Rex in all his controversy...
Photo Credit: National Speakers bureau

As of late anyone reading InformedVote will have noticed the writings of Brian Gordon and his vitriol against Rex Murphy. Now, don’t get me wrong, there are litanies of reasons why I too personally despise the man, but I cannot bring myself as far as Mr. Gordon to demand that he be obligated to report what Brian thinks is the true NEWS.

Before digressing into the whole issue of “what is NEWS”, let us clear up a few things on the topic of Rex Murphy. Like most people from western Canada I find him uncouth, unsophisticated, and possessing of the ranting-ignoramus-fisherman personality us Westerners are often too eager to paint on anyone born east of Riviere de Loop. As unfair as we out West may be at times, the painting of this brush on Rex has, for ontological reasons, been fair. My own problem with Rex is not that he has strong opinions, just that when I look at his analysis it appears that he sets out to take contrarian views (often actually popular minority opinions) simply for the opportunity to intentionally produce a rant that will both offend a predictable opposition, but at the same time not be so extreme as to create any serious blow-back from a unified Canadian front. Let me be clear on this – I believe Rex does this intentionally, calculated, methodically, and simply to be in the spotlight. This is precisely why I, and no one else who takes seriously thought, learning, and writing, can honestly have a soft spot for the man. One cannot purposely be a contrarian; being a contrarian is a burden that one bears BECAUSE one has sought out truth – this is supposed to be an involuntary burden. Now for ontology…
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This is my first blog for informedvote, my name is Noah and I’m a History major at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. History and politics are my passion and I look forward to sharing my opinions through this blog.

Israel Apartheid Week (IAW) is an international campaign touring University campuses across the United States and Canada, aimed at “enlightening” young people in North America about the injustices Palestinians face in within Israel. My problem lies not within the content, because I strongly believe everyone should be able to fight for what they believe in, but within the execution.

The Israel Apartheid week campaign simply feels like a campaign based on centuries of hate. The severity of this hatred is clear through the campaign’s main poster, depicts a helicopter labeled “Israel” shooting a rocket at a small boy holding a teddy-bear. This picture grossly misrepresents the nature of a conflict thousands of miles away, within circumstances unimaginable. This picture also shows absolutely no respect to the civilian victims on either side of the conflict, be them men, women, or children.
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Internet neutrality is an issue of vital importance to all Canadians. As the last bastion of free speech on this planet, it is of crucial importance that we fight vigorously to retain the open nature of the Internet. If the CRTC allows providers to throttle the internet, large networks will prioritize US programing at the expense of documentaries, public forums and independent media sources such as Youtube.

I implore each and every one of you to take action by visiting saveournet and sign the CRTC petition voicing your opinion on this issue.
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