In 1986, Frank Zappa appeared on Crossfire, a show that billed itself as a forum for debate between opposing views. In the following clip, (you can see the entire episode here), Zappa makes an observation that, although hotly contested by the other guests, proves to be eerily prescient, given the bizarre ideology currently enveloping the United States:
Sunday, April 16, 2023
Friday, April 14, 2023
Angry Talking Heads
I feel the same frustration today when I see angry men-children like Elon Musk and his Canadian counterpart, Pierre Poilievre, spreading their mischief to gain either attention or political advantage. Take, for example, Musk's impish decision to label publicly-funded media as government-funded, the implication being that they are merely organs of government propaganda. In the United States, this has led both NPR and PBS to close their Twitter accounts.
Not to be outdone, our own domestic mischief-maker, Pierre Poilievre, wants the same designation for the CBC. This is perhaps not surprising, coming from the man who is trying to exact as much political mileage as possible out of his promise to defund the CBC.
Like the problem students I dealt with, they clearly have too much power to influence the agenda. Unlike the classroom, however, all of us have a role to play in mitigating such madness, as pointed out in the following letter from a Star readers:
Trying too hard to make CBC the enemy, April 13
Bruce Arthur is right to pay attention to Elon Musk and Pierre Poilievre championing the word freedoms in order to destroy it when it comes to the public funding of national media like the CBC. Clearly these two are not reformers but transformers and destroyers of our democracy. As antistatist freedom fighters they appeal to everyone’s sense of liberty while bringing about its end in the media.
Like the typical 1980s neo-con U.S. President Ronald Reagan who identified government as the enemy of the people, Musk and Poilievre regard publicly funded media to express the national will of its people as illegitimate. They demand that the marketplace is the only way to provide free and balanced reporting.
The fact that such free enterprise thinking resulted in Fox News, becoming the lying propaganda media for Republicans only is ignored.
The fact that Musk bought Twitter promising to free it up so that everyone would be heard but turned it into the embodiment of censorship is overlooked. (Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s opposition is censored in Indian and Substack notes’ links are censored in the U.S.)
The fact that magical thinking that freedom bestows legitimacy on anything done in its name has proven to do major harm to democracy is ignored.
History has shown that public funding for national media like the CBC is the only democratic economic system that allows individuals to vote for how their money is to be used in the media. They can vote out the government and replace it with a different policy about its funding.
Musk can’t be voted out. Poilievre with such anti-democratic views should not be voted in.
Tony D’Andrea, Toronto
Perhaps a tall order from Mr. D'Andrea, but one that none of us who believe in a healthy democracy can afford to shirk.
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
"My Family Sometimes Comes Second. It Has To"
The above are the words of one of the officers who recently entered the private school in Nashville which saw a horrible killing spree by a deranged former student. While I am often quite critical of the police and their abuse of authority, that many are brave and selfless is unquestionable. Please watch to the end of the following to hear about that selflessness.
It goes without saying that the public trust is a sacred thing, and what the officer says at the end of the clip reminded me of the heavy responsibility that can entail. It also made me think back to my teaching days. Although a shooting at my school was unlikely, I always knew being a teacher meant that if such a dreadful day should arise, it would require me to do everything I could to protect my students, even if it meant putting my life at risk.A heroic mindset? Absolutely not. Just part of what it means to be in a position where people's lives and well-being are part of the job, no matter the personal cost - something American politicians in the thrall of the NRA should think about, as physician Jason Smith in the next clip implies after tending to the dying following the most recent mass shooting in Louisville.
May the love of the gun never infect Canada. From the endless experiences of our southern neighbour, the bitter fruit of such a passion is far too obvious.
Sunday, April 9, 2023
"Such A Willfully Stupid People"
If you watch this brief video to the end, you will see the above assessment comes from the Highest Authority.
Happy Easter, all.
Friday, April 7, 2023
Gun Love And Race Hatred - A Powerful Convergence
Although no real good can come out of it, I continue to be both rivetted and repulsed by the ongoing devolution of American society. Everywhere one looks, it is apparent that political leadership inspired by vision and integrity is close to extinction, replaced by demagoguery and pandering to America's basest elements. Indeed, it seems the powers-that-be barely make even a pretence of respect for democracy anymore.
The states are leading the charge in this race to the dictatorial bottom, and the most recent example is a profoundly disturbing one: the ouster of two state representatives from the Republican-led Tennessee House. This anti-democratic action, a convergence of America's love of the gun and hatred of racial minorities, has the attention of the world.
Two Democratic members of the Tennessee House of Representatives have been expelled while a third member was spared in an ousting by Republican lawmakers that was decried by the trio as oppressive, vindictive and racially motivated.
Protesters packed the state Capitol on Thursday to denounce the expulsions of Reps. Justin Jones and Rep. Justin Pearson and to advocate for gun reform measures a little over a week after a mass shooting devastated a Nashville school.
Following their expulsion – which House Republicans said was in response to the representatives’ leadership of gun control demonstrations on the chamber floor last week – Jones and Pearson called for protesters to return to the Capitol when the House is back in session on Monday.
Rep. Gloria Johnson, who is White and wasn’t ousted, slammed the votes removing Jones and Pearson, who are Black, as racist. Asked by CNN’s Alisyn Camerota why she believes she wasn’t expelled, Johnson said the reason is “pretty clear.”
“I am a 60-year-old White woman, and they are two young Black men,” Johnson said.
According to GOP leadership, Jones and Pearson were expelled because they broke “several rules of decorum and procedure on the House floor.” Worth noting is that the expulsion is only the third in the state since Reconstruction, the period that followed the Civil War.
Of course, it is hard not to see the real reasons behind the expulsions: the strong influence of the gun lobby which has made a fetish of never saying "sorry," even when so many young, innocent lives have been lost to school shootings. The other reason, of course, is, as Gloria Johnson stated, racism.
Without doubt, the biggest victim of all is democracy:
On “CNN This Morning,” Jones said, “I think what happened was a travesty of democracy because they expelled the two youngest Black lawmakers – which is no coincidence – from the Tennessee state legislature because we are outspoken, because we fight for our district.”
Jones described the session as a “toxic, racist work environment,” and said he spoke out because the House speaker ruled him out of order when he brought up the issue of gun violence. “If I didn’t know this happened to me, I would think that this was 1963 instead of 2023,” he added.
Only in Amerika, eh? One fervently hopes and prays that remains true.
Wednesday, April 5, 2023
UPDATED: Too Good Not To Share
From my favourite editorial cartoonist, Theo Moudakis: Trump's Day in Court.
UPDATE: And speaking of clown shows,
Monday, April 3, 2023
A Small Experiment
I have a busy day ahead, so I thought I would try a little experiment with A.I., having recently been given access to the Bing Chat Bot. I shall return to that in a moment.
Yesterday, Keith Leslie posted this Tweet:
Why does
need a five-storey, underground parking garage, paid for by taxpayers, when its massive spa at Ontario Place will be on the new subway line? This needs to be an issue in the mayoral campaign. #onpoli #TOpoli
It is clear that Toronto city planners are not happy:
In a 13-page status report regarding the province’s planned overhaul of the city’s waterfront attraction, officials detailed their thoughts on the proposed 65,000-square metre private entertainment, water recreation and wellness centre.
The biggest issue appears to be with the facility’s main entrance and building, a 22,000 square-metre structure with a maximum height of 26 metres that will connect to the west island.
“The proposed entry building and bridge elements act as barriers, obscuring heritage views to Ontario Place, the pods and Cinesphere and integrated landscape as well as sight lines to water; these detract from the public sense of arrival to the west island,” the report read.
“The height, massing and scale of the main building overwhelms the public realm, heritage features and overall size of the west island landform.”
City planners say the current location of the building on the mainland “prioritizes private uses” and acts as a barrier to non-paying members of the public who wish to access the waterfront.
Beyond that, the report also took issue with a five-level underground parking garage.
The structure “does not prioritize transit and active transportation” and goes against the province’s own policies on reducing car use as laid out in its Provincial Policy Statement.
“The proposed five level subsurface parking structure, surface parking and resultant 2,700 space parking supply does not meet these policy objectives,” the report said.
Ontario submitted its development application for the new Ontario Place in November of 2022 and said at the time that it would feature 12 acres of accessible public space as well as a “family-friendly” attraction.
Much of the infrastructure for this private development, including the underground parking, will be funded by the taxpayer, something that is becoming SOP for the Ford government.
That got me thinking about two things: How would A.I depict this development, and doesn't the City of Toronto have a say in the redevelopment of Ontario Place,? I asked for a balanced report, and this is what I got:
Yes, the City of Toronto has some influence over the plans to redevelop Ontario Place. Premier Doug Ford insists that the city of Toronto will have a major say in the controversial redevelopment of Ontario Place as decisions on the provincial waterfront park are coming down to the wire1.
According to a report by Toronto city planners, they have found some issues with the proposed redevelopment of Ontario Place and say one part of the design is so big it “overwhelms the public realm”2. The city staff has issued a critical report of Ontario Place redesign proposal3.
The City will work with the Province in a cooperative and coordinated manner on the next phases of the Ontario Place redevelopment to optimize the potential of the Ontario Place and Exhibition Place sites and to achieve outcomes that are consistent with the City’s legacy of careful waterfront planning4.
I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions. Learn more:
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