And Silly Gets Sillier


And if you thought silly couldn’t get sillier, voila, more silliness in the world. Here’s the story:

As you all know, the Copenhagen Climate Conference is currently underway (Dec. 6 - 18). This is the last time parties of the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) will meet at the government level to discuss proposed changes for the new agreement that will replace the Kyoto Protocol once it runs out in 2012.

Here’s the bug:
“Ecocity World Summit 2009, the 8th International Ecocity Conference: Urban Ecological Foundations for Climate Solutions” is running from December 13 to the 15 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Here’s the blurb:
“The International Ecocity Conference Series brings together the key innovators, decision makers, technologists, businesses and organizations shaping the conversation around ecological and sustainable city, planning and development.”

Here's my say:
Why the f*ck isn’t this happening in Copenhagen or Copenhagen in Istanbul?!? Couldn’t they combine the two? Shouldn’t they combine the two?!?! Or shouldn’t this have occurred before the Copenhagen Conference at the very least? So government officials are in Copenhagen making the big decisions that impact our planet, good or bad, while the people qualified and passionate about those decisions—the people who supposedly really care—are 2024 Kilometres (1258 miles) away???

And things are going to change how?

Keep on clicking!

PDL


© 2009, Pascal-Denis Lussier
Photo credits: "Blindingly Forward" by PDL

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The Corporation... On Our Street


Because everyone should see this at least once... All 23 parts are available through
the YT viewer. I have some complaints, but...
Enjoy.



Keep on clicking!

PDL


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Bank Profits High, Bewilderment Higher


Economics is one of those things I really have a hard time wrapping my brain around. I have a much easier time understanding complex neurolinguistics theory or mind-numbing philosophical treatise than I do finance and the money market. But I don't feel bad about that, 'cause when I really listen to economists and analysts and I look at events and markets around the world, it's clear to me that no one else, not even those who make it their field of study, seem to really know what's going on. Case in point, here was an expert opinion on our bank's expected 2009 fiscal-year-end (which ended Oct. 31): "It is less clear if the overall profit will outshine that of the fourth quarter of 2008. Some say earnings will be a bit better than a year ago; others think they may be a bit worse" (Canadian banks to cap 2009 with decent quarter, The Globe and Mail).

So the numbers are coming in, and what are we to make about everything being "down", that we're in the middle of a recession complete with cut-backs, lay-offs, and fee hikes, while Canadian banks are closing their fiscal year with "better than expected" lofty profits?

Our banks are receiving international praise for what turned out to be prudent management that helped them to weather the recent global financial crisis better than all their international peers, especially those south of the border, which makes a strong argument for better banking regulations in the United States, but I digress...

So times are tough and money is hard to come by... which basically translates to household incomes being hit hard. Funny that our banks are quick to point out that their retail and branch operations—those operations that handle our household incomes—is what lost them loads of money, and that it was in fact their financial markets sectors which allowed them such gains... It’s as if banks want Canadians to feel guilty so that their profits aren’t questioned. And nonetheless:

- CIBC's net profit for the fourth-quarter rose to $644 million from $436 million a year earlier. A difference of $208 million.

- TD said its investment banking division had a record quarter earning $372 million compared with a loss of $228 million in 2008.

- National Bank, the sixth-biggest lender, said fourth-quarter profit came in at $241 million, from $70 million last year.

- BMO, RBC, and Bank of Nova Scotia haven't yet released their numbers (today for RBC; next week for Scotiabank) but they are expected to show strong profits that far exceed Street estimates.

And yet our Canadian debt is expected to jump to $630B by 2014 and the average household debt level keeps rising and rising... Poverty levels increase each year as does famine and homelessness... as does the number of homes repossessed by banks.

How much is enough for banks? How can they possibly justify those kinds of profits and then rag about bad loans??? And when our economy is going well and they’re making money on all fronts? What kind of profits then? And how much did they already stow away in over-seas and tax-free foreign accounts?

And still, our fees keep increasing and our returns dwindling. Seems like the wisest thing to do with one’s money is to put it in bank shares, not bank accounts, providing that one has any money left to invest...

Keep on clicking!

PDL

© 2009, Pascal-Denis Lussier
Photo credits: "Canadiana 3" by PDL
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Taking the Myth Out of Adverts - Pt. 1 - Intro


I'm often accused of reading too much into ads; conversely, I find that people read way too little into them. How else to explain people's convoluted desires to satisfy futile needs they wouldn't otherwise have, along with the stubborn persistence of certain stereotypical ideals?

Through this series, I'll try to demonstrate using real-world examples just how and why marketing plays a much bigger role in our lives than any of us would like to admit; it dominates the ideas of all those in developed countries, and impacts on those in developing ones. I'll take a semiotics approach--focusing on signs and our relation with them--to show that advertising is one of the most potent socializing forces out there, and that, given the shallow culture it tends to promote and propagate to its own end, it is in the interest of advertisers to cultivate all types of delusions and negative stereotypes, all in the name of Consumerism (the capital 'C' kind).

Since I barely watch any TV, I actually get a kick out of watching the commercials. They are positively great indicators of the mores of any society - there's so much to learn from them, providing you're willing to read beyond the product's gleam. But TV ads aren't the only interesting ones. These days, it's easier to name the spaces that don't contain advertising in one form or another than doing the reverse. Incredible sums of money go into studying people using highly refined research methods and tools, all with the aim of developing the most efficient ways of conveying a message to targeted members of society through various media.
And advertisers care about one thing, getting the message out there and into our brain, and they'll do whatever it takes. However, no matter what punches they'll pull or what fireworks they'll use to blind us, successful advertisers invariably rely on two things, myth and ideology. And how we are sold these, myth and ideology, through a careful consideration and packaging of symbols and signs sure says a lot about humans...

In a future post, I'll offer an in-depth definition of what I mean by 'myth' in this context and discuss how advertising forges our collective consciousness of reality by reformulating, establishing, exploiting and perpetuating myths and ideologies, which are useful in that they can make particular ideas seem natural. And natural notions are easier to accept and harder to resist, and can therefore give certain social meanings the allure of common-sense truths about the real world. According to Roland Barthes, myths usually serve the ideological interests of 'the bourgeoisie' , which he uses to refer to "the class of people who own or control the industrial, commercial, and political institutions of society, in order that their ownership, power and control can remain unchanged and unchallenged" (Mythologies, 1973: 137).

On a bi-weekly basis (or whenever I get the chance), I'll explore the why's behind why we buy what we buy and live the way we do according to myths which usually have historical and psychological realism that isn't even based on reality, but on convention.

The best way to break these myths then is to remove the impression of naturalness by understanding how the myth is constructed, and how it promotes one way of thinking while seeking to eliminate all the alternative ways of thinking.

Feel free to contribute to this discussion in whatever way you chose. Interest will determine the depth to which I will explore the subject...


Keep on clicking!

PDL

© 2009, Pascal-Denis
Lussier
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Cheerios and Genocide? Who'd a Thunk It?!



Have you heard and/or seen this new--new, meaning that I saw it for the first time last night--slogan for MultiGrain Cheerios?
They probably spent millions developing this slogan, and it's clear that the Cheerios people want consumers to think about "fat" and a healthier lifestyle... or so that's what their lawyers will assure us. General Mills is clearly positioning this product to compete head-on with Kellog's Special-K, by targeting the same mid-twenties to early-forties college educated, middle-class women who, like all women, are weight conscious.
And how can women not be weight obsessed these days, right? And this is the type of ad campaign that both aims to profit on, as well as contribute further to women's obsession with weight. And why not? It's an incredibly profitable industry generating billions and billions of dollars worldwide. Americans alone spend between $34 billion and $50 billion a year on diets.
Incredible numbers when considering that the entire industry relies on manufacturing a lack of confidence in order to create false needs, by instilling a desire to attain an unrealistic (and unattainable) version of one's self. The role assigned to women throughout history seems to make them more vulnerable to all sorts of products and tactics that feed on and perpetuate the inequality issues that concern feminists, but advertisers are increasingly finding new ways to target men as well; anorexia is no longer just a "woman's disorder". Cheerios is careful how they go about it, and they can easily argue that they are merely trying to promote a healthier lifestyle, but the ad I saw did feature two women doing laundry... all the elements were there... And here's their product page. The text is pure conjectures about grains and weight "control".
But think about it. "More Grain, Less You." How does that make you feel? What if a lover, a friend, or family were to tell you, "I wish I saw less of you," or, "you'd be better if there was less of you"? How would you react to that? And yet you accept it from anonymous breakfast cereal pushers?!
"Less You" on its own is not all that surprising to hear in this epoch marked by the loss of individuality, just surprising that a company would be so forward about it. Should I say more?
But "More Grain, Less You" is an especially odd slogan considering the current worldwide food crisis and the devastating effects continually rising grain prices are having on impoverished populations around the world. Droughts and natural disasters; a sudden need to produce major amounts of ethanol; trade policies; the causes are varied, but according to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), the price of grain staples increased by about 132% since March 2007. The price of wheat increased by 181% over a three year period. The price of rice, already swelling, grew by 50% over a three month period in 2008, and hasn't stopped rising since....
Entire third-world populations are on the brink of famine, unable to buy food because of the growing price of grain, while North Americans are suddenly having it beaten into their heads that they need as much grain as possible in their diets. Breads, noodles, breakfast cereals, snacks, granola bars, chips, etc.; all the smart companies now offer a healthy alternative multi-grain version. Clearly, and despite their claims, corporations are getting fatter off of these price hikes... but could there be more behind all this? The rising prices and the World Trade Organization are allowing foreign governments and companies greater control in poorer, developing countries, while proposing a de facto instrument of population control by "eliminating the poor" through "starvation deaths". In the words of Henry Kissinger: "Control oil and you control nations; control food and you control the people."
According to Brahm Ahmadi, an advocate with Food Justice, "in order to discuss issues of hunger, one must also discuss the underlining issues of racial and class disparity and the inequities in the food system that correlate to inequities to economic and political power."
Gives a new definition to "More Grain, Less You".

Keep on clicking!

PDL

© 2009, Pascal-Denis Lussier
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No Brains for No Shopping Day


Tomorrow, November 27th, is Buy Nothing Day. People are encouraged to refrain from making any kind of transaction where money is exchanged for goods or services.

Yippee!

Another initiative designed to change humanity!
Just like, but not limited to: Gay Rights Day, Human Rights Day, International Women's Day, World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, Abuse Prevention Day, Ocean Day, Earth Day, World Day, Save Our Planet Day, Space Day, International Day of Peace, World Animal Day, World Food Day... and the list goes on! Every major cause, disease, and common sense action out there has its day! And these "Days" are conceived to raise our awareness about stuff we should already know and actions we should already be doing. You'd think the mass media would be the most obvious sources of dissemination to ensure that the population is getting the right facts and that everyone is up to date on reality, but no... We need to dedicate entire days to remind us that we shouldn't throw garbage in lakes and beat on elders or treat other races differently, etc... I ask you, what's wrong with this picture?

Apparently, we do need them, so I don't have any problems with these 'theme' days per se, but I do question just how effective and worthwhile these efforts really are in some contexts. For starters, the only people that wholeheartedly participate are the people who are already conscious of the problems and who generally do their share outside of such initiatives.

Other participants? Well, if those 'special' days do present a marketing angle that can be exploited for profit, someone will exploit it to the max. Unfortunately, this is usually in direct correlation with 'public interest' and the only true sign that an "awareness cause", such as Earth Day, has become a great success! And that's when the media truly begins to 'promote' them!

Have you heard anything on the corporate news sources about Buy Nothing Day? Probably not, which exemplifies what I was saying above, but also acts as another example of ineffective activism that doesn't seek proactive ways of using what's there. For one, independent thoughts don't have to be limited to 'indie' modes of far-from-far-reaching means of communications, but as with all else, it's a question of 'right time'.

The fact that organizers chose tomorrow as the Buy Nothing Day boggles the brain! How realistic is that??? As an event aimed at raising awareness, it's destined to fail and , if anything, have an immediate negative effect on consumers rather than a long term positive one. Tomorrow already has a label, it's referred to as Black Friday for a reason! The first Friday after Thanksgiving is the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season. The concept of "Traditional Christmas Shopping Season" freaks my mind, but I won't get into that right now.

Since not everyone is able to celebrate Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving Day, many will do it over the weekend. So People are receiving, others are visiting; people will buy gifts, and frozen peas and flour, and juice and wine and alcohol, and napkins and cardboard plates; and since they're on the move, they'll pay for gas and snacks and restaurants and magazines in airport lounges and in bus terminals; and since most people but retailers have the day off, they'll go to the movies with their kids and...

They know they shouldn't--if they somehow heard about this Buy Nothing initiative, right? and even if they did, people are far too busy to pay attention--but anyway, they couldn't shop the day before and only found out this morning that they needed eggs and baking soda and that Aunt Martha decided to come and she likes the canned cranberries... whatever the reason, people won't care, they'll buy, and because they have to justify it in the heat of all they have to do, they'll feel guilt (most probably unconsciously) rather than see it as an opportunity to reflect on the matter. And for those people that have given it some thought but decided to go to the store anyway, the crowd they'll inevitably find there means the subject is long since out of their heads. That guilt they felt leads to unreasoned negative feelings about a slogan, rather than positive, well-reasoned ones... Harder to walk into an empty store to buy something when you know you shouldn't. Guilt plays a role here as well, you say? But the lack of a crowd makes all the difference, allowing the guilt to be, in this case, productive, so that the person who choses to walk away without making a purchase, actually feels like s/he is contributing... Need I say more?

Organizers should have chosen a quieter moment in the year. Right now, Buy Nothing Day is simply an angry attack on consumerism rather than an opportunity to open up people's minds. And those kinds of things tend to be counterproductive.

A plain ol' regular Monday when stores and such tend to be less active... during a period when humans are more relaxed and open, in a way that doesn't go against the natural laws of humanity; that's the kind of day--one that self-promotes itself in no time--that should have been chosen for this initiative. Seems like a no-brainer...

Just remember: it's not the one day that counts, but how you live each one!

Keep on clicking!

PDL

© 2009, Pascal-Denis
Lussier
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Interacting for a Lazy Buck


We humans are funny! Never mind the follies of the stock market... just look at the Multi Level Marketing (MLM) schemes plaguing the Internet... Yeah, run off from my last post. Oh well.

What's the difference between MLM's and pyramid-schemes? As far as I can tell, calling 'em MLM's is just the lazy morons' attempt at shedding negative connotations akin to calling a turd a Wonderbar. The jargon may have changed, but the principle is the same...

And if you've ever been tempted to read the email and clicked on the link that brought you to their splashpage (which more often than not is also the 'click here to unsubscribe' link) you soon realized that the wonderful income opportunity they're selling is the exact template they've sent you, so you can sell it to others... Work, all from the comfort of your home, with just a few clicks per day.
The Internet is a strange and mystifying world to many folks, which makes it easier for them to believe in this form of virtual "marketing" than if they actually envisioned themselves doing the real-world version of what Internet MLM proposes... Nobody expects to make money by making tons of photocopies for an advert that promises to make people rich if they pay you for your ad so they can also photocopy it and sell it door to door, at work, by posting it on public billboards, advertising it on buses, or by stuffing it in people's hands no matter how many times they've said no, or even by strapping them down and taping their eyes open to make sure they read your advert - whatever it takes, and money will trickle up!
Not only is that too much work, but the thought of making money that way is totally absurd!!! and yet... electronically, in cyber space...

And so, a good portion of Internet users are cross-spamming each other!
Give humans a wonderful opportunity to network, and porn and spam and spam-like content-less sites is what makes up the majority of it in no time!

The Internet's accessibility, reach (real and imagined), and the anonymity it affords has given birth to yet a new kind of absolutely futile form of business where nothing real is created or produced or manufactured, exchanged or traded or offered. People are blindly transferring money for nothing but bits and bytes that promise yet another form of false hope that's easier to swallow as faith than the odds on the lottery. And in the end, yet again, only a handful are getting really rich out of it.

That we are sold and buy so easily into the rags-to-riches-in-just-one-hour-per-day idea is one thing...

That people are willing to take advantage of this--what points to a general sense of despair--is another...

The second is definitely a circular, chicken-or-egg type of conundrum. Think about it.

The Internet and MLM's: The American Dream, blown to Global Village proportions. But with one improvement! if you fail, it's not your fault, the people below you are responsible; they just weren't doing their share so you could reach your dream.

Keep on clicking!

PDL

© 2009, Pascal-Denis Lussier
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Different Shades of Stupid


I know... I know... But I'm back! Lots of reasons why it's taken so long for me to be active on this blog; the laziness of summer, PC problems and a lack of focus due to considerations about "career" and "direction" all prompted me towards taking a break from certain things, this blog being one of them... Time has a way of creeping by.

Anyhow, here I am! with more attitude.

And the first thing I want to do is vent on my and on the behalf of all those of you with brains... I offer a public f*ck you to all the stupid-as-Venus-flytrap moronically brainless dim-witted idiots who spam their stupid-ass pathetic attempts to recover their investment into some lame-as-dead-celeries multi level marketing scheme. If you're one of those: Wake up! People have caught on!!! There's at least 4 million of you doing it per day, if not per hour! If everyone could make $10,000 a week doing nothing, don't you think we'd all be "squeezing the Charmins"!?! You are not alone. You ain't gonna get rich and don't expect my buck!!! People are sick and tired! You are deluded and getting frustrated anyway... So F*CK YOU!!! STOP!

Realize that butt-witted ideas like Multi Level Marketing and pyramid schemes, along with infomercials, are prime examples of communications being put to what I like to refer to as Cheney-istic uses! What do I mean by that? To avoid confusion, I mean: The naturally evil kind i.e. I don't care if I rob you of your meal 'cause you're clinging to a dream, just as long as I get your buck and a 5th house by the ocean, I'm happy! Communications driven by that kind of attitude... adopted by the toxic kind of humans who whack-off to print-outs of their bank's e-statements, as every syllable of the word 'exploitation' pumps blood into their ball-less shafts. Those with whom a five minute conversation has the same effect on a soul as dining on a still soft and humid mound of manure... All you people: F*CK YOU TO HELL!!!

And proof that scum comes in all shades, there's the smug, Ayn Rand-minded beings whose entire definition of self depends on their BMW. Those whose total lack of soul is equivalent to their lack of brains. They aren't naturally evil - they just see an opportunity to be and blame it on humanity... These are the people that develop the damn spamming and phishing software; those that infect pc's with ads for Internet security software that links back to them (How f*cking insulting can you be, right?!?!); those that steal info, create popcorn explosions of pop-ups, etc... And in still different shades, those that suddenly beg us to handle a multi-million dollar inheritance for a small but never ending fee, and darker still, steal identities and plague every recess of the net... All those of you who force us to spend good money on protection for all kinds of cyber-puss, F*CK YOU ALL!!! You deserve to be stripped naked in public and whipped by everyone whose lives you infect!!! Shame on you.

And all this sure is a profitable business for anti-this-and-that software companies... just saying is all.


Keep on clicking!

PDL

© 2009, Pascal-Denis Lussier

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A Short Visual Poem


Here's a few of my own pics I've arranged as food for thought:



Keep on clicking!

PDL

© 2009, Pascal-Denis Lussier
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Words for Cows - What a Great Deal!


Do you love a good read? Do you want to make a difference?

Then please help out!

Goldfish Press Publications already devotes a lot of time & effort into publishing great books, but now they are also producing great reads that actually go beyond GFP's belief that: "brilliant writing has the ability to [...] change lives and set those affected by it on wondrous paths never before imagined." How? By providing you with a direct path between the printed word and helping less fortunate families with their fundraiser for Heifer International--an organization that buys cows for hungry families.
You can help by purchasing copies of The World According to Goldfish Vol I - Looking Past, and Vol II - Sight. Two poetry anthologies that will really make a difference... These anthologies are being sold separately and will be printed in a limited first run edition so please order NOW! These books will not only feed your brain and soul, they will also help feed the hungry! What more could you possibly ask for?

Order copies for yourself, your friends, and your family members. Your purchase can make the difference between this becoming a truly successful fundraiser and forcing GFP to pull the plug on this terrific project.

So order!
Visit Goldfish Press Publications' Fresh Catch! Catalog. And, since this is a fundraiser in support of Heifer International, why not consider ordering a few extra copies--Christmas is coming!!!
Fresh Catch!

Did I already mention that you should order?!
http://shop.goldfishpress.org/main.sc


Keep on clicking!

PDL

© 2009, Pascal-Denis Lussier
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Living Life as a Taboo: Looking from Within - Being Bipolar


This is the first entry in what I hope will become a regular feature to this blog; it's called 'Living Life as a Taboo.' Its purpose and aim, I believe, is self-explanatory...

The following text was written by a friend, Wm. Andrew Turman:


"This illness will be the death of me yet!" That is something I am fond of saying when I refer to my particular mental illness, Bipolar Disorder. The reverse is also true: "This illness will be the life of me!" It is not easy to be Bipolar. I struggle daily with pain, despair and loneliness that you can only imagine. I also experience joy, insight and creativity that you, a person without a mental disorder, cannot begin to touch.

It has not been easy. I have been hospitalized at least 50 times over the past 25 years. I have tried just about every medication on the market. I have gone through almost every psychotherapy approach imaginable. I have endured 45 electroshock treatments. But I have found only one thing that has really helped me in my journey: determination and grit.

It is not easy to navigate the mental health system to get what one needs. I tire of constantly demanding what I think might keep me well. But know this: I now want to be well. I don't want to be mentally ill. It takes constant vigilance on my part to keep a toe-hold in this world, to keep from drifting into my own version of reality, which is quite different from yours.

I have not worked in the past 6 1/2 years. I have a Master's degree in Special Education. Just this past week, I had a job opportunity to become a janitor, and the interview went well! I will pour my heart and soul into the work of cleaning toilets, just as I did into working with a classroom full of students. Why? Because it is a stepping stone to a life of fulfillment.

The keys to staying well, I have found, can be simple: take my medications, stay on a sleep schedule, eat right and exercise. I also have my painting and writing that allow me to take my pain and joy and express them in an acceptable manner.

I have a long journey, without a map, without companionship, without much light. It is hard, but I choose to go on, because I am basically an optimist, and I have no choice but to continue. I will not let my illness stand in the way of being human and successful. I want as normal a life as possible.

I have lost friends and family to my illness. Some relationships are beyond repair, some will eventually return. It isn't easy being me, but it isn't easy being around me, either. I lose all rational thought when I am sick. I know that I will always have this illness; it won't magically disappear. I must simply cope as best as I can and rely on a support system, those who have agreed to prop me up when I need the help.

Funny thing about the human spirit. It holds out hope in the face of insurmountable circumstances. Hope is a constant theme in my art. Hope is what I hold closest to my heart. I will survive, and one day, be happy.
happy.


© 2009, Wm. Andrew Turman
Picture: Oil on canvas; "The Angry Buddhist" by Wm. Andrew Turman
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Yes it has been a while...


A few PC problems; many events, both personal and professional; one or two dramas, and on top of that it's summer! But don't worry, I should be back fairly soon... Until then,

Keep on clicking!

PDL

© 2009, Pascal-Denis Lussier

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5th Montreal Citizen Summit - Right, Done Right, But...


Montreal - The 5th Montreal Citizen Summit was held last weekend, June 5-7. And no, this wasn’t another banner-waiving, slogan-chanting march, or a get-together for wild-eyed, preachy granola types (although a few were present)… People walking by the UQÀM building in which the event took place could have easily assumed that this was a conference on software or life insurance; it was a serious (though far from sombre) and well-organized affair with sufficient formality and officialism to attract important speakers while not enough to intimidate John and Jane Public. No, as boring as it may sound, this summit was nothing more than a structured setting that brought together citizens and urban activists and city officials; the group responsible for this event, Centre d’écologie urbaine de Montréal, was really aiming to do the right things right! And that’s what made this event—an interesting mixture of educational talks, forums, calls for actions and quasi political platform—all the more pertinent.

And, despite my criticisms (wouldn’t be me otherwise), the summit proved to be a veritable success; this year’s theme, ‘The City We Want,’ attracted over a thousand participants that were offered over 80 eco-urban-related workshops and discussion groups by a slew of collaborating organizations.

Of course, the Montreal Urban Ecology Center has its own agenda—they are pushing for a greener and more sustainable, socially-centered and truly democratic city through specific types of transformations—but you have to admire how this group attempts to bring about local change; they know what situation calls for what actions and they understand that militant attitudes have a limited time and place, and so this repeated effort (this was the 5th summit) is a fine example of left-wing ideology being promoted through right-wing bureaucratic techniques, and if anything, this should serve as a model to all other cities, irregardless of their size.
But then this shouldn’t really come as a surprise considering some of the names linked to this event. People like Dimitri Roussopoulos, Bernard Vallée, Luc Rabouin, Annie Roy amongst others; people whose accomplishments have taught them to limit their energy to applying concrete solutions to surmountable problems, because clearly, they’ve learned that change still relies on politicians and that proposals falling on the left side of the spectrum are even more dependant on a hard-to-come-by public support, and as such, who have acquired the experience and wisdom to act inside the political process while retaining their place outside the system.
This whole approach is about dreaming big, but ‘doing’ what’s ‘doable.’

And so the main conferences weren’t pointless descriptions of sci-fi-esque dreamscapes of the shape tomorrow’s cities should take, or passionate, tear-jerking Hollywood-worthy rallying cries; for the most part, they were generally dry, yet mostly positive accounts framing the real issues facing the development of greener, healthier, and more democratic cities. But not just from one side of the debate! In keeping with what I outlined in the previous paragraph, both sides were well represented. As a matter of fact, Sunday morning’s 9:15 conference was particularly interesting due to the contrast it provided: Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal were each discussed in turn, first by an activist, then by a city official; Mayor Gérald Tremblay was there to defend his city.

Then there was the ‘debate,’ where candidates for city hall addressed the 7 topics raised by the Citizen’s Agenda. With 5 months before municipal elections, that event organisers had the foresight to see the political opportunity this presented for the summit and then have the weight to pull it off is a testament to their credibility and potential to affect pressure at a high level.

Unfortunately, the speeches were content-less and had all the flavours of unrefined and unrehearsed campaign speeches. The only one who made any impression on me was Richard Bergeron from Projet Montreal, who appeared to be speaking more from the heart rather than pander to activists. Montreal Ville-Marie’s Louise O’Sullivan was a total disappointment and Louise Harel, Vision Montreal, was one big soundbite.

Turning to my criticisms: firstly, my complaints vis-à-vis this event are of an entirely different nature. I have very little to say other than ‘bravo’ in regards to the Urban Ecology Center’s approach and efforts. However, I somewhat have to question the council’s willingness to dress the Citizen’s Agenda—a so called list of changes and directions desired by Montreal citizens and which are meant to provide the framework for the Urban Ecology Center’s battles with city hall—based directly on what the citizens truly voice; many elements demonstrate this.

I’m ambivalent as to how this should be interpreted, mostly due to the fact that I agree fully with this group’s ideals. Nonetheless, nearly all my criticisms stem from this aspect, which also relates to another issue, albeit activism generic and not Citizen Summit specific.

More on this is my next post, including comments on an out-of-place statement made by Roussopoulus, the limitations of being so tightly linked to l'UQÀM (Université du Québec à Montréal), the subsequent lack of media coverage despite a wide media presence, and why hardly any minorities attended.


Keep on clicking!

PDL

© 2009, Pascal-Denis
Lussier
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Good Through Bad: The CSA's Latest


Montreal - Today, the CSA fought a battle, willingly. But beyond any personal gratification, how much did they gain? Very little I fear; this event was another example of good played out badly.

CSA stands for Centre Social Autogéré. Their goal is to re-appropriate, for social housing development, buildings on land otherwise destined for private condo projects. Needless to say, it’s hard for any city to say no to plans put forth by wealthy developers that want to convert ‘dead space’ into sure-selling and highly-taxed luxury units for well-paid professionals. However, this current building trend that’s invading lower-income neighbourhoods implies major impacts on their overall areas and infrastructures, as well as negative consequences for low-income families…

And the site fought for by the CSA is prime real-estate in every possible sense, which also makes it an important strategic target for the CSA. Those familiar with the bike bath that winds its way along the Lachine Canal—the portion in Pointe-St-Charles between the quaint, tree-covered boat rental office and the pedestrian, crescent-moon bridge that crosses over to the Atwater market—will certainly recall the now defunct candle factory that imposes itself on park space where Atwater branches into St. Patrick Street. An ideal setting for what nearly everyone already expects to find at that bustling park entrance: a combination of picturesque café, bistro, sports shop, roller-blade rental, and artsy tourist store… a perfect start or goal to any stroll and a great way to promote that greener/healthier city Montreal is quickly becoming renown for. Instead, the cit is presently reviewing a plan to convert the space into a 6 story, 53 units condo complex, which also calls for a change in zoning regulations.
This would-be-blight, in my opinion, is definitely worth fighting against.

The CSA thinks so too, so, after opting for a militant approach to their cause, they organized a 2 day manifestation that began yesterday at 18:00, June 29, when approximately 500 people gathered near Charlevoix metro station; banners, screeching megaphones, dreads, long beards, and piercings, anarchist and peace symbols, and varying street performers aplenty… But most striking was the similarity between participants, nearly all white French Canadians, who each seemed to embody activist stereotypes in his/her own way, and hence amplified my overall first-impression of ‘bitter, juvenile, and wildly idealistic’ I had had through the group’s Website (their site can’t be viewed through what they call ‘Microshit’ Explorer …). As I look back, that such a community-worthy cause should attract only a certain type of people reveals important limitations linked with CSA’s approach as well as an apparent weakness in the team’s ability to exploit communications, despite clever (but empty) ideas like using made-up names (in French) playing on Grandmaison i.e. ‘big house.’ Nonetheless, my impression was confirmed once their main (and only) strategy was played out. The manif was nothing more than a political parade to gain momentum and courage and a justifiable context for the CSA’s next course of actions, who made good on their ‘About Us’ words and literally took control of the building. Although the CSA spokespeople didn’t want to admit to it directly, the grimaces and gestures they offered me in lieu of answer confirmed that they had broken into the building illegally.
As evening progressed, about 1/3 of the protesters barricaded themselves inside the empty factory; essentially, their plan was this: break the law and hold an edifice hostage to get their voice heard and force negotiations with city officials. Having witnessed the group’s preparedness in dealing with the swat’s tactics and the intimidation of the riot-geared police—nearly all wore bandanas, scarves, etc. with which they could cover they noses and mouths and many had goggles or eye-protectors— it’s clear that they also had a secondary goal in mind; they were doing their best to exploit police action to gain public sympathy and add validity to their anti-totalitarian and anti-capitalism chants. It’s a pretty standard form of the passive-aggressive militant-martyr approach often adopted by those who loudly and stubbornly proclaim to possess zero faith in bureaucracy and politics but who aren’t willing to admit that much of their anger is based on ignorance or feelings of intimidations or helplessness a propos this sphere. Otherwise, surely they would attempt other means to gain this building… so many things come to mind, especially with the change-in-zoning-law public hearing which the city must hold, and next weekend’s Montreal Citizen Summit! (more on the summit in my next post)

On the other hand, the city of Montreal once again showed us that it doesn’t negotiate or deal with any ‘event’ representatives who didn’t submit their plan to city-hall and acquire the proper permits… even if they promise it to them.
Negotiations with police produced a specific time when, CSA representatives were promised, they would be given an opportunity to publicly voice their issues in a conference with concerned city officials.
In spite of this, whether as part of a newly adopted post-Seattle and Quebec City approach to activists or another instance of Gerald Tremblay at his two-faced best, the protesters were quick to realize that they had been duped when they opened the door at the agreed time for their agreed-on conference. A line of menacingly grim, heavily shielded, baton-wielding, pepper-spray toting, and visibly annoyed officers—one of them flaunting a gas-powered metal and concrete saw—greeted them instead of officials. At that exact same moment, the impressively swift SWAT was doing their thing on the building’s roof and dropped several cans of tear-gas.

Many of the protesters were (a bit too) quick to emphasize that the police used gas when kids were present and clearly played up the family-affair versus mean-ol’-machine aspect. One organiser told me she had her three month old daughter with her inside the building when the police ‘attacked;’ hearing her version of events and of having to run out to get her baby to safety, handing it over to a family member before running back into the building—with only one entry point, blocked by a wall of police—her ability to put a spin on a spin somehow convinved me that she has the potential to be a good politician… Unfortunately, her 'youth' barred her from seeing that this, if true, would actually harm the CSA's credibility; how can you be a responsible citizen when you can't be a responsible parent? Remember: protesters were equipped and prepared for, and were thus expecting, harsh police actions.

And the ultimate proof that their objectives were doomed from the start? None of the group's spokespeople could answer my question when asked what the next phaze would be should the city agree to hand over the building to the CSA for conversion to a self-managed social housing project. It's as if no one had bothered to think that far ahead; all I got were different soundbite-perfect versions of the group's goals, even after asking whether or not the CSA had devised a cooperative management model to be implemented in the buildings they hoped to gain. Their lack of planning is disconcerning; it implies a lack of belief in their ultimate goal and an unwillingness to attempt other, more official approaches.

In the end: police took control of the building when they felt like it. Despite a handful of protesters who, for forty minutes, faced-off with the menacing line of officers trying to drive them towards the front of the building, no one was arrested. The gang eventually regrouped into a nearby park for a celebratory picnic...
For many of the young—late teens to early twenties—CSA organizers, it was clear they believed they were on the brink of living a ‘Hollywood’ moment, even though the lack of mobilisation and official attention, and the group’s clear failure to open a dialogue denote otherwise…

And this cost tax payers how much?

Keep on clicking!

PDL

© 2009, Pascal-Denis Lussier
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Anti Coffee Stirrer Effort: Stats Update


For those of you wondering what’s happening with the stir stick statistics I promised some time back, I’m still working on them. The information is far from readily available; it would appear that no one has yet bothered to calculate how many coffee stir sticks get used throughout the world on a single day.

I’m nonetheless trying to amass the info by combining, deducing, and inferring from all the free data that is available out there; this includes sales reports of stir stick producing companies, import and export reports, stats on everything from per capita coffee consumptions and drinking preferences, etc. **

Several ways to look at it, for example:

There are about 8,600 major-chain convenience stores (a.k.a. 'dep' in Quebec) with coffee bars in Canada alone. Without going into lengthy details, we can assume that they each go through an average of 35 sticks / day; this means that approximately 301,000 stir sticks get used and tossed daily just in major-chain deps across Canada.
This doesn’t even include all of the small ‘mom and pop’ or other kinds of deps which don’t fall under this category and for which concise info is hard to come by.
And what about all the garages or hair-salons or offices that offer coffee?
It’s the same deal for coffee houses. It’s easy to know how many Starbucks and Second Cups there are, but how many independent coffee houses are out there???

Anyhow, it's clear that a really crude guesstimate, and only for Canada and the U.S. (stats for other countries are vague or non-existant), is about all I can hope for by taking this arduous route, so I'm now looking into stir stick manufacturing data. Since stir sticks come in both plastic and wood, and since there is a whole 'specialty' side to this business (e.g. see picture), this route is also pretty bumpy and full of holes…
World wide coffee habits are useful, but only up to a certain point, so…

I’ll keep on plugging away at the question until I get a more accurate fix on the number, but any which way, I feel confident enough to say that over 3 million stir sticks get used and tossed in the trash (although some may make it to the recycling bin; how do we get that info?) throughout the world on any given day.
Now, what does that represent in terms of natural resources? One tree equals how many wooden stir sticks and how much oil goes into making plastic ones? How many acres of landfill and tons of greenhouse producing gases are involved? And why do retailers of plastic stirrers claim to offer a more environmentally friendly product and why do the wood people claim the exact same thing? More importantly, who’s right?
I’m still working on all of that…

Keep on clicking!

PDL

**Note: I’m doing my best to exclude from these stats all of the other reasons or areas which use up stir sticks e.g. school-crafts; hobbies; all sorts of industries which rely on them to mix all sorts of different things, etc. This alone provides its fair share of hair-pulling…

© 2009, Pascal-Denis Lussier
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Sprawl: The Real Urban Problem...


The Congress for New Urbanism wanted to dispel public misconceptions surrounding new urbanism and to promote the need and viability of green urban planning; they recently held a competition inviting people to explain the connection between urban planning and the environment. Here is the winning video, created by John Paget:


Keep on clicking!

PDL

© 2009, Pascal-Denis Lussier
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Silly Marketing - The All New 09 F-150




Here’s the narration:
“You’re driving down the freeway doing about 60 when you notice the guy next to you steering with his knees and eating a cheeseburger and talking on the phone; and that is exactly why the all new 09 f-150 is the safest truck in America…”
After the few specs the ad ends with: “…because it’s not just crazy out there; it’s certifiably insane.”

My reaction: Oh! and why is Ford trying to convince us that we need a tank in order to survive today's road conditions? Also, the advert reminded me of my road-raging commuting days and my traffic-jam inspired daydreams of owning a bad-assed Hummer equipped with anti-tank rockets, several machine guns, and a v-shaped plough so then maybe I could be in my office 10 minutes ago without having to deal with all those morons!!! Admit it; you’ve also had this fantasy once or twice.
And is it me or do the colours, images, and floating texts also remind you of the post-apocalyptic backdrop in “The Road Warrior 2”?

My big question is: how does Ford guarantee that these ‘insane’ knee-steering, cheeseburger-eating, phone-talking people don’t wind up behind the wheel of one of these babies??? It's fine if we happen to plough through idiot drivers like a tank through a haystack if they should f*ck up; but what happens when drunk, F-150-driving rednecks lose control and ram non-idiot drivers?
Or is that what they mean by ‘certifiably insane?’ If you got one of those certificates that says you're insane, you don’t get to drive an F-150? No wonder the ‘multi-tasking jerk’ is driving a car (wonder if it’s a Ford? Can’t tell from the camera angle); Does Hummer have the same policy?!

But if everyone was driving smaller cars, wouldn't that be safer? Of course, eighteen-wheelers are still up for consideration but not much stands a chance against those anyway...

I really wonder which came first? this ad concept or all the politicized, lobby-greased puff pieces that have appeared these past months throughout the U.S., claiming bigger cars are safer and electric cars have big hidden costs; or was it Barack Obama’s decision to boost fuel economy standards for cars by using a size-based system that removes incentives for automakers to manufacture only smaller models.… Is the government simply looking out for its newly acquired stocks? Or is all of that part of the same ad campaign, dreamed up and paid for by…??? Hmmm… I'm sure I smell oil and my gut tells me Dick Cheney is in on this somehow... Well, Cheney-like thinking anyhow.

And when you look at this or other commercials produced by the ‘Big 3’ and consider their production costs, we certainly don’t get an image of companies whose very survival relies on huge government handouts and pity from potential customers. Yes; pity, from stupid pride! Because—and I hate to say it—it sure as hell isn’t leadership and a truly competitive product that has kept these 3 in business; it’s some strange sense of ol’ world and post war partisanship, the kind that borders on racism and impassioned patriotism. National pride is ok but in this case Americans have to realize that, according to the great rules of capitalism which they've pretty much established, they lost the auto-industry war!

So, since I’m on the subject: how can these companies still invest millions upon millions in R&D and concept cars that’ll never pass through a production line when tremendous pensions are on the line? Is developing future technology really going to help companies that have a very limited future? And how can they still be tinkering with so many models and styles and obsessing over setting fashion-industry-like trends every year? It's as if they haven't yet figured out what their public wants!!! Car makers from other continents seem to have a better understanding of the North American market. How can that be?

Are people really buying functional pick-ups to feel safe or is this just a spin-attempt to sell an overproduced line to a different demographic? Or, are the company heads outdated and stubborn to the point that they still believe in their self-proclaimed divinity and that if they decide to produce more trucks, Americans will buy trucks for the reasons they’ll tell us?
The 'ol' boys club' mentality that’s directing the ‘Big 3’ automakers still seems to be dominating. But their time has come and their 'empires' are crumbling. Not surprising! This advert clearly demonstrates that even today, they are barely willing to change their course and adopt the attitude they should have adopted some thirty-odd years ago...

Keep on clicking!

PDL

© 2009, Pascal-Denis Lussier
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Down Some Street: Recouping the Cost of Vagrancy


I just overheard this, a brief bit on CKUT (radio) about a guy whose need to get high put him down and out and living on the streets. It’s a typical story really, about a good man living some bad times and losing track of where he was heading until he didn’t care anymore and getting there was no longer an option anyway… And for that reason it’s a story about begging and loitering and sleeping in parks and alleyways, and so it’s also about someone doing anything he can to survive within the system he no longer had the strength to function in.
It’s also a wonderful, Hallmark-worthy story about redemption, about waking up one morning with your face pressed to concrete and vomit and saying ‘I’ve had enough of this,’ and doing something about it. It’s about a slow process of rehabilitation and regaining self-esteem and learning to be responsible, again. It’s about long sleepless nights and hours and hours of uncontrollable tears, about facing all the suddenly raw feelings that had been numbed for years and about wanting to tear the flesh from your bones and dying to be anywhere where your self isn’t…
It's about survival and choices and acceptance; about rebuilding a life and finding a job and a place to live; about opening a bank account, getting a medi-care card, giving your social insurance number and having a mailing address. And finally, it’s about being a part of the system, again…
The city of Montreal was able to locate him and send him his ‘Welcome Back!’ gift: a bill requesting immediate payment on the approximately $7000 he owes in unpaid begging, loitering, and vagrancy tickets he had received.
Did I mention that this story is also about abusive stupidity?

A few Montreal groups have offered to help the young man.
I don’t have all the details but I’ll add them here as soon as I can find them.

Keep on clicking!

PDL

© 2009, Pascal-Denis Lussier
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Dirty Smelly Bums: A Tongue-in-Cheek Look at...


Bums sure are smelly and dirty. I'm talking about vagrants of course (what else did you think this post was about?), but I suppose that:
  • If you have to beg to hundreds of strangers just to be able to afford that morning cup of joe that’ll supply the energy allowing you to beg to hundreds more so you can get drunk on Lysol, getting a haircut may not be on your ‘to do’ list;
  • If the thought of my mundane, morning shower has the same arousing effect on you as the thought of owning a 911 Turbo has on me, then being clean certainly isn’t in the ‘doable’ file;
  • If taking advantage of great specials on groceries is synonymous with hitting the jackpot in a restaurant’s garbage container, chances are you don’t even own a toothbrush and you’ve probably eaten all of the toothpaste anyway…
And if you’ve ever been mildly depressed and as a consequence spent an entire week in the same sweat pants because getting dressed just seemed like a routinely futile task in a piece-of-shit, overly-demanding and unforgiving world, then you may have an inkling as to why bums scoff at fashion trends.
Yet how can they help their cause when their funky smells and mismatched appearances act as insurmountable barriers to your generous efforts to treat these city-dwellers like humans?! Obviously, bums need our help.
Simple actions YOU can do to help out in your city:
As you wait for the government or some non-profit group to start up a ‘Febreeze for the Homeless’ initiative or to develop a program that redistributes those magazine perfume samples and your ‘slightly-used’ coordinated ensembles to the streets, here are a few things that you can do to help them help you address your air quality and aesthetic concerns:
  1. Keeping bums out of our garbage keeps our garbage areas tidy and our bums clean. You can help bums stay out of our garbage bags and retain their just-out-of-the-shelter sparkle longer by:

    a. Offering them that perfectly good food you’re about to toss in the trash.

    b. Placing refundable cans and bottles (others should be recycled) on ground next to trash cans or leaving them in clearly visible yet out-of-the-way public spots; they’ll quickly get picked up and sold so you’re not polluting. The more entrepreneurial bums see the value in every nickel, the reward in every dime, and exaltation in every 20 cents that each of these bottles represent, so think of it as your show of support to the bottom-feeding, un-unionized and highly abused employees of the increasingly competitive empty-cans-and-bottles industry. Instead of scrunching up your pop can (rendering it valueless) and tossing it in the trash (or in water, fields, alleys…), why not offer it to some bum? And yes, I have heard that practicing the art of beer bottle smashing produces orgasm-like affects on the brains of drunk morons; however, bums and bleeding-heart tree-huggers wish to remind you that masturbation still represents the more economically and socially responsible, earth-friendly option.

    c. Don’t destroy cardboard boxes before discarding them; fold them flat so they don’t get damaged and try to keep them separate from the rest of your garbage. Studies have shown that bums who have access to cardboard boxes have an easier time building shelters, making blankets, and keeping their squatting hole organized.

    d.If you’re a smoker, offer bums (that smoke) a couple of cigarettes… Trust me; giving 3 to 5 cigarettes gets you the same reaction as handing over a hand-full of quarters so you’ll still be able to feel good about yourself. And this way, they won't be smoking whatever discarded, potential hepatitis-carrying butt that's lying around anyway, right? so at least you’re helping them stay clean by keeping them out of gutters, and public ashtrays, and garbage cans; also, you or others like you won’t have to suffer through that nauseating, sidewalk-licking image that invades your thoughts each time you watch a bum light a twisted, gnarled butt he just picked up in front of a busy subway station.
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  2. Instead of giving a ‘Loonie to a loony,’ why not: ‘waterless soap to a homeless dope’? The dollar store sells a convenient travel-sized format that doesn’t demand too much effort for you to carry and offer to some bum. And, since you can’t trust a bum to manage that dollar efficiently, this is the kind of wise, conservative and responsible strategy that will guarantee a higher ROI out of that tightly-budgeted humanitarian-aid buck. So don’t pay attention to any of the swears your kind action may reap; if bums weren’t bums surely they would be able to see that in the grand scheme of things, keeping flu germs off of the hands of rail-and-door-touching bums is a great service to society. Plus, what bums probably don’t know is that most brands of waterless soap now include a skin moisturiser. (note: avoid buying the alcohol-based brands)
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  3. Instead of recycling all your small plastic bottles, why not fill them up with some Windex and give them to Squeegee Punks (SPs). Using that disgusting gutter water to clean windshields can’t be good. Providing Windex to these types of bums is yet another example of how a small, inexpensive act can have a major impact on the overall quality of city life; actually having this required tool when practising their chosen trade helps SPs regain a certain sense of pride by allowing them to feel and act more professionally. And professional looking SPs have been known to have a less negative impact on property values… Further, paying for cleaner windows and actually getting cleaner windows will be a welcomed change in many people’s lives.
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  4. Hold your breath, refrain from passing judgement, try to understand, and treat a bum like any other decent human being. This free method guarantees the best long-term results; however, since this kind of activism rarely offers more than a stained smile as an immediate payback and because feelings of self-gratification are not evident, this selfless act seems to be avoided by all but the highly dedicated hardcore humanists with boot-camp training in compassion-tactics. Another hindrance to this approach is its reliance on a profound understanding of very complex metaphysical and philosophical theories which state that: ‘bums aren’t society’s rejects; they’re an inescapable and unfortunate product of our societies.’ Another key view is the idea that being a bum is not an after affect of laziness or a deliberate choice; it is the eventual outcome of many variables; one wakes up one morning and realizes that that’s what they’ve become… And this realization, that one is now reduced to a life of anonymity heavily dictated by harsh taboos and stigmas, crushes down so hard on these already defeated souls that regaining any ‘real’ (i.e. acceptable) lifestyle now takes on the same allure that climbing Mt. Everest barefoot has for us ‘regular’ folks. At that point, society at large facilitates cowering into addictions and other forms of alienations by refusing to serve up the copious and reassuring, ‘humanity-is-worth-it’ pats on the shoulder that these people actually need. In the AA jargon, we’re all enablers. This action is all about not being an enabler.
So, yes; bums smell bad, they look ugly, they sure are dirty, and the earth is round and birds fly… And all people are people.
Keep on clicking!

PDL

© 2009, Pascal-Denis Lussier
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Bourgeois Thinking...


(click on pic to enlarge)

This pic was sent to me by a reader (thanks Peter M.); I believe it's called "Corporate World." However funny it is, this is unfortunately the kind of 'corporation-bashing' that, as it turns out, says more about people than about corporations. Our North-American take-everything-for-granted/everything-is-owed-to-us egos certainly have just as much to do with the reality behind this type of inefficient corporate structure as does corporate excess.

So here's my take on this: the city-worker cliché can also be extended to any other societal group.
For example: to describe the typical 'bourgeois' attitude, simply replace the captions with things like: I don't give a sh*t; I got my own problems; Those fat cats don't pay me enough; I don't want to be here; I studied to be here; I'm really an actor...; I would, but..., etc., and then replace 'Herbert' with words like 'Third world labour,' or 'World Hunger, or how about simply, 'Needs Help'...
Other fun themes to play with are: Republicans, the Catholic Church, IMF, Neighbours, etc.
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Keep on clicking!

PDL

© 2009, Pascal-Denis Lussier
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Seal or Re-Seal: You Either Give a FF or You Don't!


This time it was Pierre Foglia’s May 9th La Presse editorial entitled, ‘Phoque et rephoque,’ that forced me to re-evaluate (yet again) my stance on the seal hunt… and then, three days later, it was another editorial signed by Mr. Foglia that helped to strengthen it further.

As I had mentioned in my April 10 posting, ‘Easter Seals and that Bloody Hunt,’ Foglia points out that here in Canada, we are being sold an entirely different image… and so there is an awful lot of hypocrisy that surrounds this subject. He also agrees with me on the idea of Canadian ‘unity;’ however, we differ in opinions on one key point: I see all animals as living creatures, not just the ones I don't eat…

He also, like everyone he criticises, is selling us only an image; his own comparison of the seal hunt to a ‘deer hunting’ equivalent paints a very biased picture indeed, filled with the habitual, overly subjective, anti-seal hunt stereotypes… How is this any different from the rest of the propaganda? Firstly, a great majority of hunters use Hakapiks, and not baseball bats. Secondly, our laws forbids—it’s a weak argument, I know—the killing of ‘whitecoats’ or, from Foglia’s p.o.v., Bambi.
Don’t worry, Mr. Foglia, like you, PETA also likes to re-use dated pictures without validating its modern day accuracy.

Of course, using the heavy hammer-like metal end of an Hakapik to crush a seal’s skull is not an image that should please (or arouse) anyone! However, all those who have studied the issue, including ‘slanted’ organisations like the World Wildlife Fund and International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), have arrived at the same conclusion: this is a very humane method of killing the seals (yes, I know, that phrase has a disturbing oxymoronic quality to it).

I say: read the real reports and then please explain to me how the seal hunt brutality surpasses that of millions of chickens’ headless dance or lambs exsanguinations or hey! a bull’s skull after a hammer blow? We use fancier un-hammer-like ‘hammers’ here which may explain its acceptance…but then why aren’t Europeans protesting the rusty hammers used in Taiwan to kill cows???
Precisely because seal meat is not sold in our supermarkets… And that red blood on that white ice, couldn’t ask for a better canvas to paint that anti-seal hunt image that has had a tremendous success in Europe.

So speaking of ‘the brutality’ of the seal hunt, you may scoff, Mr. Foglia, at a comparison of the seal hunt ‘industry’ to those others that actually do deliver meat to our supermarkets, but do you realize that this attitude simply sheds a light on your own hypocrisy vis-à-vis this subject?

And was it a lack of research or some form of manipulation, Mr. Foglia, that acted upon you, thus forcing you to omit quite a fair bit of facts when you reduced the entire industry to skins and dried penises; did you know that only the organs aren’t used, and this, only since 1998. And was it pretension that prompted you to write that seal meat is inedible, taste wise? Many coastal communities actually feed on seal meat and the hunt does represent an important source of food for them. Should we kill more chickens instead and ship more boxes of Kraft Dinner? What about Lac Brome ducks? Aren’t you being a bit like Bush Sr. with his broccoli ‘initiative’ i.e. I don't like it therefore no one should eat it?

And it's a good thing that seal meat hasn't caught on; they'd be treated far worse but since it would happen behind closed doors on breeding farms armed with well-greased lobbyists... So isn't it this aspect, Mr. Foglia, that perhaps makes you accept pig farming and then tell us: hey! at least all of a pig gets used up...

So I maintain my position; it's clear that seals represent an ideal marketing tool, but when all is said and done, this is the only thing that distinguishes this industry from other industries that slaughter animals. The real problem is how we see animals. Already, too many species have become mere object-like commodities rather than living creatures.  Seals are just luckier than others; they get more media attention and hence, more support. If you're willing to protect seals, then why not spread your consideration?
Would you actually donate or march to the chant of ‘don’t kill the chickens’? Now ask yourself: why is that?

Keep on clicking!

PDL

© 2009, Pascal-Denis Lussier
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Down My Street and Up Yours. Copyrights © 2008 - 2011 by pdl com. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews, no part of this blog may be used in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the owner. For information contact: pdlussier[at]downmystreetandupyours.org