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"welcome to the home of the writing that infuriates the phoneys and is getting read"
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If you think a 'by-line' is necessary use;
Racoon is the nom-de-plume
of an Alberta born life long trouble maker and useless eater now living
on a disability pension in central Toronto.
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visit the real life activism blog
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I choose a racoon as a mascot/emblem/ pen name because...
I like racoons. I am also a fat, shy, nocturnal creature who does give lotsa trouble when molested,
and who survives in an urban environment but outside of any control systems.
series The War for Palestine | old articles in chronological order |
2008
January 22, 08 world war next is still on
And the only thing that is going to stop it is an alliance of the American public and the American army against the 'war to remake the world' crowd. The same rule applies to the latter as to all creeps; if they can not be removed, they have won. And they can now only be removed by force.
February 1, 08; a police story
More people in Canada are seeing police for what they mostly are. To change, enough people have to get fed up. Here is what happened when one community got fed up with their cops.
Tasers do not kill people, bad cops kill people. There are bad cops because there are bad laws. There are bad laws because the public has not had the guts to change them yet.
March 4, 08 why we call it Citizen's Income
A short explanation of what the new "Citizen's Income Toronto" group is all about; bringing what is going on all over the world home to Canada
March 10, 08; of bugs and thugs in St. Jamestown
There may be a correlation with the return of the bed bug and the severity of infestations in different locations, and with the socio-political changes in society and the 'built envronment' of given areas.
April 7, 08; The view from Toronto Centre.
Looking at the by-election campaign in Toronto Centre tells us some things about the state of democracy in Canada. We have a political system that does some things relatively well, but it is caught in a gridlock of outdated and wrong headed ideas. The possibility of change exists but people have to become aware of the possibility.
April 20, 08; A Petition worthy of donkeys
If people are determined enough to get something, they will get it. It will be very profitable to supply it. If manipulators of public opinion want to try to make it harder to get, this will further enhance the profitability of the business.
May 11, 08; What the point is of a 'Citizen's Income'
More on the new 'Citizen's Income Toronto' entity, explaining what the point is to a Citizen's Income. It is first of all about protecting people's rights. By doing this, it promotes solving economic problems by economic reforms, rather than by attacking the poor.
May 20, 08; Review of "Persistance of Poverty"
Economics texts are usually written by people who have benefitted from the existing system. This is why they do not explain reality very well. For that, the economy needs to be viewed from the perspectives of those kept down by it.
June 9, 08; The Fair Vote Canada convention
They say no force is more powerful than an idea whose time is coming. Despite all the frantic efforts of the establishment media to bury the idea of voting reform, it grows in strength. Fair Vote Canada held its convention in Toronto last week.
Like all the world, Canada is slowly coming to terms with the need to convert from a hydrocarbon to a hydrogen economy. The problem is that this requires a confrontation with those who have hegemony over our society. The plan proposed by opposition leader Dion is wishful thinking that this can all be avoided.
July 21, 08; Toronto traumas; the living sponge
Citizen groups in Toronto have come and gone, all complaining about the unfair deal the city gets from the province. And they all think this is some accident or misunderstanding.
August 3, 08; Review of Ending Poverty; a Basic Income for all Canadians, by Francois Blais.
Francois Blais' book has been out seven years now. Because nobody else in Canada has offered a good treatment of the idea of a Basic Income, he has set the terms of the debate, including the term 'Basic Income'.
August 4, 08; the tenant offence sub committee
the people of Toronto are gradually becoming fed up with the corruption and abuse of their local government. A first step in doing something about it is to 'out' the dirty politicians. The second is to expose the crooked institutions they support and which support them.
August 22, 08;citizen's income meets the parties.
It is a strange time to be trying to establish a new political action group in Canada. The press, the political parties, and the public have almost forgotten how democracy is supposed to work. Discourse is left to the extremists.
August 26, 08;"...if you won't join us, you're bad..."
It is no mystery why the impoverished in Toronto do not 'organise' to object to their condition. Their lack of time, skills and resources are one barrier, but a worse one are the social workers trying to 'organise' them.
September 16, 08; A review of Brian Steensland's "the failed welfare revolution".
Believe it or not, a Guaranteed Annual Income almost became law in the U.S.A. of president Nixon. Steensland's book is tough reading, but very enlightening for those seeking solutions for poverty anywhere, including in Harper's Canada
September 27, 08; another 'Anyone But Conservatives' election
Left and moderate Canadian voters are in another calamity; waging a frantic 'Anything But Conservatives' election campaign. The only escape from this endless calamity is to fix the voting system.
October 10, 08; a highly subjective view of the federal election
The way out of the endless calamity our present voting system now puts us in may be to fix the voting system. But the system cannot fix itself; just as it is almost impossible to get a majority government anymore, it is almost impossible to get a coalition government. Without a coalition of parties agreeing to it, they will not fix the system.
November 4, 08; survival of the Canadian welfare state
some academic reading on globalisation and the welfare state worldwide gives cause for optimism about the survival and even further expansion of social welfare in Canada
November 19, 08; Offe's paradox
The welfare state is much misunderstood by left and right. Capitalism would not survive without it, yet the right denounces it and the left defends it.
November 22, 08; after the voting
The elections in Canada and the United States show the deficiencies of the constitutional structures of both countries. Bet on the Canadian public to be first to awaken to this and the first to achieve change.
December 7, 08; on business and welfare
The level of social progress in any given country is in the level of enlightened self interest in its ruling class. Ideologues of the center-left and center-right are disturbed by this idea.
December 13, 08; the old order is crumbling
A number of things are starting to break down all at once. Most importantly for Canadians, the global financial system and our own political system. Change is happening whether people want it or not, and change is both opportunity and danger.
December 20, 08; on health care
The quality of health care continues to be a political issue in Canada. The health system is run by bureaucrats who want the cheapest health care, and by doctors who want to keep control. It needs to be run by the public, directly.
December 27, 08; looking ahead from the perspective of those left behind
It is a time for looking to the year ahead.This is from the perspective of impoverished people living in Toronto, Ontario. There is a lot coming our way in the next year.
2009
January 13, 09; an economic strategy
'Economic strategy' is the latest buzz term. Governments are supposed to come up with 'strategies' to 'solve' the collapse of the old order. It will be awhile yet before we start to hear strategies to bring the new and better on.
January 23, 09; on Palestine and hasbara
The most successful propaganda campaign in history has kept the truth turned upside down in Palestine for sixty years. But all propaganda depends half on lack of critical thinking skills, and half on intimidation.
February 1, 09; Origins of the Palestine war
The land being fought over in Palestine is where agriculture and civilization began. The roots of the conflict go back to the earliest times. It could bring about the end of civilization.
February 14, 09; Beginnings of the Palestine war
In 1948 the world community learned the hard way not to try to solve ethnic conflicts by partitioning territory between the groups. We are still paying for that mistake.
February 15, 09; the intensifying war for Palestine
The Palestine war has now been going on for over sixty years. All attempts by outside powers to 'solve' it have made the situation worse.
March 7, 09; the climax of the Palestine war
The deep roots of the Palestine war are in the messianic and sacrificial religion incubated there, which has spread over half the earth. It has come home again to act out its old self destroying drama. This time it could start a nuclear war.
March 21, 09; the resolution of the Palestine war
the solution for the Israeli war with Palestine and with the world, before it turns into a nuclear armaggedon, is for the world community to finally start to act responsibly. The Zionist state must be disarmed and full restitution made to the Palestinians.
April 11, 09; George Street days, chapter one.
This is the introductory article to a series I will do about my experiences as a tenant, tenant activist, and tenant representative at the Toronto Housing building at 291 George Street.
April 24, 09; reducing the harm
As with any other problem, the way to reduce the harm caused by drug addiction is to understand what the real problem is, and act on the knowledge. Few people are more vulnerable to being further harmed by fools trying to 'help' them, than drug addicts.
April 28, 09; Toronto Traumas; the Fear of the Kingdom
this continues a series on the various traumas the city of Toronto is enduring, their causes and remedies. Throughout history cities have been a source of wealth for rulers, and a hazard.
May 8, 09; Review of Daniel Raventos; Basic Income, the Material Conditions of Freedom.
Raventos has set out the point of a Basic Income, and what it is about, in a down to earth way. It is not quite the ideal text on the subject, but it is close.
May 11, 09; George street days; Chapter 2. There went the neighborhood.
George street was there waiting for me long before I ever thought I would ever live in Toronto.
May 16, 09; on Tamil Tigers and popular causes
An aspect of being a city of migration like Toronto, is that causes far from Canada's shores tend to migrate here. The dominant culture is different here, but the basic dynamics of popular causes still apply.
June 16, 09; on the swine and the flu
Once again, hysteria is being created in order to sell vaccines. This demonstrates the need to take control of our health care system away from private interests before they create another disaster.
June 17, 09; on the state of the voting reform movement in Canada
The British Columbia referendum on the Single Transferable Voting (STV) system has come and gone. The 'yes' side failed miserably. However, this presents an opportunity to convince voting reform activists to rethink their assumptions and reground their understanding of democracy.
July 4, 09; on the Iranian election
It is important that people in Canada and all over the world begin to understand what is really going on in Iran. The stakes are very high.
July 20, 09; on Google, net neutrality, evil, and Sarah Lu
I think the world wide web should know how Google delisted my web site in very suspicious circumstances, which should disturb anyone concerned about internet freedom.
August 17; 09 the Sawyer solution
When a solid effort to solve a problem fails, you take a closer look at the problem. The general public in Toronto is fed up with its police force. Many people think they have the solution. They should look at how Calgary attempted to solve the same problem.
Aug.31, 09. on animal rights, human needs, veganism, and sanctimony
Humans live with a different kind of "omnivore's dilemma"; we have feelings for what we must enslave or devour in order to live.
Sept.2, 09. George street days chapter three; the failed experiment
You never want an apartment building to have only single, and relatively young and poor people living in it.
Sept. 4, 09. What a good health care system is.
A truly good health care system is one that is community based, patient centered and free of profit motive.
October 8, 09. The Manitoba Mincome Study
A dedicated academic has resurrected a long lost study which gives us pointers on contemporary problems
October 12, 09; ACORN; new nuts we do not need in Toronto
The field is already crowded with cause pimp organisations in Toronto. We do not need anyone speaking for us who is paid for by what we want out of our lives.
A Cause Pimp is someone who wants to make a lucrative career out of presuming to speak for people who are impeded from advocating their own cause. Here is a new web page about Toronto Cause Pimps.