The Monday lunch blog is back after last week’s holiday with a heads up about two important local events.
Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon’s antics have made for good blog fodder lately, the newest of which include a push for later SkyTrain hours and fiscally unjustifiable turnstiles for SkyTrain stations. He also continues to demonstrate his perseverance against common sense and common opinion by pushing through Bill 43 again — this time with apparent success — in the new session. This new law replaces TransLink with a board of businessmen who will essentially be controlled by the Ministry. All democracy will be removed from processes and, no doubt, “what Falcon wants, Falcon gets.” See Keep Transit Public for more info and be sure to attend the rally Wednesday at 4:30 at Canada Place.
Today in Vancouver and on other dates in various municipalities is a series of meetings related to the Regional Growth Strategy Review. (Thanks for the heads up, Raul!)
In November and December 2007, we will be hosting meetings in your community to talk about regional growth challenges. How can growth be accommodated on a limited land base? How will we provide the housing that will be needed for a growing and aging population? How will we keep Metro Vancouver prosperous and competitive in the global economy? How will people and goods get around in the region?
Come to a meeting in your area to learn more about the issues and options facing our region, and help us choose a sustainable future.
For more information call Metro Vancouver at 604-432-6365.
Tonight’s meeting is at the Vancouver Public Library from 7 to 9 pm.
A brief Monday lunch blog today highlighting some of the best arguments against Gateway so far. Via Beyond Robson.
Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan recently delivered an excellent speech to members of the public about opposition to the Province’s Gateway project. It is one of the most informative and compelling arguments to date. Congratulations on a moving and inspiring speech! Watch the YouTube video.
Corrigan said to visit Burnaby’s website for info.
Hopes of many including Port Moody Mayor Joe Trasolini are now dashed after rumours that Provincial Government funding toward rapid transit in the northeast sector were debunked via the Premier’s office.
According to the article in today’s Vancouver Sun, the only money coming is from the federal gas tax funds distributed to municipalities, that is to “pay for 200 new TransLink buses that use alternative-fuel technologies.” The expansion will also help meet capacity for high-volume routes.
The funding will go toward new buses that will “allow us to make significant improvements in bus service south of the Fraser,” said Suzanne Anton, TransLink director and Vancouver councillor. Most of these will be hybrid electric-diesels. Hopefully the bike racks won’t block the headlights on these ones.
The details on the fleet replacement and expansion (90 extra in service, basically) that will roll out by year’s end is old news. It’s not very comforting since every time TransLink makes “improvements” to bus service, something gets worse.
Campbell’s address at the Union of B.C. Municipalities annual meeting appears to have been all talk and regurgitation, with little concrete information or planning. The main topics were climate change and emissions reduction.
Continue reading Falcon thinks James has it backwards »
The 14 Defining Characteristics Of Fascism
Free Inquiry
Spring 2003
5-11-3
[Source]
(With thanks to Alex for sharing it.)
Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism — Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights — Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause — The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
Continue reading 14 Defining Characteristics Of Fascism »
Andrew V. Uroskie, Assistant Professor of Film and Contemporary Art at Georgia Tech’s School of Literature, Communication and Culture, wrote his own post accompanied by some great letters-to-the-editor.
“Who Knew International Police Cooperation Would Work Better than Big Armies Against Terror? Oh yeah- the ENTIRE PROGRESSIVE COMMUNITY SINCE SEPT 12th!”
Let me quote U2’s Sunday, Bloody Sunday here: “There’s many lost but tell me who has won?”
Recently, Canadians mourned 23 dead soldiers. Only 23, no problem, keep fighting, boys! Next thing you know it’s, what, 34? And how many children now have no father? And how many Americans, British, Iraqi, Afghan, and other people have died in near-futile causes?
Continue reading How to defeat terrorism »
Thanks to my mother for sending me this link to Robert Brady’s post about Monsanto and the Terminator seed. Please read the full article here.
I knew about the Terminator seed from Ban Terminator, a campaign to ban, worldwide, Terminator:
Terminators, or GURTS (Genetic Use Restriction Technologies), are a class of genetic engineering technologies which allow companies to introduce seeds whose sterile offspring cannot reproduce, preventing farmers from re-planting seeds from their harvest. The seeds could also be used to introduce specific traits which would only be triggered by the application of proprietary chemicals by the same companies. (Excerpt from Ban Terminator.)
The other, bigger problem reported in the article is the government and corporations’ ability to completely control the people, farms, agricultural industries, and food supplies, GLOBALLY. Farmers who currently, and in the future, adopt the genetically modified way to increase food crops will see themselves having to fork over money in order to keep buying seeds every year — because the crops will yield sterile seeds. Oh, and, any farmers who are getting patented seeds “unlawfully,” will be unable to use them the next year through their traditional methods of saving seeds. The movement would render farmers penniless. (If you’ve seen The Corporation, you might remember the part about farmers doing much better by traditional, natural methods.)
D&PL [Delta & Pine Land] calls the thousand-year-old tradition of farmer-saved seed by the pejorative term, ‘brown bagging’ as though it is something dirty and corrupt. Excuse me?
Or what about what “Kissinger said back in the 1970’s, ‘Control the oil and you can control entire Continents. Control food and you control people…'” Are you scared yet?
With Terminator patent rights, once a country such as Argentina or Brazil or Iraq or the USA or Canada opened its doors to the spread of GMO patented seeds among its farmers, their food security would be potentially hostage to a private multinational company, a company which, for whatever reasons, especially given its intimate ties to the US Government, might decide to use ‘food as a weapon’ to compel a US-friendly policy from that country or group of countries.
Food as a weapon? Who are the real terrorists here — Islamic extremists, or the US Government and their corporate friends? Think about it.
From The Vancouver Sun on Canada.com
Bell’s move to monitor us an ominous portent
Fears of corporate information fishing arise as Internet providers take steps to monitor users’ online activity
Ian Mulgrew, Vancouver Sun
Published: Monday, July 10, 2006
We should be concerned about the erosion of our civil liberties in the post-9/11 world and the very real Big Brother-style monitoring of our Internet activities.
The Canadian Bar Association has long argued lawmakers went too far in the wake of the World Trade Centre strikes and did not build in enough checks when they gave law-enforcement agencies greater powers ostensibly to combat terrorism.
Still, when Canada’s largest Internet service provider, Bell Sympatico, amends its service agreement with customers to create an environment of institutionalized cyberspying on behalf of the government, we’re entering a whole other realm.
Bell three weeks ago told its customers it’s reserving the right to monitor, collect and on request provide to police a list of every site you visit and every keystroke you type while connected.
Other ISPs have or are expected to follow suit.
Please read the rest. It will only take you a few minutes.
The 3rd World Urban Forum just ended in Vancouver yesterday.
Bloggers may be interested in earthblog.ca, which is “a two-week discussion about the future of our region.” It runs until June 30.
(If you’re on a Mac, use Firefox as Safari is not entirely supported. Commenting doesn’t quite work in Safari.)
Description from their website:
“From June 15 to June 30, 2006, Earthblog features the daily writings of four opinionated bloggers, two provocative moderators, dozens of passionate community groups and thousands of local residents and visitors from around the world.
Earthblog.ca takes its inspiration from the 1976 UN Habitat Conference, an event that sparked discussion and debate on the state and form of cities. The occasion of the 30th anniversary of the UN Habitat Conference, the World Urban Forum, propels this discussion forward. Earthblog.ca is intended to provide a local perspective on the issues discussed at the WUF and includes themes brought to the fore by parallel events, such as the World Planners Congress, the World Peace Forum, EARTH: The World Urban Festival, and the World Youth Forum. Earthblog brings forward the perspectives of multiple voices on the social, cultural, environmental and economic issues that are relevant to the development of the region.”
I wish it were running indefinitely!
On their Sustainable Vision Wiki, I responded to this question:
Is “sustainability” anything more than just a buzz word?
My response:
“To sustain” has many relevant definitions. “Sustainability,” though tossed around until it seems like a fad, is a meaningful direction and goal for any city to prolong the health and lives of its citizens, infrastructure, economies, ecologies, etc. It is also about reducing a city’ and a city’s people’s ecological footprint, globally. Vancouver has an enormous global impact, and is never independent of the rest of the world for survival. Its ability to maintain itself with the least global impact, such as growing its own food and producing its own products with local materials, is what sustainability is all about.
This is a serious issue. From what I learned tonight (and I have heard similar topics before in a webdesign class), the US Government is in the process of passing a bill that would eliminate Net Neutrality. Net Neutrality means that all websites are equal. What is on the verge of happening is that internet service providers will be allowed to control what sites their users get to view, and how fast those sites appear. Basically if a corporation has enough money, they can buy from the provider a privilege of having the users access their sites faster. Anyone who cannot pay for this privilege will have to suffer with their website being on a slower connection. The analogy I would offer is this: let’s say there’s a priority lane similar to an HOV lane in a busy city such as Vancouver or San Francisco, and it cost $3 million to be able to use it. Most people are going to be stuck in the regular lanes. A select few rich people will zoom past everyone else in the special lane. Big companies’ content will be in the special lane, and the content of everyone else’s sites will be stuck in the slow lane. That’s if it’s not blocked entirely.
This is a capitalist movement with an alterior motive to end freedom of speech on the internet.
I’ve had enough with politicians thinking they’re representing the people, and corporations pretending they’re all about serving the customer.
DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN.
If you are in the United States, PLEASE contact your senator and urge them not to pass this bill. Its effects will be global.
See video at coanews.org
According to this video, the anti-Net Neutrality bill has gone through. Senators have a chance to veto it.
Visit coanews.org, and Save the Internet where you can sign a petition and fight for our rights.
Bloggers, add your blog to the SavetheInternet bloggers list
There are some interesting claims about Telus and Shaw I didn’t know about, here.
This is from an interesting article at Freepress.net:
“In Canada, cable TV company Shaw Communications Inc., which is rolling out phone service, is charging its customers $10 a month extra if they want to “improve the quality and reliability of Internet telephony services” they get from other phone service companies. Internet calling company Vonage Holdings Corp. has protested to Canadian regulators.”
As far as I’m aware, the only $10/month extra is an optional thing for hi-speed “extreme” which may not even be that much faster, if at all. So I’m not sure of the legitimacy of that claim, or the rest of the article, but it’s a good read.
