Will Your Next Banana Be Chiquita?

Mine will be, given that the Harper government, aided by one of its fronts, ethicaloil.org, has issued a fatwa against the company for its resolve not to use tarsands oil for its transportation needs.

In a rare departure from Harper's find-no-fault-with-corporations-policy, he and his ministers are in high hypocritical dudgeon over Chiquita's decision, and are employing the same tactics to demonize the company as they use against anyone who stands in their way:

Several high-profile government MPs, including Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose, have urged Canadians not to buy bananas distributed by Chiquita Brands International after the Ohio-based company said it would avoid using fuel for its trucks derived from Alberta’s oilsands.

Here is a sample of the propaganda currently being employed on our airwaves:

“The Chiquita banana company says it’s boycotting oil from Canada’s oilsands. Apparently they like oil from OPEC dictatorships better,” an announcer’s voice says over orchestra music. “While they boycott Canada’s oilsands, you can boycott them. Don’t buy Chiquita bananas or Fresh Express salads at your grocery store.”

This perverted appeal to patriotism is especially rich, given the consistent contempt Harperites have shown, not only for the opinion of Canadians on an array of issues, but also the world's concern for climate change, as evidenced by their recent sad performance at Durban.

Chris Hedges on Christopher Hitchens

I was getting a little tired of reading what an all-round great guy and giant intellect Christopher Hitchens was, so I found this radio interview with Chris Hedges on the man a refreshing counterbalance.

At Least They Don't Discriminate According to Gender

For those who might have been concerned that the animus, hatred and paranoia of the Harper government is directed almost exclusively at men, The Star's Tim Harper sets the record straight by pointing out how three fairly prominent women have run afoul of our overlords; however, unlike the stereotype of passivity sometimes attributed to the fairer sex, these ladies fought back.

The experiences of Franke James, Cindy Blackstock, and Michaela Keyserlingk are conveyed in the column, with some interesting links, including one to a New York Times environmental blog entitled
Canada’s Approach to Inconvenient Art which details how artist-activist James fell afoul of the ever-watchful Harperites.

Enjoy.

Merry Christmas, Diane Finley

Actually, the title of this post was just to get your attention. I would indeed be an unfeeling man were I to wish the minister of Human Resources and Skills Development the best of the season when so many Canadians are suffering as a result of her inept attempt to streamline and make more efficient the distribution of Employment Insurance benefits by closing 98 employment insurance processing centres and firing 1,200 Service Canada workers.

With record wait-times to receive benefits, many unemployed are missing bank and mortgage payments, overdrawing their accounts, etc., all of which puts to the lie Finley's claim that all is well and working better than ever. Her employment with Harper, Inc. (as one astute reader referred to the government in today's print edition of The Star) as the good functionary carrying out her overlord's directives with nary a whimper of protest or twang of conscience renders her, as it does all of Harper's underlings, unfit for continued employment by the people of Canada.

Click here to read of one man's experiences thanks to Finley's 'improvements.'

Rick Salutin on Democracy

We live in time when the Harper government seems to be doing everything in its power to persuade Canadians that democracy is meaningless and that we, the citizens, have no power. In my view, the increasing invocation of closure on debate, sending more and more Parliamentary committees to meet behind closed doors, and egregiously and contemptuously ignoring all questions from the Opposition by responding with partisan ripostes, the Harperites are following an agenda to disenchant and disengage normal Canadians, leaving the field almost totally to their reactionary supporters.

Rick Salutin, in his latest video on The Star website, reminds us that there is much more to democracy than simply trudging to the polls every few years. It is something that has to be cultivated and practiced all the time. The video is well-worth viewing.

Another Installment of, How Stupid Can They Get?

Update: After reading this post, be sure to check the comments section for an interesting observation from Christian.

From the morally and cognitively impaired Florida Family Association comes the following news, news that consumers may wish to bear in mind at this most holy time of the year. I have taken the liberty of highlighting certain well-known brands::

Home Depot will not advertise again on All-American Muslim.

Home Depot sent the following email to Florida Family Association supporters stating that they would NOT advertise again during TLC's propagandizing All-American Muslim show.

We checked into this and although one of our commercials did appear during one of these episodes, we are not a sponsor of this show and we do not have any advertising scheduled to run on future episodes. Thank you very much for contacting us.

..............................................................

Degrassi loses several more advertisers. Florida Family Association sent out email alerts in October and November 2011.


Fifty five (55) companies stop advertising during Degrassi.

Supporter’s emails in response to Florida Family Association email campaigns and emails from the Florida Family Association office appear to have influenced the following Fifty Five (55) companies to stop advertising during DeGrassi since the monitoring first started in July 2010: 3C Incorporated (Careonetoday.com); Adidas; American Legacy Foundation; Boys & Girls Club of Central Florida; Bridgestone Firestone North America Tire; Burlington Coat Factory; Burt's Bees Acne; Cadbury Adams (Sour Patch Kids, Stride); Church and Dwight (Clean Shower, Nair, Orange Glo); Coca Cola (Coke, Fanta, Sprite); Colgate Palmolive; Conagra (Chef Boyardee); Corinthian Colleges; Dell; Eastman Kodak; Gamefly; General Mills (Fiber One, Multi Grain Cherios, Yoplait), General Motors (Chevy); Hewlett Packard; Horizon Group USA (Mon Bijou); Idea Village (Depilsilk); InCharge Debt Solutions; Inverness Medical Innovations (Clearblue pregnancy test); Jarden Corp (Mr. Coffee); JC Penney; K12; Kellogg (Frosted Flakes, Pops Cereal); Kingsisle Entertainment (Wizard101); Kraft Foods; McAfee Security; MeadWestvaco Corp. (fivestargiveaway.com, fivestarmusicinsider.com); Mylan (Myallergysurvey.com); Nationwide; Nestle; Novartis (Excedrin); Packit; Payless Shoes; Pepsico (Pepsi); Perfetti Van Melle USA (Airheads); Pure Digital (Flip Video); Research In Motion (Blackberry); Sarah Dessen; SAS Group (Dream Lash); Sears; State Farm; Stiefel Laboratory (Max Clarity); Sun Products (Snuggie); Sunny Delight (Sunny D); Sylvan Learning Center; T-Mobile USA; Target, THQ (uDraw); Travelocity; Valve Corporation (Portal 2); William M Wrigley (Cobalt) and Zeno.

Florida Family Association places a priority on monitoring shows such as Degrassi which target children with homosexual propaganda and explicitly immoral content.


Copyright 2010-2011

My Letter to David Caton and His Florida Family Association

I just tried to send the following letter to the Florida Family Association's David Caton. After hitting the submit button, the notification was that my message could not be sent, probably because their server is being overwhelmed with messages. I shall try again later, but for now, here is my note to the benighted David:

Dear David,

I would like to congratulate you for amply demonstrating something that we in the 'Great White North' have known for a very long time: that many Americans, especially those who subscribe to and support groups such as yours, are shockingly backward, racist and clearly just not very intelligent.

I would also like to thank you for helping me to know the companies I should avoid when spending my consumer dollars. At the top of my list is Lowe's, which proved its utter lack of integrity by giving in to pressure from people who clearly lack even the most basic of cognitive and reasoning skills.

Finally, I would like to thank you for providing endless opportunities for people like me to mock people like you, both in our blogs and in our conversations with our friends.

Keep up your exciting work. I look forward to your next buffoonish campaign with great anticipation.

Sincerely,
Lorne Warwick

P.S. I will be sending a copy of this letter to all of the feckless companies who have allowed themselves to be intimidated by the likes of you.