lotusland - nervous politics from a laid-back city

stupid

not to be all OH HAI GUYS on you, but how do i get rid of the comment spam.

ben west emphasizes party growth at the bc green party leadership candidates meet the press event

i quite enjoyed hearing ben west discuss his commitment to party growth at the press event this morning, i must say.  the bc greens need to take some decisive steps in increasing membership and bolstering support to local organizers if they want to be in a viable position come election time.   ben west stated he would make both actions a priority as leader.  go, west.  he also advocated prioritizing critic portfolios, which would help disseminate green policies and responses to the government. 

there is room on the bc political spectrum for an alternative to the liberals and the ndp.   raise your mouse in the air (or scrolling finger) if youre damn tired of the bc liberals' proclivity to pay lip service to the environment by inserting the word green into any damn policy they see fit.   im glad to see that the bc greens have a candidate who is ready to get the party moving.

nothing really stood out in the other candidates' speeches.  damien kettlewell revealed an undying love for stv, sylvaine zimmerman discussed the green movement, and jane sterk stressed her experience and achievements as an elected official.  how bad is it going to sound if i dont remember the other guy's last name?  i think his first name was jack. 

note to candidates everywhere:  please plaster your name on things or people at events, so that adhd twits  such as myself can remember your damn name.  yeah.

as funny as that "petit bonheur" song was in french class

an old batman comic that uses the word boner the way old people do, with hilarious results.

hey - something had to break the blogging vow of silence.   more posts to come?

poppy coin scares spooks

and those breast cancer ribbon quarters from shoppers drug mart contain anthrax.

hat tip to the whiniest bitch ive ever encountered in my life

maybe i like sand in my vajayjay

lol, canada kicks ass has a section on women.  oh.  i mean "babes" and "canadian girls" ...  and it sucks ass.

first of all, rachel freakin marsden is on their page of "hot famous canadians" - really, does anyone honestly consider her hot or famous?  more like infamous.  hell, her canadianness is even up for debate, really. 

secondly, is this funny?  can anyone who self-identifies as immature tell me what is funny about it?  the only thing i can relate to is the molson moustache. 

this just in: STUPID PEOPLE ARE BREEDING

i was at the park with my two-year-old cousin, who is cool as hell.   the place was pretty crowded - there were two t-ball games, a baseball game, a karate lesson going on in the clubhouse, and a big lacrosse game in the arena.  just another evening in suburbia, knawmean?

a girl who looked about five was walking a golden retriever equal to her in size.  the dog was extremely well behaved... until he saw another dog.   he broke free from her iron grip, bolted towards the other dog, and a bonnie dogfight ensued.  lol, duh.  said dogfight was pretty hard to break up, seeing as only one capable leash-handler was on the scene.  my cousin started freaking out, given that this was a fight between two dogs bigger than he was and he was but two feet away from the action.  dog mom eventually clues in and runs over to tame her pet. 

unrelated man runs up to the aforementioned dog mom and starts giving her shit for bringing a dog to a playground.  there was no mention of the fact the problem was letting a kid handle the leash in a crowded place, so it really struck me as a chauvinist bitch jumping on an opportunity to tell a woman how the world works.  the two immature tards start fighting.  both of them are morons.  both of them are swearing.  nobody is setting a good example as far as conflict resolution goes.  i lol at them while consoling the kid.  ill admit, i moved in closer to listen to their tardout - im easily amused. 

dude must have interpreted this as a desire on my part to help his douche ass gang up on the lululemon-clad bimbette, because he is gesturing at me and the kid and telling her it is unsafe to bring a dog to the park when there are babies around.  i winned, because i told him that i think the two-year-old is less harmed by seeing two dogs fight than by witnessing two adults act like children in a public place.  YEAH THATS RIGHT 40-SOMETHINGS, IM 24 AND BETTER THAN YOU!!!!!!11!1!1

in your face with a can of mace, bitches!  i saves my immaturity for the internets.  booyah.   

elizabeth may breaks godwin's law

oh noes! Green Leader Elizabeth May is standing by her comments over the weekend that condemn Prime Minister Stephen Harper's stance on climate change, comparing it to "a grievance worse than Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of the Nazis."

i guess the global warming thread got too long, meaning breaking of said law was rapidly approaching inevitability.  angry in the great white north says this statement "deserves some analysis. "  his post is a good example of how the thread goes to hell once the law is broken.  i believe it is possible to draw comparisons (even shitty reductio ad chamberlainum ones) about history without insinuating you support the nazis.

bah, elizabeth may - next time, let's not quote hyperbolic brits.  these people grew up watching sitcoms about kooky nazis and i believe this may have skewed their judgement as far as invoking nazi germany goes.

she did this at church, which irked minister-in-training glen pearson.   interesting views, those anglicans have.  at my church, it's 100% acceptable to break godwin's law and repeatedly refer to abortion as a holocaust. 

translink lols

has anyone ever witnessed this? apparently, two people shagged on the 351. do not lick translink furniture.

this is more interesting than anything going on in politics right now. 

eliztephanegate: am i the only person here who can think of better indicators of democratic health than a liberal candidate in every riding?

is it just me, or can every single party claim this may-dion collaboration as some kind of victory? 

c-grit: I do tend to think the Liberals come out on top here, if only because it gives Dion's environmental platform an implicit vote of confidence and helps out the inevitable "vote Liberal to stop Harper" messaging we'll see the last weekend of the campaign.

candace: Dion and May just made Jack! look like an honest-to-God leader. And he's wasting no time talking about "back room deals" etc etc etc.

yes, i do think it is pretty fun to post a pro-ndp soundbite from candace.

section 15: And what of that long-time tradition of new leaders running unopposed in by-elections? It's not always applied, but it's widely regarded that leaders of significant political parties (like the Greens, ahem!) should be allowed into Parliament. Now, it is true the Greens don't have an MP yet, which exempts May from that tradition, but with Green popular support being firm, and barely trailing the NDP, I think it's time.

conservatives: OMG KEVIN POTVIN THE LIBERALS ARE SOFT ON TERROR, and i have no idea who this "rob anders" you speak of was.

its not what i would have done, but i dont know much about the politics.  im kind of surprised at all the people who suddenly care deeply about the central nova liberal constituency association.  oh, its the principle, you claim.  like i said - am i the only person here who can think of better indicators of canada's democratic health than a liberal candidate in every riding?   

at worst, this alliance will make dumbass urbanite progressives (who rag on socons for voting single-issue yet can only process one or two black-and-white issues at a time themselves) think they dont have to do something scary like vote green since the liberals are totally about the environment.

at best, peter mackay is outta there.  ok.  everyone in central nova, get back to work.   i can't freakin stand the guy.  let's send him home crying like belinda stronach did!

kevin potvin on 9/11

some people think his column was the most morally reprehensible thing to happen since, say, 9/11.  im not one to side with religious fundamentalists or violent revolutionaries - really, im too much of a pussy for either ideology.    is he morally unfit to govern?

he claims he was applauding the aesthetic side of the attack, given the symbolic importance of the targets.  too bad theyre full of people.  yeah, even though theyre full of hawks and commerce majors, i still dont accept that killing them is laudable. 

then, he made the lone decent point about the tv value of seeing 'people like us' suffering, and the callousness with which we receive foreign death tolls. 

terrorism is then presented as the only feasible way to counter the military capabilities of the united states.  do states have a monopoly on the legitimate use of force?  well, it's certainly a cornerstone of liberal democracy.   i dont accept that non-state actors are always less justified in using force.  i dont think the usa is off the ethical hook as far as civilian deaths are concerned simply because they hire a lot of scientists and technicians to improve aiming devices.    everyone who is this firmly committed to any ideology supports some kind of just war theory in which their values are worth a bunch of other people's lives. 

how committed are you to liberal democracy?  what the hell is someone who isnt doing running for office in a liberal democracy?  is dissent important in the house of commons?   these are all interesting questions that we will cover in east van marxists 101.

why am i defending him?  because its been a while since ive been able to do something blatantly partisan, ok.  this is a fucking politics blog, people.  everyone in the green party is the awesomest person in the election!!! IN YOUR FACE, OTHER PARTIES! 

personally, i wouldnt have picked someone from the republic as a candidate.  the mainstream media just loves to chew marxists to bits, and im doubting the revolution is going to start on the house floor... but what are the damn odds of taking kingsway, anyway?