Outrage Fatigue

I am so damn tired of men commenting on women's health issues, telling women how immoral they are for taking care of their reproductive systems. When was the last time you saw a woman on CNN talking about how testing for prostate cancer is immoral? But to get back on point:

I was watching a health series on CNN this afternoon and the topic was the new cervical cancer vaccine. Researchers have found that most cervical cancers are caused by a variation of Human Papilloma Virus, better known to you and I as herpes. Which is transmitted sexually most of the time. So, Merck has developed a vaccine that is meant to be given to girls before they become sexually active so that they don't get HPV and thus cervical cancer transmitted by sexual partners. Seems logical, right?

Not to "Christian" and conservative men. There was this guy on who was from the "Family Research Council", a right-wing Christian organization saying that perhaps we shouldn't be giving the vaccine to young girls because it can encourage pre-marital sex. So basically, women who get HPV from a partner - A MAN - deserve to die because of it.

I am fucking outraged. And not for just the obvious reasons. But let's run down the list.

1. It is unacceptable for anyone of any religion to try to impose their will and beliefs on anyone else. We live in free societies in North America (I know that because I hear Bush and Harper telling me almost daily that the terrorists hate me for it) and Christians, Jews, Muslims, Wiccans and anyone with faith has no God-given right to tell anyone else that they should behave according to the rules of their religion. The only reason the Family Research Council doesn't want people having sex outside of marriage is because it is offensive to their beliefs. Well I don't give a rat's ass what's offensive to FRC's beliefs. I'm free and that means I get to decide who I sleep with and when. So shut up.

2. It's is so. fucking. arrogant and paternalistic for a man to tell a woman when she's allowed to have sex. Do we live in Sudan? No. So shut up.

3. Notice that there is absolutely no responsibility put on the men in the situation. It's all about how women are sluts and entice men into their beds and thus getting an STD is the woman's fault because she's a whore. Where is the responsibility for men and boys? Why isn't this guy saying, "men, keep your dick in your pants until you put a wedding band on some girl's finger. And ladies, it's a good idea to get the vaccine to protect yourself just in case some asshole decides to rape you or your uncle visits you in the middle of the night".

4. On the greater point of reproductive issues for women, it is so rare to see a female representative from one of these hateful organizations and it makes me think that women who may be associated with them are embarassed to be spokespeople. I remember when the partial birth abortion ban was signed into law, there were 12 people accompanying the President as he put pen to paper - and all 12 were men. It is unconscionable for men to think that they can possibly understand what women go through with sex, pregnancy, sexual assault and other women's reproductive health issues and any man who deigns to voice his opinion on what women should do with their own bodies should be ashamed of himself. If men don't want women to abort a pregnancy, perhaps they should take greater responsibility for birth control in general. And maybe they should get more involved with domestic violence and anti-sexual assault organizations and make it patently clear that this type of behaviour is completely unacceptable.

5. As far as making laws taking birth control off insurance formularies, yet leaving viagra on, well, I can't understand how they can't see the stupidity of it all.

There's so much more and I could write a long essay on it, but I'm outraged. And I'm tired of being outraged. I have outrage fatigue.

I have no other news. I'm too angry.

Democracy

There has been a whole bunch of talk about democracy lately. Now, I can get on board with discussions about what kind of system would work well for Canadians and other jurisdictions. Talk about the political theory behind democracy is always a good time and I can get behind that too. What I can't abide is government making wholesale changes without consultation and serious consideration, especially since some forms of democratic reform have been rejected in some provinces.

But this entry isn't about politics, it's about democracy and what reforms we can make in this country to make it work better.

I wish everyone knew what being a true democracy meant. Not just a representative democracy, but actual democracy. It means rule by the people. That means that there is an inherent responsibility on behalf of the people of a democratic jurisdiction to participate in their system of government. Translated into Canadianese, that means voting. I don't think it's too much to ask of a populace that prides itself on being democratic and being free and being part of the enlightened world that is responsible and grown-up. If all that is true, then why don't people vote? Come to think of it, I don't care why people don't vote, I just care that there isn't 100% turnout, because until there's 100% turnout, I don't think we can call ourselves responsible or grown-up, nor can we being to have the discussions that we need to have about democratic reform. Until we are actually a democracy, we can't talk about what sort of democracy we want to be. Thus, my first democratic reform would be mandatory voting.

Making things mandatory is what you do when the system doesn't work and you need to institute some form of requirement for people to give a shit. Take driving, for example. It is mandatory that, in order to drive, you must have a license. That's to make sure that every goober who has working feet doesn't get behind the wheel and kill people. My grandparents' generation were required to give a shit about driving, not taking it for granted, because cars can kill. And they did, and now virtually 100% of people on the road have a license to be there. See? It works! Yay!

Making voting mandatory isn't unheard of. They do it in Australia and they do it in Belgium. For a while they did it in Austria, too. People would complain for exactly one election cycle about having to drag their asses 50 feet to their polling station. Why? Because the benefits of mandatory voting (you can spoil your ballot if you want to) will be seen immediately:

1. Politics will be geared toward *ack! shocker!* PEOPLE! When 100% of the population has to vote, the people who want to get into office will have to ask you for your vote without the filter of special interests. When 100% of students vote, issues facing kids in post-secondary education will be taken seriously. When 100% of disabled people vote, disability issues will be addressed. In order for someone to be voted into office, they will have no choice but to address the issues of their voters, which, in the case of a general election, would be EVERYONE! Imagine a democracy where everyone gets something out of it!

2. When people see that their issues are being taken seriously, they will be happy to vote. Even if the guy you vote for doesn't win, the person who does win will still have to address your issues because in the next election, he's going to have many, many more people to be responsible to.

3. Mandatory voting will result in more coalition governments, which are arguably more democratic. There can't be one party that will be able to capture a plurality of votes in each constituency if a plurality is well over 50,000 votes. Thus, we'll have more coalitions which is good for democracy. Majorities are more efficient, and efficiency is a nice thing to have in government, but if we're talking about actually being a democracy, then coalitions where there is multi-party support for a measure or there isn't going to be that measure is where it's at.

Will you permit me to argue against the recent Conservative attempts at "reform" for a moment?

Fixed Election Dates: Here's what fixed dates do: They create longer and more expensive election campaigns that do not speak to voters, rather speak to special interests. Look at the American Presidential campaign - everyone knows when it's going to happen, so the President gets maybe 18 months to govern before he's faced with either a mid-term or a full on Presidential campaign again. In Ontario, the campaigns have pretty much begun. When we know what the date is going to be, we want to get our campaign offices, signage, etc done before the other guy. And it's way more expensive to run a campaign office for a longer period of time and thus the candidate needs to spend more time fundraising which taken him away from his job which is governing the province. And what happens in rural communities that just don't have the money to run a campaign for that long? They get left in the dust and thus the big party machinery starts to concentrate it's resources on places that can keep it going for a longer time, thus leaving the issues of those in smaller communities with no light on them. What's the answer? Mandatory voting! Look at the US Example - the Democratic grassroots are pushing for a 50-state solution to the problem of getting back into power in either the house or Senate. Um, what? You mean you didn't have a 50-state solution the whole time? Apparently not - so places like Alabama and Montana were ignored by the Democrats, thus enusring that if they got into power, Alabama and Montana would be voiceless. Democratic? No. Fixed dates? Bad idea. Oh, and fixed election dates in a first-past-the-post system where minority governments aren't just possible, but happening more and more? Even worse.

Term Limits. Here's what term limits do: they make the country ungovernable for the last term before the term limit expires and basically exposes the country/jurisdiction to a really really long campaign. Let's say the Prime Minister is allowed to govern for three terms of 4 years each. First 8 years? Everything's fine. Last 4 years? The Prime Minister won't want to be doing anything that will ruin his party's chances of re-election with a new leader (and the new leader will have to be chosen, so there'll be a distracting leadership battle as well as political posturing among the potential candidates for eons before the leader is finally chosen) and he'll be concentrating on legacy projects, etc. And since we know when he'll retire, all of that gets WAY worse. Such a bad idea. And undemocratic - let people decide when to kick the bastards out, not some consitutional change. We've never elected a fascist dictator here who will grab power for life, and I don't think we ever will. Especially with...what? Mandatory voting!

I do agree that we should have an elected Senate, but Harper's tinkering with that is pure politics and trying to get rid of the threat of Liberal senators who might want to override his legislation or something. And making sure that he gets the chance to appoint lots of Conservative senators.

In other news...

I have none. I'm boring.

That's it.

I'm Not Ready Yet.

I'm not ready to talk about the leadership. I've had a number of people ask me when I'm going to post about the leadership and I've been dreading it. This morning I finally realized why - I simply don't know enough about many of the candidates to comment. The only thing that I could comment on would be their pasts and what I want to know is what they're going to do for my future. I don't care that Bob Rae was an NDP Premier. I don't care that Michael Ignatieff spent 30 years out of country. I don't care that Carolyn Bennett only got so far as a Minister Responsible and I really don't care that Martha Hall-Findlay lost to Belinda. Those things aren't important.

I'm a thorough believer in changing your mind. I'm a believer in coming to your senses after years of being in the dark. I'm a believer in one person being able to bring you to their side with a strong argument. I don't think that your core philosophy or outlook on life in general changes much after you get educated, but there are many choices within Liberalism or in whatever political philosophy you subscribe. Therefore, I don't have a hard time with Bob Rae having gotten a little older, a little wiser, a little more experienced and with some terrificly smart staff, he's got some good ideas (although he should ban the word "Munich" from his lexicon). I don't have a hard time with a guy who has spent 30 years in the lonely world of academia seeing the light and realizing that in the real world, academic ideas don't always apply, and that it's easy to believe in something when you're an academic, but it's much harder to sell those ideas to the mediocre masses. You see what I'm saying?

I am not yet knowledgeable enough to intelligently comment on our 10 leadership aspirants, other than to say I'm super-glad John Godfrey bailed, and that I'm willing to give them all an equal chance to bring me to their table. This leadership process should be as wide open as it is. We need the debate in order to renew. We need to come to agree on a core philosophy again and the only way to do that is with as much debate as we can possibly stomach. Ideas need fleshing out and whoever has the best ideas should win.

In Other News...

I am utterly, totally and inconsolably devastated at two pieces of news from our neighbours to the South.

First, this morning's story on the NSA creating a database of American domestic phone calls is nothing less than horrifying. Dailykos.com has come excellent analysis, but for a balanced report, I'd check out
MSNBC. I know, it's a more conservative source, but I think it's a good one for this. How Americans haven't taken to the streets, I'll never know. If I found out that someone was putting my calls into a database, I'd totally lose my shit and would stage many, many protests.

The other thing is that the West Wing is ending on Sunday. The entire cast was on Ellen this morning and I will thoroughly miss the show. I will endeavour to complete my collection of West Wing dvds, and will watch them faithfully. I will also give Aaron Sorkin's new show more than a passing interest. Sunday nights will never be the same. Thanks for the memories, guys.

I don't have much to say other than that. Well, I do, but it's not public info. Heh. That's it!

Freaky Deaky

I am officially depressed. In the context of my employment, I have come across something that is very serious and very frightening. I hope all of my pals and readers will take note and actually DO something to change the world.

That something is Climate Change. If we don't change our behaviour right now, the future for our kids and grandkids is grim. Let me tell you what I learned yesterday:

1. The higher north you are, the more warming you'll experience. So obviously, the Arctic comes first, followed by Canada, Russia and Northern Europe. Northern Ontario has already seen a 1.2 degree increase over the last 100 years. That doesn't seem like a lot, but it is. Think of an ice cube melting in a glass - at room temperature it melts fairly quickly. Make it room temperature plus one, and it'll melt faster. And then room temperature plus one becomes norm, and so on and so forth.

2. Changes in the earth's temperature don't solely affect weather changes and melting icebergs. Animal habitats change, and Ontario will see a rise in the population of insects like the ticks that cause Lyme disease. Lyme disease isn't nice, and it's going to become an epidemic in Southern Ontario if we don't take action NOW.

3. Scientists are predicting a 1 to 5 degree change, depending on where you are in Ontario, over the next 100 years. Now, we all like warmer winters, but the effect of those warmer winters is disastrous. We need the cold. You want a warmer winter, move to Costa Rica, because you shouldn't have it in Ontario. The warmer winter this year made it so that winter roads in Northern Ontario were more dangerous and harder to build. Winter roads are a lifeline in the North, and I don't want people to die because winter wasn't cold enough for the road to be safe enough to deliver the necessities of life.

4. Everyone likes animals like polar bears. And we like them even better knowing they're roaming icebers waaaay up north, because we know that no matter how cute they are, they're dangerous and belong in the north where we can admire from afar. But if their habitat is destroyed, they will be too. And polar bears aren't the only ones.

So. What do we need to do? We need to become conservationists. All of us. Every single person on the planet. Forget Kyoto - if national governments want to mess around with buying and selling carbon credits to see who gets to pollute more, let 'em. You and I need to become actual environmentalists. It is individuals who will be leading the way on this. Here's a short list of things YOU can do:

1. Don't drive. Fossil fuels are bad. Plus, it angers me to see them earning insane amounts of money. If you must drive, conserve gas and buy it from a BP station. You'll have to search for one, but they are around.

2. Turn off the lights. Open the windows. Buy blinds to keep cool in the summer. If you use less electricity, it'll be better for everyone.

3. Buy stuff that's either made in Canada or the US - the environmental standards are higher, and tends to be better quality that'll last longer.

4. Recycle properly - they can't recycle stuff that isn't cleaned out and the labels aren't taken off of. And if you live in an apartment, make sure you take advantage of your blue box/grey box programs and the green bin when it comes.

5. We all need to buy stuff, but if you can possibly avoid stuff with insane amounts of packaging, you should.

It seems like society as a collective has this instant gratification mindset, that we can't think in the long-term or past the next elections. It shouldn't matter who is in government. We don't need any more reports. We need action - and the only way it's going to happen is if you and I do it together.

I'm taking the 5 steps starting today. I'll report back in a month on my progress.

Things You Should Buy

I finally bought Crocs. Go to www.crocs.com and see what the fuss is about, and when you buy some, you'll never want to take them off your feet. I'm trying to think of a way to wear them to work without getting a talking to. I frequent a site that told me about Crocs a year ago and I almost bought them in Niagara last summer but stupidly didn't. However, I now have my pink Crocs and I'm loving 'em.

I also bought some Aveda Energizing Body Wash. If you ever come home from a day where you've spent a lot of time on your feet and want to have one of those showers where you come out feeling all clean and refreshed and you climb into a bed of clean sheets and watch your favourite movie or crack open the latest Vanity Fair*, then you know how I'm feeling about this magic gel. It's pricey, but well worth it. I first experienced (and yes, it's an experience) the Aveda at the Arc Hotel in Ottawa last year and after a 5 hour drive with my co-irkers in the kind of heat that leaves you begging for the a/c, but the a/c is sticky and gross, the miracle gel got me ready for a long night of partying and booze. Miracles, I tell you!

*The new Vanity Fair, the Green Issue, is fucking fantastic. It should be a must-read for anyone with even a passing, peripheral interest in things environmental. Seriously. Go pick it up because I'm not lending you my copy.

In Other News...

I found a sweet couch on Craigslist. Call me, Craigslist person! I want your couch!

I made Easter Dinner. I am henceforth to be known as Domestic Goddess Extradordinary and Plenipetentiary. In addition to all my other skillz, of course.

Oh! Squee! Did you all see Josh and Donna talking about having sex on the West Wing! After I cried buckets about Leo's funeral (Where was Sam? I thought he was coming back? John Wells, I know you read this, so fill me in), the Josh/Donna and then Danny/CJ sex talk was most uplifting.

I want new sheets, but the ones I want are almost $300 for the duvet cover and sheet set. I'm officially taking up a collection.

Tra la, that's it.

Oh, Happy Day!

I think that John Godfrey must read my blog. John graciously stepped aside in the Leadership this morning, and for this, I applaud him. His talents will be much more valuable to the party if he is using his big, huge brain to develop great, Liberal policy. He's looking a touch gaunt, so I hope he's ok healthwise. Best wishes from me to John and Trish.

If you ever go to Warren Kinsella's website, you'll see
this. I'm so jealous I could spit. I'm thinking the time has come to offer myself to Warren wholly and completely and hope he takes me with him wherever he goes. Or I could just apply for a job at his firm after 2007. Heh.

Did you all see Bill saying he's the "world's most famous sinner" yesterday on CNN? To me, that just made him all the more irresistable. Damaged yet gracious, charismatic yet sensitive, also he's tall and in the best shape of his life. I'm on board.

In Other News...
I'm supposed to come up with a top 5 pop songs list. I am living High Fidelity.

I have been in an inexplicably good mood since I returned from Florida and so this is clearly a good time in my sun cycle or some shit like that to use my powers for good. Suggestions?

Back to the real world. So, tra la, that's it.

I Have a Problem.

There's a choice I'll likely need to make sometime soon and I don't want to. It's one of those things where your head and gut are in agreeance (shocker!) but there's this little part of you that just. can't. quite. get there. I'm thinking about it fairly constantly these days, even while I was on vacation in the sunny south, and it's frustrating and giving me butterflies and with the outcome so uncertain...gah. I resolve to not worry about it until it comes time to choose. yeah right.

Anyway, I had a nice vacation and am now back with a vengeance. I am trying to keep up with the number of people running for the Federal Liberal Leadership when really, I just wish that Bill Graham would stay put until Justin Trudeau realizes his destiny. I am beginning to get interested in Michael Ignatieff and am glad that Belinda (cold fish) Stronach is staying out of it, as it Scott Brison so far.

I have to ask - what in God's name is John Godfrey thinking? He's not going to win and he has to kn0w it. He's got next to no personality and I think we need him in a room developing social and economic ideas that can be put into practice and sold by a really great leader like Justin Trudeau (who is my first and foremost secret boyfriend). Why would he take good money out of good people's hands in order to lose? Let them put their bucks behind a winner, and John, please. You're so ridiculously smart. You've got a huge, liberal brain and I need you to use it and whatever influence you have left to convince the party machine that truly liberal ideas are what's needed to rebuild the party. Be the right-hand man to our next philosopher king (obviously Ignatieff) in order to debate with him and soften and mould his basic ideas. And groom young Trudeau with debate over espresso on an Old Montreal cafe patio.

Closer to home, I really wish Gerard Kennedy had stayed put. I don't think he can match wits with Ignatieff. He would be a terrific Premier post-Dalton who I love and hope never retires.

In Other News...

We had a terrific vacation. And I had a lovely time in Kenora/Thunder Bay before we went down south. I'm really looking forward to Monday and getting back to the grind. I bought two new purses south of the border and a very ironic mug in DC-Reagan airport.

I also gave Mark Darcy who has greatly improved in my estimation in that last 3 months his birthday present last night - The Film Snob's Dictionary. Man, does he ever know how to accept a gift! Compliments abound and reading the book with interest for 1/2 an hour after. I love giving more than getting, I think. We watched Adaptation, which was on the Big List and I was greatly looking forward to, but really, it was garbage. I didn't like it and almost fell asleep about 2/3 of the way through. It's a movie that should coming with a boring warning.

It's 9:54pm on a Saturday night and here I sit. I'm a geek and resolve to go and do something cool before I go to bed.

Oh. My cute little 9 year-old neighbour is learning how to make balloon animals and she brought me a fish. But it's not just any fish, it looks like one of those Jesus fish. Hee!

Tra la, that's it.