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2005 March:Hog Town: The Politics of Policing. Directed by Min Sook Lee Review by Tim Rourke July:Your drug may be your problem August: homeless and hopeless in Toronto September; El Contrato; a review of the documentary by Min Sook Lee. December: Getting real in Toronto 2006january 4: The Christmas Election february 5: The other voting reform. february 28: cartoon thinking and free speech march 12: the tenant wailing wall may 16: a bulletproof city charter june 13: a real transit strike 'july18: catching some terror' Oct 30: about making poverty history Nov 20: on the Ontario citizen's assembly 2007January 11, 07, Ontario citizen's assembly article, and backgrounder February 3, 2007 on Citizen's Income in Canada There is a world wide movement for a citizen's income; 'an unconditional, non-withdrawable income payable to each individual as a right of citizenship'. Many countries are moving toward implementation. Yet most Canadians have never heard of it. It is time the movement to separate income and survival from employment took hold in Canada. February 11, 2007. Hey, everybody ready for the third world war?
A world war is a war fought to change the world order. The world is moving from one kind of economic order to another, and the old order is not going out without a fight. February 27, 2007. Trashing Tenants Coercing people into doing something pointless, so as to disguise the fact you
have no real plan, March 11, 07 reflections on the citizen's assembly. The citizen's assembly on voting reform has almost finished its work. March 25, 07. Don't ask, don't tell, and don't think. A large underclass of people with no legal status is being created in Canada. April 11, 07. How a police state works. Social justice activism has trouble getting going in Canada. This is not because of fighting among activists. The infighting is because of the lack of effective civil rights. Police in Canada can put almost anyone in jail for months or years without evidence. It is because people can not believe it that the black bag is such a powerful tool of social control. May 6, 07. furnishing Toronto streets. The city government of Toronto is contracting a private firm to supply and maintain the city's 'street furniture' in exchange for the right to rent advertising space on them. Opponents are mainly focussed on advertising as such, rather than on this antidemocratic process. May 21, 07. about the women's housing take-over. a new group wants to open a women's squat in Toronto. If they put planning and practicality before ideology, they have a chance. But all squats are transitory. Squatting in itself will not solve the housing problem. June 10, 07. taking over housing the women's housing takeover is over. It is becoming clear that methods used in other countries to open housing for low income people are not transportable to the Canadian context. June 24, 07. remembering the Pope squat the 'squat summer' of 2002 in Toronto has many useful lessons about how to create housing for marginalized people. How they will work as communities must be thought out as thoroughly as financing and building them. July 4, 07; how to make low income housing In previous articles, we have determined that squats will create little or no housing, and would be bad housing. If we do not want to wait around for government to start building us 'Housing' again, here is what to do. July 22, 07; A housing strategy Toronto is full of 'housing advocates' who want government to start 'building housing' again. But we do not need more of what we have had. We need better ideas. August 8, 07; representing social housing tenants with all the opportunistic groups claiming to advocate for them, residents of social housing in Toronto have little chance of having their real interests advocated. August 24, 07; about Toronto Community Housing Corporation The problems with TCHC come from contempt; contempt for local government, contempt for the residents of social housing, and contempt for the truth. September 3, 07; the tenant manipulation system In giving social housing tenants a voice in running their buildings, the best of intentions do not matter if the power imbalances and cultural 'sets' are not dealt with. September 18, 07; welcome to the era of reform It is a long time since Canada had a wave of publicly driven governmental reform. With the referendum on voting reform in Ontario, we are starting an overhaul of our out dated institutions. October 7, 07; right to manage The wall of lies around Toronto Community Housing is falling, exposing the rot within. It is time for Toronto to learn what has been learned all over the world; the only way to run social housing is to let the tenants run it. October 20, 07; the Karen Harrison case part 1 What could be worse for a woman than having an obsessed stalker? It is when the police are on his side. The only thing that can stop this is public outrage, but so far people are reacting to it with denial. November 6, 07; the Karen Harrison case part 2 It has been widely noted that defective personalities are incredibly spiteful toward people of character. They become really dangerous when they find their own kind in police forces, eager to help them with their vendettas. November 17, 07; the Karen Harrison case part 3 Rogue police can exist only where a rogue court system exists. The Harrison case shows that some rogue element in society controls the legal process from the police on up to the appeal courts. November 24, 07; Toronto needs Citizens Much is being written about the crisis Toronto and other large Canadian cities have fallen into. But the first problem is the unwillingness of Toronto's people to do anything for themselves. December 8, 07; the Karen Harrison case, part 4 Someday the people of Canada have to wake up to the fact that they do not live in a democracy. In particular, we have courts which are not about applying laws and resolving disputes between people, as in a real democracy. They are about control of society by hidden elements. December 29, 07; Review of "Unrepentant" Many nations have committed genocidal crimes against other nations. Usually they have a hard time admitting what they have done. That includes Canada. The trouble is that the institutions which commanded the genocide are still in power. December 31, 07; the Karen Harrison case, part 5 (last) The most cunning thing about our secret police system is the way it builds a wall around its victims. The information about what our police and ccourts are really like needs to reach more people. 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 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 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. 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. |