Why make the census data voluntary? Harper is Expecting the indigent, immigrant, indigenous in this country will simply not respond. This will cloak Harper's failures to meet the needs of these citizens.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakin...h-97514599.html

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Tory Sponsored Goons, almost got away! You can bet these two Peel Region officers will not be prosecuted to the full extent of the law! In fact, they're more likely to be promoted up the ranks or better yet, good Pirate Fodder! Sign'em up Stevie!


“It is essential for the court to distance itself from this kind of state misconduct

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/crime/ar...ry-suspect?bn=1

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Meh, who cares? Thievin' Stephen has reliable census info already, and still lies about the numbers. He's gonna make up his own "statistics" no matter what. The amount of times I've heard ministers saying words to the effect of, "I don't agree with the premise", or, "Those numbers are incorrect" is ridiculous. It makes me want to bitchslap the toupee right of John Baird's bulbous head.

Democracy's a sham, but even more so with Stephen Hairpie at the helm. And as long as Uncle Sam wants to knock oily boots with Ed Still-muck, the CONpublican base will remain as solid as an MP's pension plan. Hope you're all ready for another minority government. Ugh.

"Meh who cares..." "democracy a sham" these quotes from the above poster exemplify a widespread cynical attitude towards voting in Canada and is precisely what the Tories rely upon for their continuing stranglehold. Only you have the power to unseat Harper's Pirates. Your vote is the best revolutionary weapon available, wield it with all your might!

In this article, G-Summit protesters at Queens Park demonstrated on Canada Day and demanded GTA Police Chief Bill Blair resign.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/torontog...0-policing?bn=1

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Cynicism and apathy aren't the same thing. I've voted in every federal, provincial and municipal election since I was 18. I've also watched more parliamentary debates, house and senate committees and political commentary than I care to admit.

Thievin' Stephen needs to be X'd out, but I sure as hell never X'd him in. Ignatieff the Torture-lover is no better, and Jack is doing nothing to change the perception of the NDP as a shill for labour. Whatever romantic notion you have of democracy, the fact is that it's all, yes, a sham. We're damned near sixty years after Mouseland, but we (as a country) keep electing cats.

Apathy:
(without emotion) "It makes me want to bitchslap the toupee right of John Baird's bulbous head." This is a very emotive statement, and belies, reveals your deep-seated emotion. So Joe, you're not apathetic, as your emotions are clearly evident.

Cynical:
(sneering disbelief in sincerity or integrity) "Democracy's a sham." On this point, Joe you've missed the mark. Democracy is intact, but the politicians who steer it are very poor drivers. Time to revoke their driving privileges, suspend their licenses. Shit, Harper ought to be imprisoned for dangerous driving. He's doing what he can to manipulate the democratic process(i.e.prorogue House x 2)and that fucker has got to go.

Pessimism:
(expect the worst possible outcome)"but we (as a country) keep electing cats." So Joe, your outlook is dim, not optimistic (however is a typical response for those of us who voted otherwise).

Delusion:
(a persistent false psychotic belief)"Whatever romantic notion you have of democracy..." Romantic notions are for the nostalgic, delusional, of which I am neither.

As for "more minority government", the best social legislation we enjoy are resultant from minority governments, a testament to the efficacy thereof.

Joe, you are a voter, and as such are not the intended audience for this thread.

There is a strong amotivational element amongst our voting youth as is evidenced by Statistics Canada and it is precisely this demographic to which I am appealing.

It it to the non-voting youth that I assign blame for the Conservative return to the helm. This demographic is the most valuable element to future political outcomes.

Non-voters, please see the Artistic Impressions Thread for a song I'm working up, castigating your lack of democratic participation.

I'll forgive you if you file this reply under "TLDR", but here goes:


Do you really believe in the sincerity or integrity of our political process? Just look how much power resides in the PMO, and has for thirty years. With so much power in the hands of one person, the darkness of partisan point-scoring will continue to block out the Sun of reason for a long time. One needs look no further than the tactics of the CONs in parliamentary committees to see that our so-called democracy is worthy of cynicism. The attempted blocking of Sheila Fraser's review by all parties (save for the Bloc) is also troubling.


Again with the romanticism, or delusion if you prefer. Hey, I was optimistic about the idea that neither of the "cats" would hold the balance of power in '06. Five years of this shit has convinced me that sincere cooperation with the New Democrats is a non-starter, as was evidenced most recently by the Afghan Detainee Document "Agreement". The cats haven't the faintest interest in governing in the interest of us "mice", only in ruling for the benefit of their fat cat pals.

This past session of Parliament was the least productive in 143 years of Confederation, and possibly the most acrimonious. None of the "best social legislation" of which you spoke was passed in the preceding three Parliaments; for example, an extra 20 weeks of EI is better than nothing, but does squat for the 40% of unemployed Canadians who don't qualify for EI at all. This, after the cats ripped off the $57 billion EI surplus. That's not even the total cost of the program, just what workers overpaid!


From your original posts, I figured the intended audience was anyone concerned about the annihilation of their rights and freedoms as Canadians. Ironically, I post this on the day the Queen (another sham, IMO) unveiled the cornerstone of the Museum for Human Rights. This, while Lil' Stevie wipes his ass with the Magna Carta.


Blame is pointless, but if you insist, you can start with the Quebec wing of the LPC. They ruled the country for decades, were the ones to concentrate the power in the PMO, and brought overt Duplessis-style pork-barrel cronyism to Ottawa. Thievin' Stephen is just the latest POS to reap the benefits. The highest voter turnout in our history is 80%, and one would have to be wildly optimistic to expect all these potential electors to vote NDP. If we can't change the minds of some of those who already do vote, we'll be going nowhere fast.


Only while they're young! Once they get a little older and richer, the most powerful lever is taxes the perception of taxes. Look at the hoopla over the HST in B.C.; Vander Scam has whipped that province into a lather, without addressing the fact that taxes pay for things we need. When a politician raises taxes, it's usually political suicide. El Gordo was already on the rocks, but now he can kiss his ass goodbye (not that I'll shed a tear). Remember the PCs in 1993, after introducing the GST?

The bottom line is the almighty dollar, which becomes the focal point in times of growing economic inequality. Sure, you might still see marginalized people who have nothing to lose cast a protest vote (READ: NDP). The ever-so-slightly bright side is that increased poverty will lead to increased protest votes. That's how Bob Rae won in 1990, shortly before he alienated his grassroots with "Rae Days" and by reneging on public auto insurance. Rae is the reason why NDP candidates have been hamstrung nationwide for fifteen years. No wonder he jumped ship; he and Iggy have been in a win-at-all-costs battle for Toronto Elite supremacy since they bunked together at U of T. Given their right-wing leanings, I don't have to tell you who loses.

To those for whom ending prohibition is paramount, the only answer is to overgrow the government. This isn't pie-in-the-sky idealism, either. The only practical way to move public opinion is to get more people growing (and smoking), particularly as a non-commercial activity. Voting is important insomuch as it might bring better public policy overall, but thinking that we can simply vote prohibition out of existence is naïve at best.

As an aside, I appreciate your thoughtfulness and respectful disagreement. Geez, why can't MPs be more like us? We need to start spiking everything in the Parliamentary cafeteria with the essence of everyone's favourite girl.

"Brownie, Mr. Baird?"

"Do you really believe in the sincerity or integrity of our political process?"

The mechanics of democracy are intact, but power corrupts, on that point we agree. Vote=Veto.

"If we can't change the minds of some of those who already do vote, we'll be going nowhere fast."

Joe, in case you haven't noticed, The Culture has been languishing 40 yrs in "nowhere" since the Le Dain Commission. 40 yrs of research, growing, cultivating, breeding, improving cannabis; of headlines; of prosecutions; of broken homes and lives; of atrocity, violence & deaths; of plundering tax resources; of propaganda and THIS IS NOT ENOUGH TO REEDUCATE A VOTING PUBLIC???

Add to that 20 yrs of internet access to an ever widening body of research and THIS IS NOT ENOUGH TO REEDUCATE A VOTING PUBLIC???

Now factor in the thousands of Canadian families all of which experience: aging parents, grandparents and their ensuing chronic ailments; those sharing the sufferings of the near-dead and dying, many of whom have first-hand experience with cannabis and
THIS IS NOT ENOUGH TO REEDUCATE A VOTING PUBLIC???

School's out Joe and it appears that we're all in need of remedial intervention: lessons not learned.

Blame and shame too! If you don't vote against them, you've agreed to their succession and welcome their oppression. Every vote counts. And they've counted more votes than ours. Voting is not the only way to infuse the Culture's ideology into the Canadian political landscape(the eNDProhibition initiative is the perfect Trojan vehicle). The brilliant legal challenges have proven to be highly efficacious.

Overgrow the Government is such a great slogan, powerful imagery, a brilliant tactic, but osmotic. However, weed vs weapons will be a difficult, harrowing and painful win. We are depleting resources but doing so at our own expense.

Sorry Joe, the success of Overgrow requires a unified effort on monumental scale and the sole reason for its failure to launch is GREED, PROFIT & JOBS. And HEMP! The government's simple tool for combating the Overgrow initiative is to simply Overgrow us with Hemp! All that pollen is something to sneeze at.

My signature line: FREE THE SEED TO MEET THE NEED follows the Overgrow principle. I procure seeds either by purchase or barter or by trading seeds and I have provided seeds free (and knowledge resources)to many Canadians in need. But there ain't hundreds of thousands of others doing likewise. And it will take literally hundreds of thousands to Overgrow.

Start a new Overgrow-themed thread, Joe, canvas the Culture here, we may all learn something new.

BTW: thanks for the civilized discussion and I agree this is sorely absent in the House.

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So you saying that nothing has changed for forty years, but our democracy's OK. I respectfully disagree. First past the post, appointed senators, senior bureaucrats who have more power than ministers but are unelected. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind keeping some unelected people in the works for good measure. Handing that power to the PM, though, is ludicrous. Talk about the fox guarding the hen house!

The status quo is set up for the cats, not the mice. You can have a voter turnout of one hundred percent, and still end up with this bullshit. Politics is a strange animal indeed, and has been corrupt since the dawn of civilization. So what are the options?

Historically, there are only a handful. Monarchy, which by extension should include dictatorship, is the most common one. It is both the best system, and the worst. The centralization of power means that it is hard to influence the king/dictator, whether for the greater good or for personal greed. The reason it's not widely accepted anymore (monarchy, that is) is because most people think "divine right" is a crock of shit.

Now look at what we have in Canada. Ignore the monarchical ties back to the U.K. for a moment, and consider our actual political situation. Thievin' Stephen might have 140-odd MPs in the House, and another 50 or so senators, but who really runs the show? Whatever façade that gets pasted on the process, it looks less like representative government and more like a royal court, no? It's just more obvious with Macchiastevie at the helm.

Party politics are bullshit. Nunavut has the right method in their legislature, but good luck spreading that concept in a country with billions spent (overtly or not) on election campaigns. Short of an armed revolution, the only solution is to grow more. One of these days, I'll get some babies on Parliament Hill...

Once again, Joe you've misinterpreted: you're speaking to politricks but I'm pointing at prohibition: 40 yrs of prohibition since the Le Dain commission.

"Short of an armed revolution, the only solution is to grow more..."

I reiterate: Overgrow the Government, great slogan but weed VS weapons (sidearms & bad laws) is a no-gainer for multiple reasons. Overgrow squanders cash resources (for reconnaissance-eradication, prosecution, incarceration) this cash outlay which must be borne by taxpayers (income tax, property tax). Additionally, it would take literally HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of growers to Overgrow the Government.

Revolution Math 101: 100,000 growers times 100 seeds/clones to start=10million seeds or clones (with say 50% making it to harvest)NOT FEASIBLE. There's just not enough politically motivated( as opposed to PROFIT MOTIVATED) growers with sufficient seed/clone stock for it to succeed.

And further, the government could promote an increase HEMP production on a massive scale and all that HEMP POLLEN would pollute great cannabis genes, with significant impacts.

They're using their political-propaganda system, controlling the press by sensationalizing, fear mongering and enacting bad laws to oppress the Culture. To VOTE is to VETO.

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