Muammar al Gaddafi at the AU Summit photo credit: wikimedia

In an age characterized by deficits, a number of the most important are occurring within the Middle East and North Africa. Truly, the historic revolutions occurring in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya are of enormous importance to the future of the entire region. It has sparked a wave of democratic momentum that has swept, to some degree, the entire region. For a region caught within the thralls of monumental political movements from democratic capitalism; to communist socialism; to brutal dictatorship, Pan-Arabism and extremist Islam, it has been the voice of the people themselves; those nameless victims, that has been continually suppressed. These revolutions mark a historical precedent, an opportunity for the people to begin the long and arduous process of mending the social fabric torn apart through violence, corruption and mistrust. However, to say that the fight has been all but won would be a gross miscalculation. In fact, as the embattled rulers of these nations begin to vacate their positions of power and privilege, a new battle begins. Their departure causes a gaping hole in the geopolitics of, not only the region, but the entire international structure; one that many parties are anxious to capitalize on.

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Dear readers of InformedVote,

Having talked a big game about change necessary in Canada, I have come to the land of revolution – yes, Egypt. I am currently shooting a documentary that will outline the issues in Egypt’s post-revolutionary circumstances. I have set up interviews with some of the leaders of the January 25th revolution as well as some of the political groups that hope to gain from the revolution. This of course, will be contrasted with the people’s interpretation of it all.

My hope is to show the world that Egypt’s uprising was only possible due to the camaraderie between the baby-boomers and their children – the echo generation. That the post-revolutionary circumstances are an incredibly hard process and that the revolution is not won until the finalized democracy is in place. This will make Egypt’s revolution – I hope – a guide upon which other countries may follow to evoke some of their own change.

Unfortunately, due to the nature, not many people have wished to finance such a film. Thus, I am bringing it out to the people. I wish this film to be a film made by the people, about the people and for the people. So I am asking you, the reader, to please visit my website and donate to ensure that this film be made.

www.taleoftworevolutions.com

Thank you all for your support,

Nadim Fetaih

I have just finished watching the “Rise up Canada” Liberal video on Youtube, and was once again stirred to write. Michael Ignatieff spoke eloquently and passionately about the disarray of Canada under Harper’s government, for what I believe to be the first time. He told the audience to “Rise up” against the oppression of Harper who has been found in contempt of parliament, who has prorogued government twice, who has a man convicted of fraud five times running his campaign, etc.

We all know what Harper has done; we all know about the 5 question max rule that Harper enforces on reporters at any event. We all know that Canada is in disarray, but a man who points out the obvious as Ignatieff continues to do is not a leader. He is not speaking the truth about Canada’s situation. Canada’s 16% corporate tax is the lowest of ANY developed nation in the world. Considering the income taxes that we must all endure (which goes as high as 40% for households that make over $100,000/year) which, by the way, was only meant to be temporary after World War II, a 16% taxation for multi-billion dollar transnational corporations is a slap in our face.

We are the residents of Canada. We are the driving force of the economy; when we have money, the country has money; when we are prosperous, the country is prosperous. Transnational corporations are the leeches of Canada, taking with them billions of profit – made off of Canadian citizens – outside of our borders to faceless CEO’s and stockholders. A measly 16% tax on this means that they are not only saving money to continue but are pleaded to do so by our government. Let us not forget that due to these corporations, our natural resources are being sucked dry, our Canadian companies are either dying out – unable to compete with unethical corporations – or are being bought out as soon as they are found to be profitable.

Congratulations Ignatieff, you are promising to stop the corporate tax cuts that would drop the taxes to around 14%. That will make you the hero that Canada needs right? Wrong! Canada has been passed from one colonialist power to the next; first Britain, then to the United States, and now, to the corporations that govern the world. Canada not only needs, but deserves a man with the (for lack of a better word) balls to stand up against this atrocity. Canada deserves a leader who will raise corporate taxes and drop our income taxes. If transnational corporations leave, I say all the better. Foreign “investment” is the ownership of our culture, country, politics, and social realm. Canada is dying as the corporate leeches continue to bleed us dry and we wonder why there is no more pride to be Canadian.
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The five-week campaign for Prime Minister is to start next week. That means five weeks of political bashing. Five weeks of lies and empty promises. Five weeks of unimportant dribble being spouted out by parties in every spectrum of the political elite. I for one am done with it.

I can no longer sit back and take this abuse of political power any longer. Millions of dollars spent on advertisements bashing a single proponent of the opposition’s case seems more like a highschool “he said, she said” battle than a political campaign. I would like to, instead see some real issues raised. Things like the Liberals in Ontario being as much to blame for the catastrophe of the G20 as Steven Harper.  Or maybe the lowest corporate tax for foreign corporations in any developed nation (sitting at approximately 16% at the moment). Or better yet, the lack of protection for Canadian businesses and the foreign investment (or ownership – however you want to think about it) being pushed then barely scrutinized by governmental offices who are supposed to govern it. Or, the coup d’etat, the potential merger of the TSX with the LSX – and who says we are free from colonialism?

There are a number of different ways to look at these issues. I, for one, would feel a lot more at ease if one – just one – party took the time to face these issues head on. Instead they will likely loom over the usual suspects: tax-cuts, environmental issues, and the economy. But let’s be honest here, the GDP does not – by any means – represent whether or not our country is doing well. It is instead a number, disconnected from the strifes of the common men and women of our country, that does not necessarily matter to anything but the business end of the world. Now it’s time to face the human end of things.

All these politicians keep talking about the future, so how about we do the same? University and college students cannot find decent summer jobs – fact. Student debts continue to rise, along with tuition, with little or nothing else to show for it – fact. It is now near impossible for graduated students to find decent jobs in their field with an undergrad – fact. Colleges and universities are operating more like a company with their billboards and advertisements than a place for higher learning (the classes even reflect that) – fact. Artists – the back bone of any civilization which are single handedly responsible for the origins of a country’s identity – are being destroyed with cuts to funding – fact. Foreign companies are being protected far more than any Canadian country – two acquisitions of over 10,000 of which have been stopped (remember Potash Co.?) – fact.

These are just a few problems that I – as a film student who would not write a script due tomorrow until I finished writing this – can point out in my everyday life. Whatever my issues may be, I know many others have their own. The one thing I can point out is that no politician or political party has any answers to my queries, nor do they have the respect for me to even begin to care about them – and I assume the same goes to you. So what do we do as caring citizens of Canada? Simple. Vote.

I have always followed politics and find it is the civic duty of any citizen of a democratic state to do the same. So, let my own lack of a voice be heard. I will go to the polls with my paper work and hand in an empty ballot. There is not one party that begins to represent any of my beliefs – and same with many of my family and friends’. I will no longer vote for the lesser of evils. I will no longer “throw my vote away”. I will no longer have the hope in empty promises, lies, or stretching of truths. I will show that I am distraught with the lack of true democracy and choice in this nation. I will stand up and not speak when told to – my lack of a voice will say more than any check-mark made in the ballot box.

I have hijacked my vote until my demands are met. Until they are, I have a message to Ignatieff, Harper, and Layton: Your millions spent on advertisements will not sway this voter, only the real issues will.

Bill to scrap long-gun registry will be voted on next week.

Federal politicians prepare for a close vote next week on a Conservative private member’s bill, Bill 391, that seeks to kill the controversial long-gun registry. The vote is set for September 21st or 22nd. Long gun licensing will still be mandatory regardless of the outcome of next week’s vote.

Support among MPs, voters, police officers, and gun-owners seem to be split right down the middle. As conservative MP Ray Boughen said, “At the end of the day you have to wait until people stand up and vote before you know which way they are going to go.”

Read on for the many valid arguments both for and against the registry, which side are you on?
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Plastic wading pool is liberal response t G-8 pavilion.

It appears that fake lakes are springing up all over Canada. First the 1.9 million dollar Muskoka Lake look-alike in the Toronto G-8 pavilion. The simulated lake was created to maximize the experience of reporters who couldn’t make it to Huntsville, Ontario. Liberals, not to be outdone have responded with a faux lake of their own. Their’s ringing in at less than $20.

The difference? While Harper’s display includes cityscapes meant to highlight our economic success as a nation, a bar and a serene backdrop for all-important telecasts Ignatieff’s version is a little less extravagant. It’s made up of a blue plastic children’s wading pool in the Liberal leader’s front yard. The $20 dollar lake comes complete with a “No Diving” sign and life vests for anyone hoping to take a dip in the 3-inch deep water.
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Photo Courtesy of The National Post

How you doing? Sniffly? Sneezy? Got a frog in your throat or a crick in the neck? Do you feel, to use the vernacular, like you want to barf up a lung?

Nope. “Fine.” That’s good to hear. And on that account, I say told you so.

With spring springing and the arrival of longer, warmer days and the promise of fun and excitement in the great outdoors, it’s time to take accounting of the pandemic flu season that just past. Or perhaps that should be non-demic.

I was serving on the Community Editorial Board of my local daily, The Guelph Mercury, this time last year. As the coming swine-flu-pocalypse was starting to break, I waxed sarcastically about the media’s attention to hysteria, and how when all the beans are counted, common medical sense will bear out and all the worry will have been for not.
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Harper: Playing Hardball Credit: Art Threat

In an earlier posting, I had discussed why certain politicians are more successful than others and the influence of Machiavelli on modern politics. Stephen Harper was cited as one of those successful politicians: someone concerned primarily about his own interests and someone willing to do what it takes to succeed. The recent treatment of Helena Guergis for the missteps that she and her husband Rahim Jaffer are alleged to have committed implies self-centered and tough behaviour on the part of Harper. Harper decided to take merely the word of a semi-anonymous source to justify the call for a police and ethics probe and for turfing her from caucus. Although the allegations could be true, clear evidence does not appear to have been presented. Furthermore, at no time does it appear that Harper asked Guergis for her side of the story nor did he inform her about the nature of the allegations. This behaviour seems to bolster earlier descriptions of Harper as a cold opportunist, and someone not particularly fond of women. Many journalists have pointed out that this behaviour allows Harper to remove unequivocally a difficult cabinet minister from Government and from a relatively safe seat that the Tories will probably win again without Guergis.
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Churchill: A Great Leader, Reader & Writer Photo Credit: John Stodder Blog

More books are sold in Canada during the winter months than any other time of the year. It probably has to do with the frequent gift-giving occasions during that time of the year. Stumped for a gift idea, we will often resort to buying books. Most books, however, are probably read during the spring and summer months rather than the winter months. During winter, we are probably too busy trying to keep warm to read too many books.

It is around this time of year that I occasionally reread Winston Churchill’s second volume of his world War II memoirs, “Their Finest Hour”, which after some 55 years after its publication remains an inspiring narrative, composed by one of history’s greatest leaders. Despite the enormous trauma of war, he still found the time to read widely and write eloquent and copious memoranda on a daily basis.

We should follow his lead and try to write or read daily , despite the stress of daily life or the unpleasant cold of winter months. If one is interested in updating their reading lists, I have a few suggestions. In addition to Churchill’s memoirs, history and political junkies will enjoy “Vietnam, If Kennedy Had Lived” by James Blight et al, which was mentioned in an earlier blog posting. Another good book on JFK is Herbert Parmet’s biography “Jack: The Struggles Of John F. Kennedy”. History buffs will also enjoy “Napoleon & Wellington” by Andrew Roberts. This is a unique biography and is not strictly speaking a ‘joint’ biography. Unlike other books that have looked at the showdown between these two military geniuses, it focuses on what each General thought, wrote and said about the other.
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