"From my cold dead hands." A vice-president of the National Rifle Association took credit for President Bush's election Saturday, saying that those who would restrict gun rights are engaged in "political terrorism." Hyperbole aside, is gun control a failure in the USA?
posted by tranquileye
on Apr 28, 2002 -
32 comments
"All democracies turn into dictatorships -- but not by coup. The people give their democracy to a dictator, whether it's Julius Caesar or Napoleon or Adolf Hitler. Ultimately, the general population goes along with the idea... It isn't that the Empire conquered the Republic, it's that the Empire
is the Republic."
George Lucas talks about the politics of his new Star Wars films.
posted by tranquileye
on Apr 23, 2002 -
19 comments
Canada's newest political prisoner? "Well-known activist Jaggi Singh, accused of using a wooden catapult to lob teddy bears at police during the Quebec City summit two weeks ago, faces a preliminary hearing on May 16... Mr. Singh is the only protester still in jail among the 463 people arrested during the [FTAA] summit, at which of 34 countries in North and South America met to discuss reaching a hemispheric trade deal by 2005." Of course,
the National Post has its own take on things.
posted by tranquileye
on May 3, 2001 -
15 comments
Could next month's Summit of the Americas transform Canadian political culture?
Michael Valpy thinks so. He writes: "Canadians have lost deference for their traditional political institutions and leaders. They have become surprisingly ready -- more ready than Americans -- to engage in protests, boycotts and civil disobedience, according to political-science studies... Likely not since the 1919 Winnipeg general strike and the Great Depression marches of the unemployed has an event so galvanized the energies and imaginations of Canadians on the left side of the political spectrum."
posted by tranquileye
on Mar 10, 2001 -
4 comments
The first step in setting up a parallel government? "Republican vice-presidential candidate Dick Cheney said if the General Services Administration will not assist George W. Bush's transition to the White House, the campaign is prepared to go ahead on its own. 'We will proceed drawing on other sources,' Cheney told reporters in Washington on Monday." Yeah, I just bet they will.
posted by tranquileye
on Nov 27, 2000 -
18 comments
In the other important election still to be decided:
The Canadian Alliance Party and their creationist leader, Stockwell Day, is proposing that if 3% of the Canadian electorate request it, the government should be obliged to hold a referendum on just about any issue. Up until now, many Canadians had been concerned that under a Alliance regime they would be facing endless referenda on limiting abortion rights, immigration, banning gay marriage, native rights, and so on. It was a sad, depressing prospect, as anyone living in Quebec knows.
Last week, however, the CBC television program This Hour Has 22 Minutes found a "hidden issue" I and many other "silent Canadians" can support: changing Mr. Day's first name from Stockwell to Doris.
If you are a Canadian citizen, add your name at the 22 Minutes Web site.
posted by tranquileye
on Nov 17, 2000 -
20 comments
The GOP just spammed me. I received an email sent supposedly on behalf of "Jim Nicholson, Chairman, Republican National Committee" inviting me to become an "eChampion":
Once you've registered as an eChampion, you will receive fact-filled e-mails twice a week on the upcoming election, the candidates' stands on issues, etc. Your role as an eChampion is to send these e-mails on to AS MANY friends, neighbors and family members as possible, and invite them to register as eChampions themselves at http://www.echampions2000.com.
No, I didn't opt-in to some Republican mailing list. For a start, I'm Canadian, in Canada, and if I was going to vote for a right-wing wing-nut, it would be
Stockwell Day. Talk about "idea viri"...
posted by tranquileye
on Oct 10, 2000 -
6 comments
