a murder, it would be considered premeditated. But it was the unsuspecting passenger that was left feeling sick to the core, eyes downcast, trying to understand what had just occurred.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

...

With the banality of his life swarming his thoughts, he quite suddenly swerved at the mongrel, who had greeted him everyday for the past 5 years, en route to and from work. He momentarily thought of stopping to ensure the dog was dead, but there were people stopped on the walkway, and he didn't feel up to explaining his actions. White knuckled, he gripped the wheel of the van and disappeared around the city block.

...

It was more in the vast openness of solitude that he had always been more comfortable anyway, beneath a January-violet sky, enjoying the shimmer and sparkle of the blue snow and distant stars alike. The pending change would have little affect on his life.

....

When he had been told that as a punishment, he would view the world through only a crimson lens, the boy had been taken aback. Was this just? Did the punishment fit the crime? Oh, how his life would change!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

i miss that

... you know that feeling of solitude/smallness/witnessing something so big all by yourself and it's captivating because its importance is so huge at that moment, even if it's only finding yourself in a clearing in the forest that just maybe, maybe no one has experienced at this time on this day from this angle ever before or ever will again? (just maybe)... I miss that. I haven't had it in a LONG time.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Music That Matters

Does music matter anymore? When I was growing up, it did. It mattered a lot. It's tough to put yourself, being 31, because we're all 31-those of us commenting on today's music and wistfully looking back at 1994 as the epicentre of music history-into today's context. There are just a ton of Shitty Shitty bands out there haphazardly put together by record labels, make-up artists, and image manufacturers...BUT, there are bands that matter- some defunct, some that continue to challenge in spite of popular trends, and some that pioneered the popular trends. In the following posts- loosely glossed together over the next while*, I'll post the bands that I think matter to music.