On December 20, 2010, Mohamed Bouazizi, a street vendor tired of having his produce regularly confiscated and with no money to bribe municipal officials decided to burn himself alive in protest. Little did Bouazizi know at the time, his brave act of defiance would spread through Tunisia in a matter of days following his death on January 4th.
Category: Quiet Mikes Mumblings
Is Canada heading toward a spring election?
So it seems Canada might be going to the polls come April or May for the fourth time in seven years. None of the political parties are saying they want an election, at least not publicly, but you can already smell the hate in the air.
Stephen Harper fired “warning shots” at opposition parties last week by running television ads attacking each party leader on a personal level. This prompted retaliatory ads by…
Going for Green at the Montréal Auto-Show
I hate cars… I know those words sound blasphemous to many people, but that’s the way I’ve always felt. Grandpa used to say “if they get you from point A to Point B who cares what you’re driving”. Personally, I’ve always thought of automobiles as either death traps or money pits . Let’s face it, almost everyone can think of someone who has died behind (or in front) of the wheel.
Still, with all this detestation I found myself Saturday at the Palais des congres checking out the 2011 installment of the Montréal International Auto-Show. My curiosity was peaked not by the overpriced Ferraris or Bentleys, but by the promise of a new beginning, a revolution in the auto industry. My hatred of everything on four wheels could never trump my love of the environment (or my abhorrence toward oil companies).
The Blame Game: Who’s Responsible for the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords?
By now everyone has heard of the assassination attempt of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and subsequent rampage of Jared Loughner that left six people dead and fourteen others wounded. The question everyone seems to be asking in the few days since is why? Was it the rhetoric of a few right-wing politicians like Sarah Palin, the fear mongering words of pundits like Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly, the Second Amendment and the lack of gun control or does the responsibility fall squarely on an unstable extremist man with a gun?
CBC on the Cutting Room Floor
Back in 2004 before the newly merged Conservative Party won their first minority government, Stephen Harper made his views on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation quite clear. “I think when you look at things like main English-language television and probably to a lesser degree Radio Two; you could look there at putting those on a commercial basis.” He said. Before he was even Prime Minister, Harper was advocating the defunding, sale or commercialization of the government owned CBC. Since taking office, the conservatives have done what they can to diminish the importance of the CBC. First by defunding the station by about $75 million a year, next by appointing Hubert Lacroix as the president of the CBC. Lacroix is a mergers and acquisitions lawyer (and Conservative party donator) with no management experience in radio or television production.
Divided FCC Ruling May Have Divided the Internet
The Federal Communications Commission in the United States has approved new rules intended to prohibit broadband corporations from interfering with Internet traffic streaming to their clientele.
The 3-2 vote Tuesday on “net neutrality” has angered republicans who wish to tie up the new rules in court in hopes of getting the new law overturned. Meanwhile, the democrats are also bitter as they fear the new rules don’t go far enough.
The rules prohibit phone and cable companies from
The Wrath of Grapes
The mouth of the great white north is at it again. Don Cherry seems to make headlines whenever he speaks, whether it’s practicing the gentle art of bigotry in front of a national audience on Coach’s Corner or speaking at the inauguration of the newly elected conservative Mayor of Toronto Rob Ford. In the past, Cherry has belittled Europeans and French Canadians and slammed the Canadian government for not supporting the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Most recently he insulted anyone who rides a bicycle or takes public transportation to work, not mention every liberal in the country.