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Lest We Forget (because many are)

Today is November the 11th. Around the world, we honour our veterans, past and present, on this day. At least, we are supposed to -- one of the reasons I'm skeptical of the day, is that far too often we only pay lip service to what our soldiers have died for, and are still risking their lives for.

We as people, are way too complacent about who leads us. We are either willing to accept creeping dictatorships, or so exasperated with elections that we'd rather not vote at all, than take a stand ourselves.

Despite their frequent use of soldiers as props, our politicians very often neglect and abandon our veterans once they come home from the wars started in our nations' capitals -- far too many of our veterans live as little more than vagrants, often thanks to the same people who demand we support our troops unconditionally.

So take a few moments to think about that -- not just today, but every other day. I don't care how you remember, or when you remember, but I do care IF you remember. The only reason we still have any freedom at all, is because of these soldiers, yet far too often we are making that sacrifice meaningless.

No More "Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament"

The original Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament Facebook group, has finally shut its doors.

Some would say this was a long time coming -- not only because Parliament re-opened several months ago, but because the group had fallen listless and troll-dominated for months (due in no small part to the group's creators -- Christopher White and Shilo Davis -- deciding that they had better things to do, than maintain their protest group of 200,000+ people). It particularly reached the breaking point in the last 48 hours, with the appointment of a new moderator, who got rid of the many incarnations of a Harper fanatic who repeatedly harassed the group, accused several of its members of terrorism and treason (myself included), and who went so far as to create several fake profiles to continue doing this. However, this new mod also went so far as to delete several other users who, as far as I could tell, broke no reasonable rules (unless you think it's unreasonable to publicly question or criticize your new admin).

So, this is how activism dies -- with anger, apathy, and arrogance.

Why Stephen Harper REALLY Saved Potash

So a big fuss has been made, about Emperor Harper actually preventing a Canadian company from being taken over by foreign corporations (for once). Never mind that we're in a recession, and Harper had previously been letting our companies (and jobs) go like they were candy, apparently the business world and Harper's core supporters are up in arms -- that should show you where their loyalties lie.

But, I'll tell you why Harper really stepped in to save the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (a fertilizer company being eyed by Australia, if you don't know). Simply put, Harper did this for the same reason he caved in to opposition demands to start a (pitiful) stimulus program, and (barely) caved in to demands to hand over Afghan torture documents: to save his own ass.

Stephen Harper only does ANYTHING for one reason: power -- either getting it, or holding on to it. Whether he's willing to admit it or not, he is hanging by a thread, right now -- not only with the country at large, but within his own party. If he'd sat back and let a lot of Saskatchewan workers be laid off by another country, it doesn't take a genius to see that those workers -- and the countless other people whose livelihoods they contribute to -- would be really pissed off at whoever let it happen. When Harper needs all the votes he can get, he really can't afford to lose a lot of them -- especially when the whole province could potentially turn on him, and we're talking about a province that has generally been a Tory stronghold since Confederation. A disaster like that would not only cost Harper his government, but it would probably kill his political career.

I liken it to Hollywood, from what I've seen of it; even if you're the biggest jerk in the world, The Powers That Be will only keep you around if you make money for them. So if your movie flops, you're in trouble. If you single-handedly destroy one of the biggest franchises in town, you're a dead duck.

So Harper really had no choice but to step in and protect Potash -- but don't believe the propaganda for a minute, it was most certainly not to protect the jobs of working Canadians, in an economic downturn.

A note to the Tea Party

So the Republicans managed to make some gains yesterday, and took back the House of Representatives. Good for them. But I would still like to say something to the Tea Party: prepare to be betrayed.

The majority of the Republicans elected into the new Congress, while calling themselves budget hawks, are the same old-school politicians you were supposed to be dead-set against. In other words, the same corporate-kissing fatcats that put the world into this recession, bailed out the banks, and have historically worsened America's economy since time immemorial. Not only that, but many of your more instigating and deranged candidates (like Sharron Angle and Christine O'Donnell) LOST their runs -- so will you now take the hint that running racists, lunatics, and religious fanatics isn't doing the right-wing any favours?

Anyway, in a lot of ways, this Republican victory is going to make no real difference. The same broken, corrupt system that you're complaining about, will continue to be there. And if you seriously think anything in the country will get better, I suggest you read about the budget surplus Bill Clinton passed on to George W. Bush, only for Bush to burn it at the first opportunity. I suggest you take a look at the history of the Great Depression, and how financial regulations enacted after that helped America survive most subsequent recessions with little trouble (that is, until Regan and the Bushes dismantled them, leading to the crisis we now have). These are the same regulations that Obama put back in, to protect common Americans from another collapse in the future, and which your Republican heroes are promising to get rid of. They will probably do that, by the way, not to satisfy your votes, but to satisfy the corporations that funded their campaigns.

The point is, in many ways you just wasted the last two years of America's time. The next time you want to really change the country, do it yourselves. Then, it might actually work.