Articles in Personal Miscellany
Personal rants, musings and everyday miscellanea.
A Relevant Program for the Left
Posted on February 21st, 2012 by
Stephen DeGrace
Topics:
Politics,
Energy
The Left has not been really relevant in a long time. The Left has been completely routed since the fall of Communism, impotent and pushed into niches on the edges of society with no popular appeal. Contrasted with a potent and virile (if increasingly vile and loathsome) Right, the Right's accusations of milquetoast centrist politicians like Obama having an "extreme Left" agenda is bitterly amusing. The closest things we have seen to a resurgence of the Left as a political force with mainstream political relevance has been anti-globalization protests, which have drawn mostly disgust from the broader public who are uncomprehending and indifferent to the movement's beliefs and goals. In fact, even these resurgences are plagued by a perception and/or reality that they are united by nothing more than a common spirit and have no coherent ideology or program. However, I can think of at least one coherent and plausible program from a mainstream perspective that could be proposed based on an analysis of the anti-globalization Left.
"Ethical Oil" by Ezra Levant
Posted on September 4th, 2011 by
Stephen DeGrace
Topics:
Reviews,
Politics,
Energy
This weekend I read the book Ethical Oil: The Case for Canada's Oil Sands by Ezra Levant. I have complicated feelings about Ezra Levant, and I was certainly of two minds about buying this book. On one hand, it's an interesting topic. On the other hand, it's Ezra Levant, someone who I view as trying to inject the Canadian body politic with the same poison that's killing the United States an inch at a time à la Fox News, and that's not something I want to support financially. In Levant's favour, when it comes to the civil liberties and journalistic freedoms which make public dissent possible, Ezra is not just a cynical ideologue playing for his team first, last and only; he is the real deal, willing to stick up for anyone's rights, even people he doesn't agree with. What clinches it for me was the fact that he was the only person with a media outlet (when he ran the Western Standard magazine) who had the sheer balls to publish the Danish "Mohammed Cartoons." Furthermore, he was hauled before the Alberta Human Rights Commission as a consequence of doing so, winding up out of pocket something like a hundred grand to defend himself, and succeeded in staring them down. It is ultimately in honour of that swinging pair and that single, decisive act to defend freedom of speech in Canada from religious oppression that I threw a few bucks his way, and now a few links, too, via giving my impressions of his book.
Bring on the Coalition
Posted on April 20th, 2011 by
Stephen DeGrace
Topics:
Politics
In the current Canadian election, the Conservatives have been using the word "coalition" as a scare word, and the opposition have been obligingly playing along by ducking for cover and disavowing any intention of forming a coalition. Well, let's take the scare off.
It Worked On Dion - Will It Work On Ignatieff?
Posted on April 5th, 2011 by
Stephen DeGrace
Topics:
Politics
Giving so much attention to Ignatieff and making it seem like he is an underdog that the mean popular kids are picking on might backfire on the Conservatives. Ignatieff is not a weakling, a fool or an idiot. Yes, he lived for 30 years outside Canada - where he achieved international recognition in the absolute top tier of his field of expertise in a mercilessly critical and competitive environment. Stop and think about that for a minute. You don't get to that kind of position in life for nothing.
Is "Funding Separatists" Really So Bad?
Posted on April 3rd, 2011 by
Stephen DeGrace
Topics:
Politics
I'm frankly sick and tired of all the whining about "taxpayers funding separatists" in relation to MP benefits in general and the political party subsidy in particular going to the Bloc Québecois. Like it or not, they have a perfect right to that funding the same as any other democratically elected representative in Canada.
Harper Promises to End Political Subsidy
Posted on April 3rd, 2011 by
Stephen DeGrace
Topics:
Politics
I'm not a fan of Jean Chrétien's campaign finance reform, but I'm even less a fan of Stephen Harper's plan to keep the system while dropping the political subsidy. The idea behind the vote-based political subsidy was to replace corporate and union contributions without turning Canada into the kind of country where the party which can fire the most passion gets an overwhelming financial advantage. Populism sounds nice if you don't think about it too hard, but if stirring up often-ugly passions is the only way to compete in the Canadian political arena, it will change the character of Canada for the worse.
Getting Spammed Up Real Good Here
Posted on March 2nd, 2011 by
Stephen DeGrace
My reCaptcha defense for the comments on my articles is no longer working... either I'm getting targeted by spammers who use human beings in the third world to solve Captchas (in which case I guess it's a good thing their efforts are being wasted on my site, in a way), or else someone or someones have effectively broken reCaptcha and the reCaptcha people have not figured out a defense.
Danny Williams Steps Down
Posted on November 25th, 2010 by
Stephen DeGrace
Topics:
News
Today, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams announced he is stepping down. There are certainly a lot of mixed feelings about Danny Williams out there. However, as a Newfoundlander, I always felt that Danny Williams was good for Newfoundland and Labrador. I was utterly disgusted with his Canadian flag stunt, but in the following years he did a lot of things that made me forgive him.
Why No Walmarts in Gaspesie?
Posted on August 8th, 2010 by
Stephen DeGrace
Topics:
Travel
Mathieu and I recently did a complete circuit around the Gaspésie region of Québec for our vacation (see the photo gallery). As you can see, even with my less-than-professional photography, Gaspésie is a beautiful region and I highly recommend it. I have one question, though, and I'm still not convinced I have a good answer: why no Walmarts? I'm not saying that I'm sad about not seeing any Walmarts, just puzzled, because the population base seems to be there, compared to regions of New Brunswick with similar population levels which sport several Walmarts, and sucking the life out of little towns serving rural hinterlands like that is basically Walmart's modus operandi.
Rum Runners: Run Away
Posted on July 24th, 2010 by
Stephen DeGrace
Topics:
Reviews,
Food and Restaurants
Tonight we went to Rum Runners restaurant in Charlottetown, PEI to celebrate my step-brother's graduation from college. A lot of family were there and it was a very happy event. Regrettably, the restaurant itself was not one of the highlights of the evening. Rum Runners is a terrible restaurant and I would never recommend it to anyone.