Canada Has Lost it's Democracy

I can't even start to translate what is going on in our supposed "democracy" except to say that I don't see it as a democracy at all anymore. We have been taken over by Harper - that there was hints at his dictatorship type of leadership before the last election. Anyone who voted for the Conservatives should be hanging their heads low right now, of course unless you are part of that 1% - Then you can say "we won".

So many of us have had our noses to the grind stone, that we can't even see what is going on around us, no less any means to act out and try to inform others. And anyway... those that try and make aware are ridiculed and bastardized.

I have, in the last few months even, been looking at a large quantity of documentaries and following bread crumbs that some have been leaving. If you don't have the time to follow these trails, I don't blame you, but trust me when I say that you need to slow down a little and take a good look around and analyze who actually has your best interests at heart. Hint: it isn't any of the current politicians.

Elizabeth May however, was the only one in Parliament to bring the issue of the China trade treaty to the light of day. What is going on with the rest of our elected officials - NDP and Liberal included that did NOT bring up this issue of Harper selling us out to China??

There is no democracy or justice left in this system in Canada. I will no longer be a Canadian if this is allowed. Australia, with a comparable population and set of values has said NO to this type of exploitation.

This is insane to allow Harper to continue on this path unchallenged. Who voted for this? Was this in his mandate when he ran for election? Did anyone have any idea what he had planned? NO NO NO. For issues this large that will affect our democracy, and Canadian's decisions on what we want to do with the Tar Sands should not be decided for us by 1 person that is intimidating all the rest that are collecting their pay cheque from the government coffers.

The tar sands or any other resource belongs to the population of all Canadians. Why would we want to allow any politician the ability to sell that out. Every resource that lays in the ground of Canada should belong to every Canadian. As a Canadian, do you believe that you are benefiting from that extraction? I don't believe that I am or anyone else is, unless they have a job that is directly related.

The extraction of resources in the West here is becoming catastrophic. Corps that are making HUGE profits are not concerned about all the people downstream of their operations and they are getting away with HUGE environmental damage.

The extermination of peoples.... I would compare it to no difference to Hitler's extermination, or Sadam Husein's poisoning of his people. There is knowingly contamination of water sources of people (especially First Nations) all along the Athabasca. I knew the river as a turquoise most beautiful thing I had seen in Canada (1983), clean and pure fed from glaciers. From what I have seen now, I am disgusted.

Can we recall Harper? Wasn't there enough anomalies with the election process to allow for the question of whether Harper should have a "majority" government right now? I demand that we have a new election. It's not that unusual to have an election within the 4 year mandate, especially when the government is suggesting something  outside of the mandate that was proposed at their re-election.

Further, let's make it law that no leader can propose laws and meaningful changes to the Canadian form of business values without that being at least on the mandate at election, or then proposed as a referendum!!!

Earthlings: A Film about the Human Use and Abuse of Animals

This film deals with humanity's use and mistreatment of animals in food, clothing, as pets, entertainment, and in experimentation.

Earthlings - Watch the Documentary <~ see video - Director Shaun Monson

Earthlings.com <~  Nation Earth web site

Anybody and everybody that consider themself to be an "animal person" or eats meat and/or dairy products probably needs to see this. I have no affiliation except that I have watched the film.

WARNING: It is disturbing and DO NOT allow children to see it that will be sensitive, because it will likely give them nightmares!!! Seriously - I'm 46 and having a hard time dealing with a few of the images.

The only thing that I saw in the film that is debatable is the fur seal slaughter. I believe that that is not done anymore. White coats/baby seals are no longer harvested, but adult seals are. They call it a sustainable hunt. My jury is out on that one. Feel free to make comments to this post after watching the film or about the general use and abuse of animals in our world.

It's hard to deny the images. There is nothing that I can tell is fake, and it doesn't really matter what all the #s and statistics are. These things do happen. The proof is in the video clips. It is really disgusting how some people can be so callous to other living things. And I do believe that the slaughter house type of abuse goes on ALL the time EVERYDAY. Think about the recent meat recall from Excel Foods, an Alberta meat packing house [link to that story below]). There is no denying that there are thousands (up to 1 million per year) of shelter pets being put down and disposed of as garbage. The disturbing pictures of animals being kept in horrible conditions, killed, and skinned (while still alive in some cases), all for someone's vanity of a fur coat are unacceptable.

I realize that this film is intended to create an awareness that is aimed at growing the Vegan movement. Regardless of whether you intend to be or are Vegan, or if you want to continue eating meat and dairy products, we should all be aware of how animals are treated in the food production system. We need to all become more aware and pressure all involved along the chain of production to do better.

There needs to be a change in the way all domestic and wild animals are treated. The corporate model only tries to seek more and more profit and efficiencies, without regard to the animal's welfare. And then the live transport to the slaughter house, where again the workers are forced to manage a production line that is too fast to properly deal with the animals in a humane and respectful way.

Animals that are raised and kept for the intention of food need to be respected and revered while living and for eventually giving the ultimate sacrifice of their lives for human benefit. We need to ensure that they are treated humanely and with respect in every step of the production line, including ample sized pens or cages, fresh air, natural feeds, and the most natural existence we can possibly provide.

Growth hormone treatments need to be abolished. Growth hormone is not allowed in Canada’s dairy industry, but I believe it is still being used in the USA. It is a horrible injustice to the cow and causes unnecessary infections and suffering and therefore, more antibiotics, which all filters into the milk, cheese and butter. The use of antibiotics and hormones has been linked to other effects down the food chain and into humans and our water supply, including antibiotic resistant diseases in animals and humans.

I want to advocate going back to the local family farming model that can allow the animals to live a decent natural and social life, where there is less disease and stress and thereby allows the animal to be healthy and not require ongoing antibiotic injections, and less vaccinations. The meat we eat will be purer and more natural and not cause unforeseen cancers or side effects down the road. As well, the government needs to allow for more local abattoirs (slaughter and meat cutting) where consumers can see the cleanliness or humanness of the operation. Until we conduct the business of food animals in a transparent manner, we should all be worried about the animal products that you are feeding to yourself or your family members.

National Post XL Foods to Reopen Slaughtering Plant After E-coli Recall

Issue 193 - Consolidation

Check the date: 24/7/01?

Protect Marine Sanctuaries

Avaaz - Save the Southern Ocean   <~ click to sign quick and easy petition

We need this same thing for the Arctic Ocean as well. They are all just chomping at the bit for more of the sea ice to melt so that they can open it to shipping. So that tankers carrying everything from food to oil, can navigate the northern route. And then what happens when the inevitable occurs - tankers run aground. 

Environment over profit; sure would be nice, but are the leaders there yet? I don't have a lot of faith that they are. 

We absolutely need marine park sanctuaries to allow fish stocks and the entire ecosystem to recover from overfishing.

The Usual Suspects - Stifling Solar Energy

Avaaz - China Solar Panels - <- click to sign a quick and easy petition.

So this is not very encouraging... that the government would worry about protectionism of economic factors over protectionism of the environment. When will they figure out that the economy will cease to exist without a healthy environment and that everything will function properly once we get on the proper path towards integration of all factors towards living in balance with nature?

The entire premise behind free/global trade was to allow certain countries to specialize, so that whoever was more efficient or better equipped to produce any particular good, would do so and that it would all balance out and there would be more efficiency worldwide. Well, if that is or was the case, then why would we want to penalize China - of all places - that has soaring growth and energy demands, from producing low cost solar panels that could benefit all of us in addressing the most pressing concern of climate change? I'm going to take a wild guess and say that BIG OIL and COAL are no doubt the ones lobbying for the tariffs.

It's sick but apparently true that alternative energy is still being stifled and has been for MANY years. The only difference now is that we are ONTO them and how they have been manipulating us for decades!! Thanks to the internet, we can suss out these schemes and inform each other and not believe in what the controlled bought and paid for mainstream media tell us or more importantly, what they don't tell us!

Send an EMAIL to voice your opinion directly to those in charge!   <~ click to send email
or send email later to:   trade-solar-dumping@ec.europa.eu

Shell Oil Parody - iphone app

Yup its funny except it's not.

Shell Oil Parody
 

Stop Oil Subsidies

This was my exact idea when I started this research project!! If we put just those dollar$ that are going to oil subsidies instead into alternative energy R&D and promotion, we could really make a dent in our carbon emissions, or at least be on the right path. Does anyone believe that there is not enough profit going to oil and gas companies that they should be subsidized?

Our government is also SPENDING our tax dollar$ (I read somewhere $25 MILLION) on propaganda campaigns that are PRO-OIL/TAR SANDS. If you haven't seen some of these ads, they paint a very pretty, rosy picture of the entire industry and make claims about responsible resource development and environmental standards, remediation, and all the jobs of course, etc. BLAH, BLAH, BLAH.

I guess "Responsible Resource Development" requires firing all the scientists (see earlier blog post) and "Streamlining the Review Process", which really means skipping steps that should be taken to protect the environment.

Please go to the link below and very quickly and easily sign the petition to STOP subsidies to BIG OIL and COAL. And to rather invest those dollar$ (1 trillion it claims) into sustainable energy.

G20 - A New Plan to Save the Planet

 

Malalah - One Strong Girl

Malalah is the 14 year old girl who was shot in the head on her way to school because she had been outwardly promoting the education of girls in Pakistan. This was an outrageously cowardly act of the Taliban who claimed responsibility for shooting Malalah and said that they would do it again.

By clicking on the link below, you can join Avaaz.org - The World in Action and sign a petition, and learn more about the issues.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/malalahopenew/?cJnEBdb

This next link goes to I am Malalah page of The Office of the UN Special Envoy for Global Education

http://educationenvoy.org/press
 

In wake of Amanda Todd suicide, MPs to debate anti-bullying motion

Here is the CTV background story just in case you live under a rock and don't yet know what the issue is about.

In wake of Amanda Todd suicide, MPs to debate anti-bullying motion | CTV News#commentsForm-334552
 

Potential Solution - Amanda's Law

 

This is an open and public letter written by: Janice Plante TO: Anyone that cares to read it. If you either share or republish the letter, please do so in its entirety or excerpts with proper quotation, and credit to Janice Plante with the use of the idea/concept or portions of the actual text.

OK so I got an idea.... on the subject of Bullying and Amanda Todd.

Everyone of all ages need protection from people who would republish any type of nudity/personal photos created for their eyes only. Anyone of any age might at some point do this and it should be illegal to then distribute that photo without that person’s (the subject of the photo) written or any other type of CONSENT.

It needs to be adopted into the Criminal Code and not just a tort/civil action that would require litigation. It could be classified in the Criminal Code under sexual assault/exploitation. Without going into too much legal detail here, the limitations of the existing statute allows for the type of abuse that haunted Amanda and others.

Write the statute so that consent to publish is NEVER implied and that explicit consent needs to be made in writing in order for anyone to publish any photo involving nudity in which they are not the subject.  This could go further to say that no one would be allowed to possess pictures of nudity in which they cannot prove consent. eg; if someone downloaded pornographic material from a web site, for money or free, then they are not criminally responsible, but the web site needs to prove consent. However, the person who downloaded that material, MAY be held criminally responsible if they REPUBLISH without the consent of the person that is the subject in the photo, or the source of the material.

This type of law would not limit the age of anyone involved or their position of authority; Just a blanket, simple law that everyone can understand.

NO ONE CAN PUBLISH ANY PHOTO THAT INVOLVES ANY NUDITY, IN WHICH THE PUBLISHER IS NOT THE SUBJECT, AND THAT NO OTHER PERSON BESIDES THE PUBLISHER IS IN THE PHOTO, WITHOUT THE EXPLICIT WRITTEN CONSENT OF THE SUBJECT(S) IN THE PHOTO/VIDEO/PRINT MEDIA/INTERNET STREAM/ETC.

Dany Morin of the Federal NDP Party is trying to present a motion on a strategy to prevent bullying. Well, that's all fine and good, but it still doesn't address the problem in an effective manner. We don't need more studies, or more delay until the public forgets about this latest instance. What we need is to provide funding on the ground to the front lines in providing grassroots support for anyone of any age that is being exploited or blackmailed, embarrassed and humiliated by the actions of a scorned boyfriend/girlfriend or anyone else’s use of media in which they are not the subject, that is negatively affecting someone else.

There should already be some legalities in place, but they are not in the public’s knowledge and they definitely are not being enforced. Law enforcement needs to be educated and empowered to assist people who are facing exploitation and defamatory libel.

Maybe because these things are occurring on the WWW/internet, there is confusion about jurisdiction.  At first, there were some reports that the harassers of Amanda were in the USA. An International or at least a North American covenant could be conjured up and accepted, or jurisdiction by jurisdiction enact laws and statutes that deal with this issue and allow for cross-border prosecution. Let’s leave the door open for every local politician to claim some kudos by putting forward some motions to amend the law.

And so, that is my idea of a PARTIAL solution.  It does not completely address teenage bullying, but it does put a lid on what has become an issue for a significant amount of young people. As well, it is easy to provide evidence through cell phone and computer technology. To me, it would seem like an easy fix to just expand some of the discourse in the Criminal Code to include this new type of exploitation through social media. Social media and the damage it can cause is a modern issue that now needs to be addressed. It will only become more and more prevalent as those who grew up with it use it to its maximum abilities to their own benefit or to the detriment of others. Let’s nip it in the bud and not allow this type of media to be used by spiteful or otherwise ill-intentioned people. This technology has the potential to be a substantial influence and allow for awareness when used properly. Let’s hold those accountable that chose to abuse the freedom of expression and limit it to their own expression and not what others may have disclosed in a moment of vulnerability!

Free Energy Magnet Motor (Engine)