Articles tagged with "media and politics":
An Inconvenient Truth
A few friends and I watched “An Inconvenient Truth” this evening. A really solid film that everyone should see. A succinct look at the issue of global warming, and America...
July 2nd, 2006Representation Imbalance
There has been a lot of talk of a "fiscal imbalance" in this election. Something that isn't talked about though, is a basic imbalance in the weight of votes...
January 13th, 2006Hockey: Time to get talking
I read in an article on CBC today that the NHL hasn’t talked to the player's association since September 9th?! I know that the collective bargaining agreement they're trying to agree on is a complicated matter - and a large number of opinions need to be heard - but this isn't exactly a nuclear test ban treaty. The news that they hadn't even talked in over two months really pissed me off. It seems pretty clear there is little urgency to the situation. The only people who really seem to want to get hockey started again are fans and franchise employees (and large corporations who derive significant portions of their revenue from hockey fans).
November 17th, 2005The Issues
I should preface this tirade by saying that I am speaking to election coverage by the major media outlets (CNN, Fox, NBC etc). There is a great deal of excellent opinion and analysis out there to be had if you look for it. The problem is - nobody does. It is the responsibility of organizations who claim offer 'Fair and Balanced' news to be accurate, informative and provide at least a modicum of insight.
October 18th, 2005Happy News
I was listening to the "On the Media" podcast the other day and they had someone on from happynews.com. Happy News offers an alternative news outlet that is: "Real News...
September 1st, 2005Alberta +7B
It looks like Alberta might see a $7B surplus (they'd predicted 1.5B) due to higher than anticipated oil prices (they'd projected 42USD/barrel). Bully for them!
How should they spend this...
August 21st, 2005Things I am sick of
- Airlines
- Mobile phone companies (and others in the communications industry)
- Gasoline distributors
- Lending institutions
These are all heavily regulated industries where there is an almost impossible barrier to entry. It...
August 16th, 2005It's a wrap
Well the election is over. My desired result (a Liberal minority) was achieved. I'm still bitter about the whole thing though.
In his victory speech Paul Martin made the obvious...
July 1st, 2005Should I even vote?
This morning I woke up to the sound of someone espousing the benefits of the Green platform over a loud speaker somewhere up the street. My favorite part was definitely the claim that "the Green party has the answers". Having read their platform about a week ago in response to article, I’m inclined to think otherwise. While a little disconcerting to wake up to a political message coming from an unknown source ,I give them points for their grassroots approach (home made signs too). I believe in a good many of the issues they stand for but I don't believe they have the economic or political experience necessary to form an effective government (though I did vote for them last time around.. when I was far less informed). So, if I won’t vote for them, then who? That's the problem. All the parties SUCK. If there were a large scale spoil-your-ballot movement ("vote for discontent, spoil your ballot!") I'd seriously consider participating. The fact of the matter is I don’t want any of the parties running to form the next government.
June 26th, 2005TV News Sucks
Television news was a big part of my life growing up. The 6 o'clock broadcast back dropped nearly every dinner I ate at home for 17 years before moving...
May 25th, 2005School shootings considered passe
If you haven't been watching the news fairly closely, you could easily have missed that the worst school shooting in six years took place in Bemidji Minnesota last Monday (March...
March 27th, 2005Ceasefire takes aim at free trade
In their most recent 'urgent alert' Ceasefire.ca urges Canadians to write in and donate, citing Prime Minister Martin's trip to Mexico as cause for concern. The grounds? They feel that Martin is capitulating to business interests, spelled out in far-fetched hypothetical scenarios including Canadians being put "under the dictates of the U.S. Patriot Act and Washington's Department of Homeland Security".
As someone who hasn't contributed financially to the ceasefire campaigns against the war in Iraq and weapons in space (but I read the newsletters dammit!), I’m not in a great position to criticize this departure from their earlier, relatively focused platform. That doesn't stop me from being disappointed however.
March 21st, 2005False Dichotomy
The Canadian government delivered its proposal for the 2005 federal budget earlier today. I think Canadians, regardless of their political affiliations can be proud of our eighth straight balanced budget...
February 22nd, 2005Students protest paying for their education
Today students nationwide ‘rallied’ in provincial capitals and other venues against the preposterous notion that they might have to pay for a small portion of their tuition. As a student here at UVic, I feel compelled to point out that this outspoken minority does not represent the opinions of the entire student body. My understanding of their argument is as follows:
- education is a right
- education is priced such that it is inaccessible to the lower and middle classes
- other economically developed countries do not charge tuition fees
I believe their presentation of the case for reduced tuition fees to be extremely weak.
February 5th, 2005 1 comments »