What's Wrong With Julie Bindel

Over at The Guardian, we have Beatrix Campbell speaking in defense of Julie Bindel.

She's busy arguing that Bindel should be heard - blah blah blah.

The problem with Bindel is that when it comes to transsexual identities, she speaks as if she has actual knowledge of transsexuals. Unfortunately, she doesn't - her writing is full of the same kind of stereotyping that women have fought against for years - only Bindel focuses the her noxious assumptions repeatedly on transsexuals.

If Bindel actually had some real understanding of transsexuals, and did more than simply spout off theories that claim that transsexuals aren't real, then she might be worth listening to. As it is, her theories are like listening to a phrenologist - neither have any basis in reality, and don't deserve to be taken seriously.

A Little Example

GLBT folk are often targets for discrimination and persecution - especially in this era of increased travel security.

It is a sad statement that TSA staff are creating their own little games based on other people's lives and appearances.

The board, resembling the TV game show "Jeopardy," includes categories such as "pickle smokers," "our gang" and "creatures," which sources said were names used by managers for gay men, African-Americans and lesbians.

This is nothing more than an invitation to TSA staff to engage in increased harassment of GLBT and coloured people - for no better reason than the amusement of TSA staff.

As an example of systemic discrimination and bigotry, this is an exceptionally blatant form, and it is an example of what is wrong with the paranoid mentality that has evolved since 9/11. I see this as a symptom of the resurrection of the same kinds of irrationality that gave us McArthy's 'better dead than red' anti-communist propaganda. Anyone who is 'different' is immediately a target.

I Disagree With The Supreme Court Here

The Supreme Court of Canada decided not to order the Canadian Government to repatriate Omar Khadr.

There is a problem here. The court has acknowledged that the government has violated Mr. Khadr's rights time and again throughout this whole sordid business. The government - especially under Mr. Harper - has been exceptionally rigid in its refusal to act on Mr. Khadr's behalf. It is disappointing indeed that the Supreme Court is unwilling to order the government to take effective action on Mr. Khadr's behalf.

The argument that the Supreme Court has no business dictating foreign affairs policy to the government is flawed in my view. This is not merely a matter of foreign affairs policy - it is in fact a situation where the government has been an active participant in the violations of Mr. Khadr's rights under Canada's existing laws. This is where the Supreme Court has, in my view, missed the point entirely.

Further, it does not recommend any kind of remedial or compensatory actions to be taken by the government to amend the situation that it has created with its mistreatment of his file.

In the bigger picture, this is an example of the Canadian government telling its citizens that they have NO standing with the government - within or without the nation's borders. Consider this carefully the next time you find it necessary to travel.

Sorry Apple - You Missed The Point

So, today Apple released the "iPad" ... or at least announced it. After watching the promo video, it seems to me that they failed on one key point - they released a product with absolutely no point to it.

I'm sorry, I don't need _ANOTHER_ web browsing device in my collection - much less one that fits between my iPhone and a laptop for portability. Okay, so it's better than my iPhone for watching video or looking at pictures. That's nice - but neither of those activities is a big part of my time - even when I'm travelling.

Better e-mail and calendar management? Okay - perhaps that might tempt me. Except I've already got a great setup with my iPhone and my Laptop.

I was hoping for a sense of focus in this device - a purpose that was outside of the bounds of what we already do on a daily basis with our laptops, netbooks and smartphones. Instead, we got a smartphone with size issues.

I can see some application domains that would benefit enormously from the iPad's basic technologies - but I'm very disappointed to see Apple's initial launch being a consumer-arena launch. That basically dooms this device and its potential to irrelevance out the gate. As a news reader/browser, there are lots of great solutions out there already - including the Kindle.

Lastly, what's up with Apple's marketing department? Were they asleep at the wheel when they chose this name? They utterly failed to anticipate the obvious parodies that will come along - and did within hours of the product being announced:

There's A Difference ...

I'm sorry, but shoving a pie in someone's face is political protest, not terrorism.

I personally think that PETA is ridiculous, over the top, and annoying. But they do not constitute a terrorist organization in any meaningful sense of the world. Liberal MP Gerry Byrne needs to get his perspective back.

Our politicians have gotten far too thin-skinned of late. "Pieing" Premier Klein resulted in criminal charges a few years ago, and now we want to label a protest group "terrorist" for organizing a similar attack on a minister of the crown? Give me a break.

Let's quit taking ourselves so seriously, Mr. Byrne. We have enough problems with government politicians attempting to undermine our democracy and the valid political expression of the people - this is hardly the time for us to be getting all uppity about an over the top protest organization that is guilty of poor taste more than anything else.

Kenney Admits It

The HarperCon$ don't like Parliament.

"As a minister, I often get more done when the House is not in session," he said as thousands of Canadians were preparing to mount protests across the country against Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision to suspend Parliament until March 3.

"That's not to say Parliament is unimportant," Kenney told reporters after making an immigration announcement. "But from a ministerial point of view, I think any minister in any government will tell you that's probably generally the case."

Coming as I do from Alberta, I've heard this same kind of idiotic nonsense spewed from our provincial politicians for a long time. Under Ralph Klein, a process of steadily eroding the amount of time that the Alberta Legislature sits began, and an increasing sense of 'right to govern' took root among Alberta's conservatives. This same attitude has been at the top of the ReformaTories since day one - although this is one of the rare times where so senior a member of Harper's apparatus has come out and admitted that he finds parliamentary accountability to be problematic for the way that they want to govern.

The price paid in Alberta over the Klein years has been horrifying. Of all of Canada's provinces, we have consistently the lowest voter turnouts - the last provincial election some 20% of eligible voters decided over 80% of the seats in the legislature. This is an exception dangerous path to see emerging on the federal scene - and one that only benefits Harper - whose narrow form of partisan politics plays primarily on venality, ignorance and apathy.

Frankly, as a voter, I don't give a damn if it is "easier" for a minister to do their job when Parliament isn't sitting. Parliament exists to keep that same minister accountable to the public and on the public record.

For the first time in about two years, I see Jack Layton is finally starting to do his job:

Layton, who is advocating new parliamentary rules to curb the prime minister's power to suspend sittings, said on Friday: "Stephen Harper and the Conservatives are playing old politics – where partisan games matter more than the work of elected representatives.

"Canadians want and deserve better: a new politics that says there is a better way forward, an end to secrecy and arrogance and the beginning of openness and accountability," Layton added.

Not that I trust Mr. Layton that far, but I trust him considerably more than the thin-skinned autocrats that Stephen Harper has surrounded himself with who seem bound and determined to do everything in their power to render Parliament meaningless.

The Price Of Harper's Tactics

Harper has been one of the most malign Prime Ministers that I have ever seen in Canada. It may in fact turn out to be his legacy will be the redemption of former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's reputation among Canadians.

Unlike Brian Mulroney who allowed himself to become caught up in the kind of bribery and personal enrichment scandal that causes politicians in other countries to resign their seats and step out of governments, Harper has continued to play not only an unusually vicious form of partisan politics since the day he stepped into his post at the head of the Conservative party, but he has become increasingly authoritarian since the day he got the keys to 24 Sussex Dr. in Ottawa.

But, Harper's "poltical strategy" genius is also his Achilles heel. He hasn't gotten out of thinking about "destroying the opposition" since he was elected in 2006 in a minority. So desperate is he to accomplish this single minded goal that he has called a snap election in 2008, and prorogued parliament to avoid accountability for issues that the Canadian public were concerned about.

He has all but said outright that he has no respect for Canada, Canadians or our system of government. He will manipulate it as much as he feels he has to in order to achieve his goals.

What I think is interesting is that Harper's support is coming from places where education is not valued particularly:

People in Alberta, Canadians 65 and older, and those with a high school education or less are more likely to believe the government is moving in the right direction.

Those with a university-level education are more likely to think the government is moving in the wrong direction.

This is significant in my view, and it tells us a lot about the Conservative's tactics. They thrive on ignorance - in the extreme actually. Alberta's government has always been quick to cut back funding to its public school system, and Harper's attitudes towards any research initiatives that he finds 'politically uncomfortable' have been similarly hostile. His attitude is very much that an educated public is a bad thing - primarily because an educated public will question his directions and orders. Harper likes obedient little minions, not critics that challenge his loftiness.

With this second prorogation of Parliament in a year to avoid dealing with being accountable to the Canadian public, Harper has made it abundantly clear where he stands. In spite of his promises for greater government transparency and accountability, he has actually dragged Canada backwards a good twenty years or more. This is a club that the opposition can, and certainly should, use every time Harper or one of his parrots opens their mouth. You cannot talk on one hand about making government work better or be more transparent and then on the other hand shut down Parliament every time it becomes politically inconvenient. Parliament is the gateway through which Canada's government is held accountable to its citizens. Harper is abusing the very trust which voters have handed him ... and the voters should be angry about it.