US and Saudis step-up regime change rhetoric in Syria !!! March 31, 2012

Attempted Regime change is in the works in Syria, this is evident in the lines:

“The Saudis are very keen to overthrow the Assad regime as soon as possible and want to increase the arms that are going to the Syrian rebels,” he said.

Although the “US is no less keen to overthrow the Assad regime,” it has ample experience that arming opposition forces can lead to a loss of control. Moreover, American forces are currently “on overstretch” in other military campaigns such as Afghanistan and have not got the resources to spare.

Military intervention is required to overthrow the Syrian government with possible troop deployment;therefore, the military is a breakdown of the actors involved in this regime change. This is to deal with past human rights violations and to have a change in direction with the Syrian government.

Of course regime change has serious implications,the US wants to unify the rebels and lobby humitarian aid.Saudia has a more agressive stance calling for military action.This will affect the citizens and everyone in contact with Syria,where many people will get killed and areas destroyed… It will be interesting to see what happens,I dont think that this agenda will work.

read for more info- http://rt.com/news/clinton-syria-riyadh-intervention-910/

KONY 2012-Social Movement March 16, 2012

Social Movements are an informal network of activists who seek to transform the views of society. Kony 2012 is probably one of the craziest movements in recent history. The centerpiece of the campaign is a short film by invisible children which focuses on uganda war criminal Joseph Kony the Lords Resistence Army, and their reign of terror in Uganda that involves using children as prostitutes and soldiers—has been seen by 100 million people on YouTube  and is believed to be the fastest-spreading viral video of all-time.Kony 2012 may be the most recent example of how social media helped jump start this social movement. The function of the video created on Kony is to provide means for citizens to express their views to government and to participate in the political system.While the “Kony 2012″ campaign is quite elaborate, its power lies in its simplicity.The ‘Kony 2012’ campaign employs film, social media, street art and face-to-face interaction to make the case that the arrest of Joseph Kony was one be be agreed on by all. Hopefully by the creation of this film it will influence the views in society,which is another strong motive behind these social movements.

read more- http://www.canada.com/news/Kony+2012+campaign+tests+impact+online+activism/6306418/story.html

Canadas Election:Misleading RoboCalls March 9, 2012

Canada is a democratic society,which can be a good thing or a bad thing. In Canada there is an Indirect democracy,where there are elections held.Currently Stephan Harper is our Prime Minister. As usual there is controversy with regards to the Canadian Elections,surrownding Robocalls.Robocalls I have learn’t are calls used in an attempt to dissuade voters from casting their ballot by telling them their poll stations had changed locations. More Info Below:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/york-centre-joins-list-of-ridings-reporting-misleading-robo-calls/article2363895/

Among a flood of complaints received by Elections Canada, there are now nearly 30 ridings where voters allege receiving fraudulent calls with the same basic script as Guelph, reports compiled by the NDP and Liberals suggest.

As you  can see Elections in canada can be quite difficult to maintain a free and fair election.Therefore, there are electoral rules that are governed. Such as campaign finances,which should have been used in this particualr situation because as noted:

“The opposition paid millions of dollars to make hundreds of thousands of phone calls,” Mr. DeLorey said. “Before continuing these baseless smears they should prove that their own callers are not behind these reports.”

This is an outrageous amount of money to be put towards such. So rules and regulations are a good thing to have or there will be outpours of money put into elections like this all the time.

Bill to Prohibit Job Action !!!!!!!! March 3, 2012

Legislatures are Institutions that are involved in the LawMaking process. Currently there is a Bill trying to pass to try and prohibit job action amongst teachers.One of the functions of the Legislature is to debate,and this is seen with regards to the possible strike next week.

“As second-reading debate got under-way Thursday, Abbott said he was disappointed that a year of contract talks had proven futile. But he said he could no longer allow the BCTF to continue with its Phase 1 job action, which resulted in teachers refusing to write report cards, supervise students outside of instructional hours, attend staff meetings or communicate with administrators”

I believe that the teachers need to come to an agreeance on this soon.Money disputes has been a constant battle with the educational system in canada as long as I was a child.Legislation needs to take action and inviestigate these concerns further,so the money is eveny distriputed amonst the teachers needs and governments finances. The Bill trying to pass is called the Educational Improvement Act,and the dispute will try and be resolved by a government appointed mediator working with teachers and public-school employees to reach a deal…Hopefully in a reasonable time because this effects parents and children to extensive levels.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Bill+prohibit+action+needs+full+debate+legislature+minister+says/6240013/story.html#ixzz1o0V68xvF

Harper’s response to economic concerns in the province !!!!! February 24, 2012

Stephan Harper is the Prime Minister of Canada and functions to implement laws and regulations to properly govern Canada. In this particular situation there is financial disputes with regards to the budget.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/harper-gives-short-shrift-to-fiscal-economic-concerns-of-the-provinces-140219053.html

IQALUIT, Nunavut – Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered a cold reality to provinces on Thursday: his election promises trump any concerns they may have about how federal actions may affect provincial finances.

When asked about stretching the thin resources to house a prison population(a population that will grow rapidly because on the new crime bill) . There was no apologgy. He is clearly acting as a chief spokesperson in this situation(particularly negativly). He had a majority of the seats in parliment,but was only supported by voters by 24 %. I can see why, because he doesnt seem to have a common agreence with citizens.The federal debt and deficit are widely considered to be in reasonable shape,considering we made it through the recession.However these economic concerns still need to be addressed properly.

“Harper is poised to deliver a spring budget that will slice billions in federal spending, overhaul old age security so that long-term costs are far lower, and put health care transfers on a far less expensive track”.

On that note,there doesn’t seem to be many people happy with the kind of budget cuts that he is creating.I personally think the budget cut should come from other areas and that we need a new prime minister.Somebody that can implement and enforce laws and other autoritative decisions that actually make a difference.

California looks to Constitution to defend Gay Marriage February 10, 2012

For more Info read here : http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/10802-federal-court-rules-against-traditional-marriage-in-california

Via the NEW AMERICA,  it was noted that in a long anticipated decision, a federal appeals court has ruled that California’s Proposition 8, which effectively defines marriage as only between a man and woman, amounts to an unconstitutional violation of the rights of same-sex couples to marry.

It can be seen then the the constitution is used as a way of protecting the people, in such an incident as this. I didn’t think the constitution had such as effect on the policy choices of the governement until reading this article. This decision will impact every same sex couple across the nation.

I believe in what is being discussed,not to mention the Constitution permits communities to enact most laws they believe to be desirable (Which In my mind this is). It is obvious then that ,barring same-sex couples from marrying is a violation of the equal protection and due process clauses of the Constitution. Also, from what I have learn’t, one of the main functions of Constitutions is to regulate the relations between the citizen and the state,which is definatley the case here. With that being said, I strongly feel that they should allow same sex coulples to marry everywhere,and hope that the Consstitution works in favour here.

 

Political Compass Diagram Comparison ! February 3, 2012

(My Political Compass Below)

*Economic L/R -3.00*Libertarianism/Authoritarianism-2.00

My girlfriends Politcial Compass-One Generation older than me (Left)

Economic L/R- 4.56 Libertarianism/Authoritarianism-2.50

Once comparing the results I find that My girlfriend and me score quite high on the econnomics scale.Its is an interesting finding that we both lean towards similar results,considering their is a generation age difference. My partner scores quite close to Dalai Lama and me closer to Nelson Mandela.It turns out that we are both left wing Libertarianists,which goes against the traditional models of the older people being more conservative.Possibly this is because todays society is more excepting and have open minds with regards to policies and regulations, towards being free to pursue our goals and desires without discrimination.It is also quite possible that we score so close is becuase the way we were politically socialized.We both have a strong belief  to narrow the gap between the rich and poor,to gradually level out societies social and economic inequalities.Therfore I strongly believe where and how you were socialized is what gives you your ideological views and that the coventional “older person vs younger person” politcial views are not the same for everyone.

The erosion of Nationalism January 27, 2012

 The negative side to globalization is that it wipes out entire economic systems and in doing so wipes out the accompanying culture.
Peter L. Berger

I believe that Globalization  is eroding Nationalism. Take a look on the shelves in the grocery store. Products from other countries can be purchased and contribute to a change in the national culture in the long run. Imagine always being around and influenced by other countries products and cultural forms,this will in time change your way of thinking and interacting. For instance,using electronic devices from Japan,where the the attitude and culture is of the Japanese society like pokemon or blade runner.

The form of media also influences Nationalism. Books are an example that are translated into many different languages for the rest to interpret in their own ways,which challenges national culture and attitudes.The internet also allows people to chat to others around the world without boarders, that they might not have been able to without the use of the world wide web. English is the universal language that is used to interact with, this allows for a new community to be formed and a tendency to weaken traditional historical and cultural background. An example of this is “Facebook” which allows people to share their lives,fears and ideas with the dependency on other languages, that are not always spoken amongst the rest of world.

Therefore with the  movement of goods across the country that link all economies together and the availability of products across the country there is bound to be some social linkage and social changes. In a globalized world, nationalists tend to be proud of their identity and achievements that there country has made.In other words, nationalists feel that there is a competition amongst them and the erosion of the nationalist state than comes upon us.

Protest against proposed keystone XL project January 22, 2012

Demonstrators carry a mock oil pipeline near the White House in a protest against the proposed Keystone XL project on Nov. 6.

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Majority+support+Keystone+pipeline+project+poll+finds/5923392/story.html#ixzz1k3JOR0WE

Well I just came to learn that a democracy is a system where the power resides with the people. As noted this can be directly or indirectly through participation,competition,and liberty. I can see the first form of Direct democracy through the controversial protesting that was demonstrated against the Keystone XL Oil pipe Line. Not to mention,in a democracy, the government must be established,and it must be possible to replace it,through free and fair elections.It can be said that power resides with the citizenry. This is the case here because Indirect democracy is shown through its elected officials Obama as President of the United States and Steven Harper as Prime Minister in Canada,both of who are in negotiation with the pipeline plans that are roaring these individuals to start the protesting.

“a public opinion research company, found 53 per cent of likely U.S. voters at least somewhat favoured moving ahead with the pipeline, down from 60 per cent approval in mid-November, ac-cording to the survey.”

Now if both the US And Canada was not a democratic society there would be no voice of opinion from citizens like us to be able to vote for who we want or to protest without getting arrested for most cases.

My first post January 12, 2012

Here is my first blog post,who loves listening to metallica