Until recently it looked like there was a lot happening on my blog but I can assure you, there hasn’t been much! My time and effort have been diverted to YegNews.com, mainly.

It was time to spruce up my blog though, so I took a little time to install a new WordPress theme and to take my automatic Twitter posts off the front page (found a plugin to help with that). Perhaps this will force me to blog a little more so I don’t seem like just another lazy blogger.

I have had some comments that people like having a look through my Twitter stream, which is nice. If you’re inclined to do the same, you’d better keep in mind that I like to think I have a sense of humour, so what might seem strange may just be an attempt to be funny.

If you think it’s offensive, look at it through the humour lens. If you still think it’s offensive, you ought to relax. You’re going to die of a heart attack.

The process of change has been good for my blog and hopefully you’ll agree. With so much happening out there in the world, I have been wanting to comment, believe me!

At one point I had been following nearly 2,200 people and had about 2,350 followers. It was getting to the point that I couldn’t follow a lot of what was happening because I just had too many people in my feed. Managing through lists wasn’t even working.

Over a couple weeks I’ve worked on looking at every single follower and asking myself why I’m following them. In many cases people are no longer tweeting, their tweets are irrelevant to me now or I can’t remember why in the heck I was following them in the first place!  I can remember when I followed some people though. It was certainly a trip back in time; more than three years actually!

I moved many of the online marketing, social media and SEO people to another Twitter account I have. They just made more sense to be followed from that account.

So, how low do you think my follower count is now? I had thought I’d keep it at about 1,500, but I was amazed when the total ended up at 865! Wow! It had to be done though. I feel much better about being able to manage less than 1,000 followers, let alone more than 2,000!

These are the first people I followed on Twitter just over three years ago and am still following.

I’m sure that count will grow again, but in the past few months I’ve already been quite selective about those I follow. One thing I will say is that the quality of people following me recently has increased. I’ve noticed a real decrease in spam followers lately. I don’t know if Twitter has finally been able to clamp down on garbage Twitter accounts but it’s nice to see that there seem to be a lot less of them.

I had written a post on information overload a while back. Never posted it. Got distracted. Story of my life these days. I’m hoping that pruning who I follow on Twitter will help to ease that information overload.

I’d be interested in hearing how you manage your Twitter account and if you’ve gone through the same process. How do you decide who you’ll follow and who you won’t? Any ideas on dealing with information overload?

What have I been up to though? Well, dear reader, you will have to wait for that. I’m hoping to roll out a new project in the next couple weeks. Then you’ll know why I haven’t been focused on blogging much lately. It’s an exciting one too. There are a few out there who know what is happening, and I’ll let you in on it when it launches.

It seems that more and more lately my writing energies are directed into other venues, and less into my own space. Sometimes that’s a good thing and sometimes it is not. I would prefer to build equity in my own space instead of constantly building equity in social media spaces, but what do you do?

I do have some follow up posts planned for the topic of off grid housing in the city. Still a dream, but I’m trying to move it closer to reality.

It should be interesting to see how the next four years goes in Canada. Let’s hope that the predictions about Stephen Harper’s hidden agenda don’t come to pass. Something every government should keep in mind, if it is to survive, is that it must govern according to a real majority of the population and not just its voters. My hope is that any changes the Conservative party does make to Canada are in accordance with the values of Canadians and not what desire them to be.

No, you’re not in a parallel universe: NDP as Official Opposition

In Quebec the Liberals and Conservatives took six seats each, with the Bloc at 4 and the NDP picking up 59 of 75. I expected the NDP to do well tonight, but I did not expect the absolute landslide of support for the NDP or for them to become the Official Opposition. It seems to really have come at the expense of the Bloc Quebecois, and in a major way!

The Bloc was nearly wiped off the electoral map (not a bad thing) only being elected in four seats, compared to their 49 just before the election. Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe failed to be re-elected. Lets hope that is the last we hear of separatists in Quebec. There are provincial elections coming, so who knows?

Liberals: time for a new leader (again)

The Liberals have been plagued by weak leaders so I’m curious who’ll come up next after the drubbing the Liberals took. Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff failed in his re-election bid. I wouldn’t have predicted that. I thought the Liberals would slide in support but not the huge fall from 77 to 34 seats.

I noticed Justin Trudeau won his seat. Perhaps a new round of Trudeaumania will be coming for Canada?

Was Ignatieff really the right choice for the Liberals? He never seemed to be a very strong opposition leader and missed many opportunities to attack the Conservative party on some very serious issues. That is the role of the Official Opposition after all, and I think that Ignatieff did fail there.

He was certainly lacking in the likeability department. He’s probably a great guy, but he never really came across as a strong leader and it seems that the Liberal campaign really went downhill after the debate, with the NDP picking up all that support.

Green Party’s first seat

One bright spot in this election was that Green Party leader Elizabeth May got her party’s first seat! That is good news. Perhaps we’ll see that change with more seats in the next election. I’m sure everyone will be keeping an eye on her and the Green Party.

Diversity? What diversity?

If you look at the prairie provinces, once again there’s a distinct lack of political diversity, federally. Alberta has one NDP seat, Saskatchewan one Liberal and Manitoba jumps up to three seats: two NDP and one Liberal. Not much opposition representation for three provinces.

Ending party politics

I am tired of party politics and have said a few times before that I’d like to see political parties abolished. I would prefer a system much like Nunavut’s non-partisan legislature. No political parties and elected officials can vote on issues however they like. No control freaks need apply. Elected officials can also do a better job representing their constituents.

I’m not naive enough to think Canada will ever move to this sort of system, but I can hope. We expect accountability from our politicians, but there is none in political parties at all. Parties all preach openness, but that openness seems to be inversely proportional to their distance from power.

I wouldn’t mind seeing some form of proportional representation so that our Parliament more closely reflects the breakdown of the vote. I’m not going to hold my breath that it’ll happen in the next four years either. It’s much more easily achieved though, and a few years back B.C. nearly got a proportional representation system in the single transferrable vote.

Predictions I hope won’t come true

Here are some of the predictions I had made about what we might see from a Conservative majority. How many will happen?

I predict a Harper majority will:

• bring back the death penalty
• expand the prison system, populate it, privatize it
• ban abortion
• further increase military spending – $30 billion on jets with no engines will be nothing
• bring in more tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy
• run up the debt & increase the deficit
• privatize healthcare
• squeeze the middle class even further
• kill the CBC
• further turn Canada into a police state (G20 was a warmup)

Other things I would add to the list:

• InSite safe injection site in Vancouver will be shut down
• expanded war on drugs (have to fill those prisons)
• expanded foreign worker programs
• abolish gay marriage, move to limit gay rights
• failure to protect Canadians from Internet company gouging

What will happen? Time will tell. I hope I’m wrong on this list more than I’m right. What do you think?

Interesting foreign view of Canada’s election.

It actually reminds me of some interactions with religious nutcases who like to come to my door. I recorded them once and put it up on YouTube. They didn’t want to be on YouTube and evidently someone complained because YouTube pulled the video.

It was pretty benign, but one of them came back after it had been pulled (I discovered later) and she was accompanied by a couple of absolute fanatics almost screaming at me about “mother Mary.” I wasn’t in the mood for it that day, but I wish I had been. I ought to post the video here sometime. I kind of miss that video as it had the highest views of all of them. I quite understand the entry people put on Facebook for religion: “I don’t have a problem with Jesus, it’s just his followers I can’t stand.”

Anyway, on with the story! I get this random message:

RANDOM RELIGIOUS STUMBLER: You haven’t even ONE CLUE about Israel.

How can I resist this?  I replied.

ME: Oh really? Why is that? I’m curious. :)

Obviously they’re off fighting other religious battles. The one with me is a minor skirmish (at this point).

RANDOM RELIGIOUS STUMBLER: I saw something…been a little bit now & I f0orgot exactly what it was as I have access to many different Social websites..and stay at none of them primarily. I see what I said…and I wouldn’t have stated that if someone was not, AGAIN spreading propaganda against Almighty’s God’s chosen people &/or maligning Israel for the purpose of evil..

If you know me, I can’t let something like that go. I responded, resisting the urge to simply call them a fucking idiot.

ME: Aha, well, just because you say it is so, does not mean that it is.

One cannot be critical of the actions of the Israeli government without being accused of being a propagandist or evil? Honestly, I don’t know where some people get their ideas, but it’s absurd. How would you explain Jews who are critical of their own government’s actions?

Are they “just” self-hating Jews? Hardly. One can be critical of injustice and criminal behaviour wherever it occurs. I don’t care if these acts are committed by atheists, Jews, Christians or Muslims.

You probably spotted a comment I’ve made many times. If the world wasn’t watching, we’d probably see the Israelis commit the same acts of genocide on the Palestinians. That doesn’t excuse the Palestinians for their crimes either, as both sides are guilty of them.

Not sure who appointed you the defender of Israel, but they seem to be doing well on their own. Perhaps you could examine the actions of “God’s chosen people” with a critical eye. They’ll certainly be judged for their crimes and sins as much as the Palestinians.

I just sent off the response, so I’m curious what the response will be. I will keep you posted.

Just got a message back.

RANDOM RELIGIOUS STUMBLER: I don’t have but a moment right now…so I will suffice it say…just Like I said..you don’t know what you speak of..you talk from a deluded world view that I have read before. You have NO id3ea what the Arabs who choose Israel over Islam -except those who live under the 56 nations of radical Islam.

I know the Jews are not perfect! Silly rabbit! NOR are they responsible for every godless act and agenda that mankind brings upon itself.

You sound like a holocaust denier–it is thew Jews who that happened to dear. ALL ISRAEL WANTS IS TO LIVE IN PEACE–YOUR ISLAMIC BUDDIES WON’T LET THEM.

Yes…woe is me..I didn’t keep me “cool” in the sparse amount of time..But you see I have NO patience for CLUE LES SAND THOUGHTLESS INDIVIDUALS WHO NEITHER RESEARCH THE REAL DEAL..BUT INSTEAD SEEMS TO HAVE Islamic/Nazi/Marxist / Socialist agenda.

With that I bib you adieu.

My response back:

ME: Well, it’s obvious your capacity for critical thought is somewhat diminished. Hope you get some help with that, but I’m not optimistic about your chances to come out of this with open eyes.

Perhaps you could ask some of my Jewish friends whether I’m a Nazi or a holocaust denier. I am neither. We know the holocaust happened. There’s no denying it.

I do have a couple of friends who are Muslim, but I don’t see them often. I don’t remember them saying anything about how they won’t let Israel live in peace, but I’ll ask them about it next time I see them. I’ll ask them nicely to just stop it.

Funny how you can label me as having an Islamic/Nazi/Marxist/Socialist agenda from some random comment you can’t even remember. I appreciate your thoroughness though.

I believe in socialized medicine. Does that make me a socialist? If so, I think that is a good thing. I’m Canadian. We appreciate that sort of thing here. I actually have a doctor’s appointment next week and I won’t have to sell my car so I can see the doctor. I like cars. I like the doctor. I like that I don’t have to declare bankruptcy after having surgery.

Now, I know you’re going to pray for me, and I appreciate it, but I don’t need the help. Thanks anyway!

This likely will end badly… with people knocking on my door, holding literature just for me. No, not a warrant for my arrest. I think it’ll be the Watchtower.

(Freedom of religion? How about my freedom to not to have to listen to your BS?)

One has to wonder what else we’re going to find out about the design and preparations at the Fukushima nuclear plant.

I’m rather tired of people talking about the science behind nuclear power and about how safe it is. First of all, theoretically, anything can be made safe. Science is irrelevant.

The relevant factors are engineering and business. This will determine the ultimate safety of any system. It’s a natural inclination for any business to minimize costs. Engineering any system can be an expensive process, and with something like nuclear power, cutting corners can be costly, as we’ve seen.

There have been serious questions about the safety of the GE Mark I reactors, such that three GE nuclear scientists resigned in process. It’s not about science because, theoretically, nuclear power is safe and can be contained.

In GE’s case, it’s about business and engineering. Oh, statistics play a role here too. They probably have a statistician on staff who gave them the odds against the critical events the GE 3 warned against.

Business decisions by GE probably dictated that they weren’t going to toss the Mark I design and start over. Why waste that investment?

The engineering, obviously, was an issue. Other reactor designs are likely much better than GE’s Mark I. The GE 3 obviously were so concerned about it that they went public with their concerns and resigned from GE.

It’s not a science issue at all. As happens in so many cases, there are other issues at play in man-made disasters, but people mistakenly or intentionally obfuscate those issues with the weak appeal to authority argument (science).

I understand the science behind the reactor, containment, cooling, etc. I trust the science. We’ve studied it for 60 years. So what? I also understand people and that’s the problem I have. I don’t trust the people behind these power plants. If they weren’t heavily regulated, we’d have far more problems than we do now, given the propensity of business to spend as little as absolutely required on virtually anything.

Heavy regulation of these types of operations is no guarantee of safety either, but it’s a start. Regulations have required nuclear plants to have multiple redundant systems to ensure that if problems or accidents happen, we don’t see catastrophic failures such as those at each of the Fukushima reactors.

Evidently Japan’s regulation of these plants was inadequate, especially given the level of earthquake and tsunami activity in that part of the world.

I am not against nuclear power. If the plants and waste are managed properly, they can be a safe, albeit expensive, way to generate large amounts of electricity. In our hubris, humans often don’t see the big picture and don’t change until it’s too late. Nuclear power is not something we want 20/20 hindsight on. We need to ensure that we get it right before we go ahead with these plants. I don’t think there is such a thing as over-engineering when it comes to them.

As the world is increasingly looking for clean and reliable sources of energy, nuclear has become an increasingly attractive option. The disaster at Fukushima, if nothing else, should serve as a warning against hubris, and show us the importance of a thorough approach to safety. More nuclear power plants will be built, so let’s make sure we construct them properly. Maybe Mike Holmes should supervise nuclear power plant designs.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this play, as I’m not normally a fan of musical anything. I was quite pleased with the production. I have to admit, I’ve never read the novel, and I’ve never even watched the Disney version of the Hunchback of Notre Dame, for what it’s worth.

It’s an adaptation, so I’m sure they must have taken some artistic license with it (I’m always fond of that), and the result was spectacular. I was particularly impressed with the minimalist set, which was formed by multiple sets of simply styled arches, which successfully evoked the gothic image of Notre Dame Cathedral.

One can’t help but be struck by the lighting of the play. The reflective arches are enhanced by the dramatic lighting of the minimalist set. I think my favourite part of the set was when they brought down the stylized, backlit bells of Notre Dame. It was a beautiful scene with Frodo and Esmeralda and I would love to have a picture of it.

The costumes were interesting. They were evocative of a sort of gothic/techno nightmare, and I got a sense of the Nightmare Before Christmas in some of the overall designs. The occasional narrator of the play had an urban guerrilla/SWAT team member look. He even did a bit of rapping.

The one thing that I thought would bother me about the play, the singing, was actually very good. I have an aversion to “show tunes” so before I attended the play I thought I might want to rip my ears off at times, but that was not the case. The songs were performed well and sounded great. I have no idea if they were original or not. I’m simply happy my ears remain attached to my head.

As it was my mother’s birthday last week, I invited her along to see the play with me, and she was quite impressed with the Citadel Theatre, and Catalyst Theatre’s performance of Hunchback. She has more of a classical education than I do, and when she attended high school in Quebec, I understand she used to attend quite a few plays.

I was glad to be able to bring her there and we had a good time at the play. It was a packed house and she was quite impressed with the number of young people in attendance. I hadn’t noticed it when I attended August: Osage County, but she was right. I suppose that was another stereotype I held about theatre in that I expected a bit of a snooty, Richie Rich type of crowd. It certainly is not the case, and while everyone was generally well-dressed, I even noticed some jeans in the crowd.

I’ve only been in Edmonton a few years, but I’ve heard a number of times that Edmonton has a healthy and vibrant theatre community. If Catalyst Theatre’s production of Hunchback is any indication, Edmonton will continue to have a strong future with a supportive theatre community, creative producers and talented actors.

There are nearly 500 media organizations who accept wire copy with little or no fact checking.

Collective stupidity is kind of scary, but we’re being subjected to the media’s obvious lack of fact checking with apparently “new video” surfacing from the day of the 9/11 attacks. The video, shot from a helicopter, shows the World Trade Centre before and after the collapse.

Nobody but the media seems to be up in arms about this “new video” and I wonder if there are any fact checkers employed by media organizations these days.

A five second search on YouTube for “9/11 helicopter video” will turn up the same video touted as being new. (I checked as soon as I saw this and it came up. Now the original result is being pushed down.) The post date? February 11, 2010, with a reference in the title of the video that it was released in 2009. I’ve embedded the first video, and you can also see part 2 of the original 9/11 police helicopter video.

In fact, there’s 9/11 helicopter video footage from July 12, 2007 that appears to be the exact same footage as that they’re saying now is new. It’s from July 12, 2007.

Even CBC is running the inaccurate 9/11 helicopter video story, normally a source of pretty good journalism, has run the Associated Press wire copy without verifying that the video is new. They’ve also closed off comments to the story. I expect more from CBC, but I have had some real concerns with them lately.

So, does anyone check facts anymore or search Google just to see what’s going on? Apparently not. No, it’s easier to just post garbage wire copy. It appears nearly 500 media organizations (for now) have picked up the story. What an embarrassment.

Considering it’s the 10^th anniversary of 9/11 this year, it’s no wonder the panic pump is being primed. 2012 end of the world shows will be replaced by fearmongering 9/11 propaganda. Quick. Is there a flag somewhere that I can wave around, while singing the national anthem?

We saw enough cheerleading during and after 9/11, I had hoped we might see some serious journalism on the topic (not the obvious tripe we’re seeing). I’m not sure I can take much more “chilling video.”

It was pretty good. I had the opportunity to meet a few MLAs (Dave Taylor – Alberta Party, Kent Hehr – Liberal Party, and Jonathan Denis – Conservative Party) and chat with people from those parties as well. I was surprised I didn’t meet anyone from the Wild Rose Party, but I didn’t meet everyone there either.

What I so often discover from casual, in-person discussions about politics is that our differences usually aren’t that far apart.

I prefer these types of discussions to online political discussions. The trolls usually don’t come out to these events, preferring the perceived anonymity they possess behind their computer screens and pseudonyms.

What’s in a name?

I had fun prodding a few of the Alberta Liberals in the room. We got onto the topic of changing the name of the provincial Liberal party, which apparently has little connection to the federal party.

I still find it odd that the Alberta Liberal party is so stuck on keeping the name, when it’s so obvious that it’s the biggest impediment to their political success in this province right now (leaving aside the issues of ineffective leadership).

The provincial Conservatives love to bring up the 1980s National Energy Program, signed by Conservative premier Peter Lougheed. When the NEP is mentioned, there’s a collective knee-jerk around the province, and it’s never good for the Liberals, despite the fact the provincial Liberals probably had absolutely nothing to do with it. The truth has nothing to do with the issue.

The rationale I heard was that the Alberta Liberals are worried their stream of donations would dry up if they were to change their name. I countered that it would likely increase as they tapped new sources of donations.

I have to respect the Alberta Liberals for manning the helm of their swamped ship to the bitter end, but a touch of Machiavellian sensibility wouldn’t hurt. Would a name change mean a complete abandonment of their principles? Absolutely not. Why would it?

I heard something interesting too, that nobody has ever presented a motion at a party convention to change the party name. About time it happened, but it won’t be me doing it. So, what should the name be?

The Prairie Party

I thought this would make sense, because the Alberta Liberals, according to what I heard, are a truly provincial party with few ties federally. It’s the same in B.C., where the B.C. Liberals are really Conservatives and have few real ties to the federal party.

Albertans, and here I’m stereotyping a little, tend to be quite patriotic about their province, and a name like the Prairie Party could be appreciate by many in the province, particularly rural voters. I have never seen a province where its residents feel so strongly about their home.

My thought is that if you’re truly convinced your principles are worth fighting for and should be adopted here, why would something like a name change be so problematic? It is puzzling. In fact, it’s truly odd, considering so many political parties would be willing to force their mothers to work in a Chinese sweat shop if it meant they could get into power.

In some ways you have to respect that kind of conviction, but in other ways, it’s sort of dumb. Apparently Einstein was quoted as saying “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

I also came up with a cute slogan that captures why the name change should happen: change the name and you change the game.

Looking at it practically, a good portion of the voters in the province have grey hair, like it or not. Voter turnout here is pathetically low, but you can count on seniors to get out and do their civic duty. They don’t tend to be swing voters either. They’re loyal and often conservative. They also remember the NEP, rightly or wrongly, so if the Liberals (with that name) expect to form government here, it’s likely not going to be until the baby boomers are dead and gone.

The Saskatchewan Party

I used these guys as a good example for the Alberta Liberals to follow. They formed in 1997 and 10 years later they were in power. There’s so much wrapped up in a name and such a name has broad, subconscious appeal to Saskatchewan residents, obviously.

This is why the Alberta Party has a positive future ahead of it, no matter what their policies, no matter what they do, no matter who the leader is. The party has the right name. It’s all about the brand. That’s not knocking the positive things the Alberta Party is up to, but having the right name gives them a leg up on their competition. Right out of the gate they have an advantage.

There’s been some public bickering about parties merging, but the Alberta Party would be crazy to do it, if it meant adopting the Liberal Party name. If anything, the Liberals should merge with the Alberta Party and adopt their name.

The one thing the Liberals could do to counter the Alberta Party brand is to come up with one which symbolizes Alberta, and that’s the Prairie Party. I’m not going to launch into some poetic description of how the name represents the province, it just does.

The real question is, how long are the Liberals going to sit on the sidelines of Alberta politics as other parties pass them by? My prediction is that the Alberta Party will form the official opposition not after this election, but the election after that (sorry Wild Rose Party). Perhaps when the Alberta Liberals are down to their last member in the Legislature, they’ll consider a name change, but by then it will be too late.

Bev Oda and Roy Orbison

When I saw the picture in The National Post I instantly realized that Canada’s embattled Minister for International Co-operation, Bev Oda, is Roy Orbison reincarnated. The minister is having a few difficulties because she apparently lied to Parliament about adding NOT to a document. At first I thought maybe she looked like Yoko Ono, but a tune from the Travelling Wilburys popped into my head and I knew.

I’m sure Prime Minister Stephen Harper is being serenaded by Bev right now. She’s singing “Handle Me with Care.” Or, is she singing, “I’ll be your Yoko Ono”?

The resemblance is amazing. After Bev’s done in Parliament, she can work on a revival of the Travelling Wilburys. Hope her guitar work is up to snuff and she’s got a good falsetto.