WIP

I was listening to a podcast interview of a historian...whose name I don't recall unfortunately, who made the stunning observation that the growing power that transnational corporations and financial institutions have gained, has given them the kind of power over national governments that the Catholic Church once held over Europe several centuries ago. I'm just amazed so many people...who once opposed foreign takeovers of Canadian industries, now just write it off as some great inevitability...like the Sun rising and setting. Even the Cirque du Soleil is being sold off to some holding company owned by American and Chinese interests. Nothing in our economy is really Canadian owned anymore, and like you said they can move or just threaten to move their wealth elsewhere if they don't like our tax rates. They can move their industries as well, if workers demand decent wages. The only thing "global" under the current regime is capital. After all of the paranoid rantings assorted rightwingers have done for the last 50 years about world government and internationalism, the world governing bodies with real power and authority are the ones that regulate trade and the flow of capital. And they are the primary reason why there is no international enforcement of international law or environmental regulations.

Maybe it's time to get serious about examining the course we've been on for the past 30 years, since the promises of trade liberalization and trickle down economics has eliminated most of the middle class. An interesting little study on employment in Southern Ontario released earlier this week, revealed that, living in Hamilton, I am part of the 40% minority of the City's working population who have full time jobs! Almost 60% are working part time, temporary or contract work. Hard to believe, coming from a city that was the a major industrial hub of our economy. A few people have made off like bandits under the current system....mostly those who control or are major shareholders in transnational corporations...as for the rest of us, why should we be the ones asked to bleed more tax money while a few buy multimillion dollar homes and offshore the rest of their loot! No, they hire the lawyers, the accountants and lobby the politicians to dodge most of those taxes and leave the tax burden for the suckers who are wage earners who get no perks, and small business owners who get modest concessions in comparison to the ruling elites. I'm within a few years of retirement, and I earn about 80k per year, so I'm not complaining about my personal situation. I've been able to support a family and live relatively modestly, but if you think more than a slim fraction of our kids have a shot at earning 100k+ per year, you're either delusional or have lost touch with what's happening out there today. Yep, leave it to the NP to try make their readers pitty the poor downtrodden billionaire! There are so many tricks that financial fraudsters like Stephen Gordon can play with statistics, that it's probably more worthwhile to examine wealth rather than income levels anyway, and the wealth gap was the main focus of the piece I quoted previously from the Star.

Maybe it's just me, but Taylor Swift's music sounds like processed cheese! Something squeezed out of a computerized synthesizer with auto-tuned vocals.

I got to meet Alan Thicke once back when he started doing that series "Growing Pains." All I can say is that he's as shallow and self-centered as he appears on TV!

Girls don't get Rush!

Maybe it was Geddy Lee's screeching on those earlier albums, or I didn't get that Ayn Rand crap that Neil Peart was writing lyrics about; but whenever someone wanted to play 2112 on my stereo, I'd say:'pick a different Rush album....anything!' That middle period..actually from Hemispheres to Signals were my favourite Rush albums...and I'd go see them tour regardless of what album they happened to be promoting at the time. And I was really thrilled by how solid their Snakes and Arrows album sounded....and like I said, disappointed that they followed up too soon afterwards with a mediocre effort...oh well! Just dawned on me, we must have crossed wires with that stupid high school show from 20 years ago! The actual title was 90125. It wasn't my favourite Yes album....that would be "Fragile", the album that featured "Roundabout." But until 90125, my girlfriend at the time (now my wife) wouldn't have agreed to go with me to see them in concert! It was sad to hear about the passing of Chris Squire....as much as I've admired Geddy Lee's ability to play great bass lines while doing vocals and keyboards too, I would still say Chris Squire was the greatest and most innovative bass player in the rock n roll era. Also sad to see how little notice his death received online or especially MSM. Among the highlights of one of the brief bio's it was noted that he was the only one of a frequently changing cast of players who was with the band from their beginning 47 years ago until now. Another fascinating little factoid that I wouldn't doubt, was a claim that he almost singlehandedly saved the Rickenbacker Guitar co. from bankruptcy because of his choice of a Rickenbacker 12 string bass as his main instrument. During that 90125 tour, he was playing Amazing Grace for his solo. In fairness, the sellout wasn't all Phil Collins fault....even though he gets 99% of the blame. By about 1975, Peter Gabriel had taken over Genesis completely, and although the album credits always listed all five members for songwriting credits, it was generally believed that Gabriel had written the entire "Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" album and even put down most of the keyboard tracks before Tony Banks even got to the studio. So, in a band that worked as a collective, writing and arranging songs together, it was inevitable that Gabriel was actually asked to leave! And on those early albums, Phil Colllins does backup vocals and even a couple of lead vocals. The real stylistic change likely occurred after lead guitarist - Steve Hackett apparently lost the battle with Collins and Rutherford to keep working along the same lines and Genesis went pop r&b while Hackett has had a more modest music career, playing music on his own terms: Thanks for the tip! I guess if Rush grew up in Mexico instead of Canada, this is how they would sound.

Rush has made so much music over their long career, they are an essential for any Canadian music list. Even though I was mostly a prog rock fan in the 70's, I couldn't stand Rush's 2112. A friend of mine used to drive me nuts playing that goddawful album. Surprising that I didn't care for most prog rock bands ventures into pop music territory....YES's 90210 was okay, Genesis made me throw up when Phil Collins started taking over...especially Abacab! But Rush didn't get my interest until Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures. I used to think Signals was their best work, but haven't listened in awhile. But, when they moved further and further into synthland and away from guitar music in the mid or late 80's, I started losing interest again. In recent years they turned out a good record a few years ago (Snakes&Arrows) but their latest one made me start thinking again that rockers in their 60's should wait until they have something really worthwhile to distribute and tour with.

Bleach! I'm just glad they finally disappeared.....thanks for reminding me!

I got a better idea! People like the guy who owns this house seem to have enough discretionary income to pay a greater share of the tax burden. Instead of Harper giving more tax cuts for the rich...like his so called 'job-creating' incentives, it's time to grab them by the ankles, hold them upside down and shake, and see what falls out of their pockets! Canada's inequality growing: Stats Can The gap between rich and poor is widening in Canada, a report that looks at wealth found.

I'm not really into most of her music, but I like some songs. I remember seeing Florence on Austin City Limits a few years ago, and in the post-show interview, she mentioned that she was a serious ballet student as a child, but was warned by her instructors that she was getting too tall, and would have to give it up before serious injury. And it seems the barefoot thing is not just some hippie thing, but more that going barefoot provides sure footedness. I can see how this works since I had to give up running shoes and now run barefoot or more often in minimal shoes. The less shoe you wear, the less at risk you are to slip or twist something.

For those of us a little older, Motorhead was just one more of the garbage metal bands and hair bands that polluted the 80's music scene. There were so many heavy metal bands that were in an arms race - trying to scream louder, crank up their amps louder, and were lucky if they could pound out three chords on a guitar. I guess I just wasn't a fan! I was impressed by their latest album, since their popularity from their debut was often written off as a one off event that would fade away when the novelty of roots r&b wore off. Rock fans have to acknowledge that a lot of sexism...borderline misogyny was part of this, because women in rock are judged more by their looks than their music, and let's face it...Brittany Rogers (if I got her name right) is not a covergirl or going to be offered a modelling career! And their 2nd album shows that they have branched out and can write and play a range of music styles that few expected....so, they're not going to fade away any time soon...unless they break up or something.

This is all just one more example of what Naomi Klein termed "Disaster Capitalism" 10 or 15 years ago. The origins of the crisis began with a previous government that was trying to hide it's actual public debt levels to gain access into the Eurozone....and guess who was there to help them hide the money...for a price: Goldmann Sachs! And the rest is history. Five years ago, when what calls itself a 'socialist' government - Pasok, agreed to terms dictated by the IMF and cabal of Eurobankers, the austerity measures of service&benefit cuts, combined with tax increases, was somehow supposed to help Greece pay off the financial iceberg. Instead, the economy tanked, debt levels, unemployment, extreme poverty all increased, and now Greeks are being asked to give more in a financial bailout that will go to their banks...not the people! I've been following this story somewhat since Syriza got elected, and the worse thing about Tsipras and this Syriza Government is that it is looking more and more like they were just bluffing, and had no actual backup plan for a Grexit and a return to the Drachma. A lot of Greeks thought they were serious and were making secret Grexit plans in the event they couldn't get a deal that would not include more austerity. So, it's a dismal situation for Greece with no good options. Because it doesn't look like they have a government willing or able to make the hard choices and lead them out of Euro debt bondage, but will most likely take the best of whatever the hell the bankers offer, and will continue to bleed more income and wealth, especially after their Government sells off hard assets the bankers want...like some of those islands in the Aegean that would make nice little estates for the billionaires who will buy them at firesale prices.

this thread is the first thing I noticed today. After reading most of 9 pages, it doesn't look like anything's resolved. I'll blow rightwing minds by quoting Noam Chomsky on the core problem of capitalism: "in a world devoid of community spirit, where selfishness is encouraged, “If the kid next door is hungry, it’s not your problem. If the retired couple next door invested their assets badly and are now starving, that’s not your problem either.” So, in a world that promotes selfishness and self-absorption, should it come as any surprise that concern for young mothers AND their children, is considered a luxury/ rather than a social obligation? Something to be relegated to the whims of charitable gift-giving if that! I would venture to say that liberals need to stop patting themselves on the back on this and other issues, because they take most of the same approaches to public policy decisions as conservatives. Only difference is they try to hide or divert attention from what their doing, while the Ayn Rand-worshiping rightwingers openly brag about it.

Only difference I see from before, is he's taken down that butchered Phil Jones quote.

Doesn't look like I've missed much here! Omar Khadr is Benghazi for our conservatives...the dead horse they'll keep beating for the next 50 years.

Yes, and one thing I didn't mention before which really galls me is the IMF itself is one of the big reasons for the internationalizing of capital and weakening of the interests of labour....are they pretending to be bystanders all of a sudden?

I heard about this interview Hillary has done with the NY Times from my usual alternative media sources: A Newcomer to Populism? Hillary Clinton Campaign Begs to Differ No point in posting the lying, disingenuous piece....in brief it's Hillary pretending to be Elizabeth Warren and declaring war on the 1%. The question is do any Americans who are eligible to vote in any primaries actually believe this change in tune has any substance? Or will President Hillary toss it off and other campaign promises in much the way Barack Obama did after getting elected and telling grassroots activists to go home and wait for 2012!

Trick questi Trick question! Israel is an apartheid state, so Israeli arabs are going to lose the democratic rights and privileges they have now....let alone gain any new ones! Worth noting that we just passed the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide of 1915....I was wondering why the story was popping up in the news more often lately....even the Pope getting in a sh** storm with Turkey for daring to mention it. But compare the attention that genocide has with Jewish Holocaust in Europe or more recent genocides like Rwanda - which hardly rank as footnotes in history. I certainly understand why Jews want to keep memory of their holocaust front and center, BUT I am getting tired of the Israel Lobby warhawks and their backers wiping it in my face if I dare ask a question about their large open air prison camp in Gaza or the slow, creeping and completely illegal, gradual annexation of the territories in the West Bank! Some of the news I am getting in the last two years revolves around the growing ecological catastrophe in that part of the Middle East. Long and persistent droughts are part of the background that led to unrest in Syria, continued fighting in Iraq, and in Israel/Palestine, the Israelis are taking the largest share of water from the Jordan River and draining down aquifers to levels where Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza will have no choice other than to move and join the rest of the Palestinian ex-patriot communities elsewhere! So, getting to the thread title and theme: some of us are anti-zionists because a nation cannot represent one and only one distinctive religious or ethnic community and still call itself a democratic nation! This facade of being democratic and zionist has been receding for decades as secular Jews have left....largely for economic reasons, while the more fanatical religious zionists move in to take their place. And this is the main reason why guys like Netanyahooo have been engaging in a sham "peace process" for years that just means endless talking while more Palestinians are moved out/and more Jewish migrants are moved in to territories that they do not have any legal right to in the first place! .

This is what's complete nonsense! In the U.S. - where raising the minimum wage is a big issue...finally....the cheap retail outlets like Walmart and the fast food joints are rolling in profits that are going to the executives, the franchisees and of course - the shareholders, while the workers who do the damn work get poverty wages. the ridiculous and fraudulent excuse that they can't afford to pay more, or higher wages will raise your burger meal costs (if your one of the unfortunate people who eats this crap on a regular basis) has been debunked time and time again by a number of economists (take your pick) who've gone over the numbers and shown that a very slight cut to top executive pay would more than make up for any additional payroll costs for employees who might actually earn enough to get them off food stamps! An interesting recent story is that McDonald's profits slide may be due in large part because of the bad publicity they've received by being on the vanguard with Walmart when it comes to keeping wages down and people in poverty!

My cynicism levels are so high that I am rarely surprised or disappointed by whatever misconduct is reported in the news, but I am actually surprised by the degree the CBC went to try protect their star by covering up his misconduct. For some reason I expected better of this institution because I actually like some CBC radio shows and collect their podcasts. There is Nothing on private/for profit Canadian radio that is worth listening to.....let alone uploading to listen later!

If you go to the stats compiled in recent years by epidemiologists - Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett at the Equality Trust site, you'll find that the avaricious capitalism you are so enthralled with, is the underlying cause of high suicide rates and the other mental health issues.....notice you didn't mention depression there.....could be because women go into treatment for depression at higher rates than men do; so stress rises to the surface in different ways, but both men and women are impacted by the stresses of modern day life.

How many feminist pro "life" organizations are there? Past stats I read a few years ago on this subject indicate that most of the anti-abortion organizations are run by men/not women. And most women who describe themselves as pro life are religious conservatives who have bought into all that human life begins at conception b.s.. Any real feminists I'm sure have long ago realized that the so called concern for life is only a tactic to reduce the power of women by returning to the old standards before birth control and abortion were available....where pregnancy and raising children were pretty much a given part of being married. The conservative religious patriarchs from all religions- Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism etc. are all in agreement with each other that women should not have control over whether or not they get pregnant or how many children to have. Overpopulation alone, should have been enough of an issue to kick the old patriarchs and their 3000 year old notions of fertility back to where they came from, but instead they have been trying to re-impose the old rules and standards on a world that doesn't have the resources or the ecological sinks to support the present population. Just for that even by itself, I believe that women should have the ultimate determining power to decide birth control or decide whether or not to have an abortion.....married or not!

Yes of course, concerned celebrities can be a lot of help bringing attention to any positive change movement, because our media is celebrity-oriented, and unless someone they consider important is saying it, it doesn't get heard! The problem is that most entertainment celebrities are artists/not scholars...Emma Watson being an exception. So, in the cause of global feminism, Emma Watson can be a huge win, because not only will what she says be heard in the media, she has the education, and it seems the analytical mind to deal with questions afterwards. But most artists are not analysts or philosophers, and do their best work reaching us on an emotional level with their work. An artist doesn't necessarily have a clear presentation of an issue....it would be the exception to the rule. So, after Patricia Arquette uses her unexpected Oscar win to give attention to the ERA...which can still easily be ratified in the U.S. if there is enough people making an effort to do it, she phrases the final portion of her exhortation comparing the need for the ERA with the women who worked for the Civil Rights Act and for same-sex marriage rights today as sort of 'women have worked to help get these things passed, gays&minorities help women get the ERA ratified finally.' And I know that's not the exact quote, but I understood her statement as trying to get men, especially those men who have benefited from the previous civil rights wins, to help in the effort to ratify the ERA. But, what happened afterwards? Maybe it's all this crap that has been made possible by new internet social media, but Patricia Arquette's words are placed under the microscope by internet liberal activists (obviously trying to raise hits for their sites) start attacking her as "erasing their intersections, and not understanding 'intersectionality.' And most of us just go "WTF is intersectionality" while many of the popular sites on the American left, including feminist sites are embroiled with Arquette and whether or not she erased 'intersections,' and the whole point she was trying to make about the need for the ERA is completely lost in the process. And , I don't fault Patricia Arquette for what happened; she was trying her best to get an issue she considers very important back in the media spotlight. But this is what happens when getting an issue to the table is placed on the shoulders of an artist who has media access/but does not have expertise on a subject or practice at public speaking or debating.

Likely in most cases, it's the woman who has to play the role of 'supervisor' on a date, since.....just based on anecdotal evidence from parties - it's the wives or girlfriends having to drive their drunk husbands or boyfriends home after a party. But, if we're talking about a first time dating situation where they've met in a bar or are otherwise meeting for the first time, the old time standard for a lot of guys was to get her drunk, and then....holy hell was there a lot of screaming and crying when that ruling denying consent-if-intoxicated came down. That ruined the whole game. So, if you want to call it being a supervisor, go ahead! If he doesn't have bad intentions, wouldn't he be trying to end this date as quickly as possible?