So, as was fairly predictable, Canada dropped the ball again and elected Stephen Harper, our ultra-conservative angry man, who really belongs more to the States than to us.
What wasn't predictable was Harper came very close to a majority government, and I spent a good deal of time thinking about all sort of things he was likely to go after, including, but not only: freedom of speech in the arts (oh, yeah, and the arts), gay marriage (he really never liked it), women's rights (who cut nation-wide services that fund women's shelters?), the environment (which to me, is actually the most important, doesn't matter how bad things get, the land can save you)...
I've never been happier to return to a status quo that I really don't like. All I can say is: Dion, Layton and Duceppe had better make good on their promises to stand up against Harper. Don't keep this parliament running longer than it needs to be; I know it's an unpopular decision to kill a minority, because no one likes an election... but hey.
For those of you who don't quite get Canadian parliament: We have a total of 308 seats in parliament. Any time a party wins 155 or more of those seats, they get a practical carte blanche to do whatever they like. Anything less than 155, they end up with a minority government, which can be toppled by the other parties by voting against a movement in parliament. I'm willing to bet that Harper's confident enough by his almost-majority (143 seats) to try to push the buttons of the other parties: If they topple the government within the first year, they'll be blamed for the ensuing election. He's going to push for things they don't want NOW. But, he will remain acting like HarperLite, because he doesn't have the power to push his more controversial agendas.
Anyway, checking voter turn-out this morning and guess what? Turnout is down to 59.1%. In other words - not so hot. That is a record low, according to CBC. A large chunk of that is Newfoundland, ConLand, where the Conservative Premier stated that Harper's Conservatives were not good for the province, suggesting the catchy "ABC" Voting Strategy - Anything But Conservatives. I expect a lot of people just didn't really know who to vote for.
The other place I expect (don't have anything to back this assumption up) voters didn't show was Alberta. Oh, Alberta. So many new people have moved there, but everyone who votes central-to-left seems to think that since they don't have a chance, they just don't need to try. Well... thanks a lot, left-of-right Albertans. Your lack of voting is really what's screwing the rest of us over on a national level. You need to take responsibility and just elect someone Lib or NDP or, hell, the Greens would have a big fight there, but them too! I know Alberta's not really a great place to live these days. We all know that. You could be making $20/hour and still not be able to afford a house... but you gotta elect a party that's going to help rather than encourage Alberta to degenerate into a cesspool of poverty, oil and crime.
Nevertheless, we're taking our right to vote for granted. It's pathetic.
Finally, remember last year, when all the young voters didn't bother on voting for proportional representation? If you had bothered voting for that, we wouldn't have such a big problem on our hands with the current government.
Popular Vote vs Percentage of Seats (ie. Real Power) in Parliament:
37.63% vs 46.42% Conservative
26.24% vs 24.28% Liberal
9.97% vs 16.23% Bloc Quebecois
18.20% vs 12.01% New Democratic Party (NDP)
6.80% vs 0.00% Green Party
Just bothers me some that almost 20% of voters aren't properly represented (Helps that I'm one of them).
Showing posts with label current events. Show all posts
Showing posts with label current events. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Dry Spell
I recently attended the opening of Sau Wai Tai's show at the Women's Art Resource Centre. Such a show, which demonstrates a feminist ethic applied to interlinking environmental and social justice issues, takes art not for its aesthetic but its potential to demonstrate, to involve the masses by taking them past speculating on a visual culture made only for their living room walls. Sau Wai Tai's exhibition "Dry Spell" deals specifically with the water crisis and allows the viewer to make the connections between the commodification/desecration of water resources to the trafficking of women caught in development paradigms.
The press release below:
"Sau Wai Tai
May 24 - June 21, 2008
Dry Spell presents Toronto artist, Sau Wai Tai¹s mixed media investigation into climate change. While floods and hurricanes command the media¹s attention as effects of global warming, severe and intensifying droughts have been largely un-reported even as the percentage of land affected has substantially increased over the last decade. Privatization of water by bottling industries, and the prioritizing of industrial needs, aggregate the problem for communities with little political/economic power. Dry Spell highlights environmental injustices against the global South with special attention to the ordeal of women. Many have suffered and perished as they tried to bring home water and feed their families. In the gallery, the artist constructs a drying, cracking Œpaddy field¹ with gradually dying seedlings. Also in the gallery lie four locked 80 litre water boxes. At the Third World Water Forum, it was said that 80 litres of water per person, per day are necessary to maintain a reasonable standard of life. Text etched onto the boxes references uses such as pop and bottled water, toilets and urban etiquette, industry and agricultural processes etc. On the floor lie scattered bottles of water containing submerged pictures of women of colour consumed/to be consumed and discarded away. A dim image with native women from Mother Earth Water Walk walking around the Great Lakes to reclaim sacred water is projected onto a gallery wall.
Bio:
Sau Wai is a cultural hybrid living and working in Toronto: She was made in Hong Kong, did her tertiary education in Australia and then worked with various non-government organizations after she returned from her studies, including relief and development works in Asian countries. Realizing the importance of how the environment plays upon the well being of people living in the margins, especially women, she came to Toronto to earn a Masters degree in environmental studies. It is thus natural for her work to cross borders and to interweave dialogue about the environment, gender, class and race to highlight connections in a perceived fragmented world. She also embraces a critical understanding of humanities role in manufacturing the environmental crises and interprets the word "environment" to include the implications of the interplay between political, social, cultural and
economical global elements."
The press release below:
"Sau Wai Tai
May 24 - June 21, 2008
Dry Spell presents Toronto artist, Sau Wai Tai¹s mixed media investigation into climate change. While floods and hurricanes command the media¹s attention as effects of global warming, severe and intensifying droughts have been largely un-reported even as the percentage of land affected has substantially increased over the last decade. Privatization of water by bottling industries, and the prioritizing of industrial needs, aggregate the problem for communities with little political/economic power. Dry Spell highlights environmental injustices against the global South with special attention to the ordeal of women. Many have suffered and perished as they tried to bring home water and feed their families. In the gallery, the artist constructs a drying, cracking Œpaddy field¹ with gradually dying seedlings. Also in the gallery lie four locked 80 litre water boxes. At the Third World Water Forum, it was said that 80 litres of water per person, per day are necessary to maintain a reasonable standard of life. Text etched onto the boxes references uses such as pop and bottled water, toilets and urban etiquette, industry and agricultural processes etc. On the floor lie scattered bottles of water containing submerged pictures of women of colour consumed/to be consumed and discarded away. A dim image with native women from Mother Earth Water Walk walking around the Great Lakes to reclaim sacred water is projected onto a gallery wall.
Bio:
Sau Wai is a cultural hybrid living and working in Toronto: She was made in Hong Kong, did her tertiary education in Australia and then worked with various non-government organizations after she returned from her studies, including relief and development works in Asian countries. Realizing the importance of how the environment plays upon the well being of people living in the margins, especially women, she came to Toronto to earn a Masters degree in environmental studies. It is thus natural for her work to cross borders and to interweave dialogue about the environment, gender, class and race to highlight connections in a perceived fragmented world. She also embraces a critical understanding of humanities role in manufacturing the environmental crises and interprets the word "environment" to include the implications of the interplay between political, social, cultural and
economical global elements."
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Historic Queen West...Down In Flames...
CBC's coverage:Queen Street Fire
I know this isn't a particularly feminist issue, but damn, this fire hits close to home. Not only does the boy and a couple of other friends of mine actually only live a block away from where the six alarm fire broke out at 5:30 in the morning, but I spent my teen years (and still spend quite a bit of time there) in that neighbourhood. It's one of my favourites. The boy says that his apartment hallway is covered in black ash, and there are still cops and fire officials all over the block. The area of downtown Toronto had just been declared an historical conservation site last fall as well.
14 addresses affected...at least five small businesses gutted...gutted...and when I think if that fire had leaped one more block west...
No one was seriously injured...thank god/dess...but it seems like everyone in the buildings affected lost everything...
I know I just have memories on this strip...but it's like watching a loved one get hurt, you know?
I know this isn't a particularly feminist issue, but damn, this fire hits close to home. Not only does the boy and a couple of other friends of mine actually only live a block away from where the six alarm fire broke out at 5:30 in the morning, but I spent my teen years (and still spend quite a bit of time there) in that neighbourhood. It's one of my favourites. The boy says that his apartment hallway is covered in black ash, and there are still cops and fire officials all over the block. The area of downtown Toronto had just been declared an historical conservation site last fall as well.
14 addresses affected...at least five small businesses gutted...gutted...and when I think if that fire had leaped one more block west...
No one was seriously injured...thank god/dess...but it seems like everyone in the buildings affected lost everything...
I know I just have memories on this strip...but it's like watching a loved one get hurt, you know?
Monday, February 4, 2008
Eating Disorder Awareness Week
Upcoming at York is Eating Disorder Awareness Week, running from February 4th to February 8th. All sorts of interesting talks and events are scheduled, and I would encourage those of us who do not have pesky classes and work obligations in the way, to check them out. Here are a few presentations:
I wrote an article for the school's paper, Excalibur, about using gender as a lens of analysis in discussing eating disorders. I may post it up later this week. Writing it was quite challenging because I wasn't sure how to talk about eating disorders in the first place. Its a difficult, and important subject matter that I didn't want to take lightly. Hopefully I can catch one of these lectures this week.
"It’s Not our Bodies That Need Changing, It's Our Attitude"
Eating Disorders Awareness Week Speaker Series
Monday, February 4th, 7:00pm<>
Harry Crowe Room, Rm. 109, Atkinson Building
Michael Atkinson, PhD, presents:
Physical Cultural Studies: Bodies and Body Modification in Late Modernity
In this talk, Michael Atkinson engages a physical cultural studies analysis of radical forms of body modification such as tattooing, cosmetic surgery and dramatic forms of dieting. Based on first-hand research he has gathered on the socio-cultural meanings of these body projects and others, Dr. Atkinson addresses how and why radical physical cultural practices are growing in number in Western societies. Specifically, he discusses what it is like to experience radical body modification, how radical body modification shifts one’s sense of self-identity over time, and how body modification practitioners often walk fine lines between heath and illness through their flesh journeys.
Michael Atkinson, PhD is with the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, U.K. For his contributions to the Canadian social sciences, Michael was recipient of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada's prestigious Aurora Award in 2004. Michael is the associate editor of Deviant Behaviour Journal as well as a Member of the editorial board of the Qualitative Sociology Review, Sociology of Sport Journal, and Sport in Society. Michael is the author of Tattooed: The Sociogenesis of a Body Art.
Tuesday, February 5th, 7:00pm
Harry Crowe Room, Rm. 109, Atkinson Building.
Dr. Gail McVey, C. Psych presents,
Promoting Positive Body image and Healthy eating in a Diet-Crazy World: Findings from School- and University Based Prevention Programs.
In this presentation, Gail McVey will provide an overview of the factors that influence the development of body image concerns and eating-related problems. Strategies designed to help improve body satisfaction and prevent disordered eating will be discussed. Updated research findings concerning school- and university-based interventions designed to prevent disordered eating will be presented. The program is provided through Dr. McVey’s work as a Health Systems Research Scientist in the Community Health Systems Resource Group at the Hospital for Sick Children and Director of the Ontario Community Outreach Program for Eating Disorders.
A special program in recognition of Eating Disorders Awareness Week is being organized by the Counselling and Development Centre, the Atkinson Counselling and Supervision Centre, Health Education and Promotion, Faculty of Fine Arts, and Faculty of Arts. Also generously supported by the Student & Alumni Relations Unit, Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies.
All events are free and open to all members of the York University community.
I wrote an article for the school's paper, Excalibur, about using gender as a lens of analysis in discussing eating disorders. I may post it up later this week. Writing it was quite challenging because I wasn't sure how to talk about eating disorders in the first place. Its a difficult, and important subject matter that I didn't want to take lightly. Hopefully I can catch one of these lectures this week.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Student Body Drives Me Nuts
In an earlier post, I wrote about how much I loved my progressive school. I may have spoke to soon.
I forget how much the student body doesn't reflect the politics of my studies.
The YorkU livejournal community provides AMPLE evidence of this. In a post initially speaking about some recent racist graffiti, the thread suddenly became about the "wrongs" of affirmative action, and of course all the whining coming from people who feel cheated by it (ie white people who are automatically qualified for the job, whereas people who are systemically discriminated against are CLEARLY questionable).
There are usually few dissenting voices to the right-wing-ism displayed in this community, and so I get tired of arguing and feel like I just want this conversation to be OVER. So I sent a letter to Carmen at Racialicious, most of which I'll repost here.
I hope she can address it there on her blog, mostly because my blog here is so tiny, and I really want these issues brought up in that thread to be made visible. Also, I don't feel nearly as qualified or confident to address it with the vehemence it deserves. So here it is:
I wonder at times like this if I am even strong enough to fight.
Sigh.
Edit: I had heard conflicting reports about what was sprayed across the walls...I think the graffiti I had quoted to Carmen was a response to either racist graffiti sprayed across the walls of Black student organizations. Just wanted to clarify.
I forget how much the student body doesn't reflect the politics of my studies.
The YorkU livejournal community provides AMPLE evidence of this. In a post initially speaking about some recent racist graffiti, the thread suddenly became about the "wrongs" of affirmative action, and of course all the whining coming from people who feel cheated by it (ie white people who are automatically qualified for the job, whereas people who are systemically discriminated against are CLEARLY questionable).
There are usually few dissenting voices to the right-wing-ism displayed in this community, and so I get tired of arguing and feel like I just want this conversation to be OVER. So I sent a letter to Carmen at Racialicious, most of which I'll repost here.
I hope she can address it there on her blog, mostly because my blog here is so tiny, and I really want these issues brought up in that thread to be made visible. Also, I don't feel nearly as qualified or confident to address it with the vehemence it deserves. So here it is:
Hi Carmen
I've written to you before, and got lots of great feedback on a project I'm still working on. But I was wondering if maybe you could address this sometime on Racialicious:
http://community.livejournal.com/yorku/1406833.html
I hope that link works.
York University is generally considered a very left and progressive liberal arts school in Toronto. You can see this reflected particularly in the Women's Studies program and various others. However, it is NOT always reflected in the student body itself nor in the addressing of certain issues that arise on campus. This particular linked post in the YorkU Livejournal community was in reference to grafitti that had been sprayed something along the lines of 'death to white supremecy' across the walls of a very public part of campus. I never got to see it myself, as it was removed before I got to campus quickly after the story broke out.
What irks me about this thread is how it was used as a jumping point to discredit affirmative actions programs, not for their effectiveness but rather for how "perfectly qualified white people" are left out of the jobs they are so CLEARLY entitled to. Then the justification becomes that people should just all be equally considered without issues of race, gender, or sexuality "getting in the way" as if those very things have never been used against people who fall under those categories in the first place. As if those things have been resolved in the slightest. ARGH!
I'm writing to you because I feel so frustrated, as these type of right-wing threads pop up often in the community and I'll start to argue, but then I end up backing down and feeling tired and hopeless against so many people who are so sure I'm just a radical left-wing nut. I feel like everything I have to say about this is better argued and with more strength and visibility on racialicious...and quite frankly, I really want the YorkU student body to publically called out on this shit. I'm so tired of it. It's so disappointing to attend a school that doesn't live up to its reputation. I want there to be a link that discusses things like affirmative action intelligently and not like some spoiled brat who didn't get what he wanted when he wanted it. ARGH! again!
[...]
with deep lamentations...
I wonder at times like this if I am even strong enough to fight.
Sigh.
Edit: I had heard conflicting reports about what was sprayed across the walls...I think the graffiti I had quoted to Carmen was a response to either racist graffiti sprayed across the walls of Black student organizations. Just wanted to clarify.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Angry Mulroney Rant
Ok, so I really should have posted this a few days ago when the article was in the paper, about how fucking "Right Honourable" Brian Mulroney swindled lawsuit money out of the federal government for alleging that he had a part in a fraud case that he said he didn't have a part in but turns out he did...
I really really want to start a petition to exile him. Like, force him to give up his Canadian citizenship and ban him from our country. He's a fucking traitor! He sold us out to the American corporations with the Free Trade Agreement. He swindles the government for his own monetary gain. At the very least he should lose the "Right Honourable" title granted to all Prime Ministers. I mean, GAWD, Jean Cretien started bar fights and is a more decent person! Stephen Harper is a fucking robot and scares the SHIT out of me, but I still hold more respect for him. (Well, respect in that we don't really know exactly what he's up to yet. He still really fucking scares me.) This is about as nationalistic as I will get: someone who so totally betrays his or her nation from a position of such power, should face consequences. But then again, I suppose it does not befit us to go up against someone who has so much money for lawyers, and therefore can get off of every charge thrown at him.
The other thing about this is the fact that if he was a liberal ex-PM and the Liberals were in power the press would be ALL THE FUCK OVER THIS. But here's a Conservative ex-PM doing fucking outrageous acts of ridiculous greed (he's already too rich for his own greedy-ass good) during a Conservative government and the media kindly turn head. I mean, this should blow up. Like, it should blow up like "Dumbledore's gay" big. 'Cause you know, what Dumbledore's doing in his fictional bedroom means more to us than what our Prime Minister is doing with our TAX MONEY. You know, the money that's supposed to somehow make its way to benefiting Canada. You know, our country.
FUCK. I hope Brian Mulroney regrets his life. Somehow, I hope he looks back and realizes: "Oh, I'm a greedy fucker. How terrible a person I've been." But we all know he has too much money for regrets.
So, instead, I hope he goes bankrupt and is forced to spend a miserable, lonely end to his life on welfare.
I really really want to start a petition to exile him. Like, force him to give up his Canadian citizenship and ban him from our country. He's a fucking traitor! He sold us out to the American corporations with the Free Trade Agreement. He swindles the government for his own monetary gain. At the very least he should lose the "Right Honourable" title granted to all Prime Ministers. I mean, GAWD, Jean Cretien started bar fights and is a more decent person! Stephen Harper is a fucking robot and scares the SHIT out of me, but I still hold more respect for him. (Well, respect in that we don't really know exactly what he's up to yet. He still really fucking scares me.) This is about as nationalistic as I will get: someone who so totally betrays his or her nation from a position of such power, should face consequences. But then again, I suppose it does not befit us to go up against someone who has so much money for lawyers, and therefore can get off of every charge thrown at him.
The other thing about this is the fact that if he was a liberal ex-PM and the Liberals were in power the press would be ALL THE FUCK OVER THIS. But here's a Conservative ex-PM doing fucking outrageous acts of ridiculous greed (he's already too rich for his own greedy-ass good) during a Conservative government and the media kindly turn head. I mean, this should blow up. Like, it should blow up like "Dumbledore's gay" big. 'Cause you know, what Dumbledore's doing in his fictional bedroom means more to us than what our Prime Minister is doing with our TAX MONEY. You know, the money that's supposed to somehow make its way to benefiting Canada. You know, our country.
FUCK. I hope Brian Mulroney regrets his life. Somehow, I hope he looks back and realizes: "Oh, I'm a greedy fucker. How terrible a person I've been." But we all know he has too much money for regrets.
So, instead, I hope he goes bankrupt and is forced to spend a miserable, lonely end to his life on welfare.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
On the topic of news...
These are actually two posts from another blog:
24 October 2007 @ 02:25 pm
Oh My God! Buy More Potter Crap if you're Gay!
Yesterday, I was disgusted.
Oui, oui, je sais. How surprising. Quelle suprise. I am so easily disgusted. So often disgusted. Perhaps I just have a low tolerance to disgust. Perhaps I am not suited for this.
I was disgusted because yesterday, I picked up the Toronto Star (yes, the Toronto Star) which as we all know is at least a semi-serious newspaper with in-slight-depth news articles. I opened the paper, the front page, to get to the index. There, on page A3, which is a very prominant page, because of where it is placed, you cannot skip A3 if you intend to read your paper, was a PAGE-SIZED ARTICLE on how apparently Dumbledore might be gay. (Ok, so it's really more a half-page coupled with other "Gay Rumours in Literature" and a 1/3 of the page going to an ad for some stupid rich person's watch).
No, nevermind anything else in the world. Anything else in the fucking city. STOP THE FUCKING PRESSES! BECAUSE A FUCKING HARRY POTTER CHARACTER MIGHT BE GAY. This was an entire fucking page worth of speculation based off of an off-the-cuff comment that J.K. Rowling made at a book signing about a fucking FICTIONAL CHARACTER. I know that many, many, many people hold the Harry Potter series in high regard (oftentimes higher regard than I believe it desserves) but why must we pretend that Harry Potter, nay, a Harry Potter sub-character is more important than: Dundas Square new home of Citytv or Family awaiting answers in dogs' shooting deaths or Educated people get dementia later but decline quicker: Research or Pedophiles tend to be short men, study finds, which were all on the next page?
Ok, so none of this is really what I feel is "serious news". Well, I feel sorry for the family that lost its dog, sure, but I don't give a shit about Citytv moving, I don't care if I get dementia faster later on in my life because I'm nowhere near that yet, and it's really too simplistic to pin pedophilia on short men alone. So maybe it's just that newspapers need some fucking help. Because, really, this isn't making me go "NEWS". The next page is about new Taxlaws in Toronto. That would be more important news. Then there's a bunch of trivial and serious Toronto crap and then a bit about Canada's Peacekeeping Stance questioned real brief-like in the back... That and also Canadian soldiers being douchy in Afghanistan, but really, that's not trendy in the news stories anymore.
Ok, so, still. With all this stuff going on, WHY DO WE GIVE A SHIT ABOUT A HARRY POTTER CHARACTER BEING (MAYBE) GAY? I mean, the books are out, you've read them, you can make your own assumptions, and DOES THIS CHANGE ANYONE'S LIFE? Like, does this actually make a difference in the world? I open the paper and I'm actually more interested in things like global conflicts that we don't hear about (like Israel marching into Syria sort of deal, wait, was that actually in the news?). In the Toronto Star, the "A" section doesn't cover that, only the "AA" or "World" section. But I'm pretty sure there's a hell of a lot more going on in TORONTO itself than J.K. Rowling saying "I always thought of Dumbledore as gay" in (wait for it, wait for it) NEW YORK. Or somewhere. Where ever she was, she wasn't here, so there were no dramatic Harry Potter fans running round the streets going "OH MY GOD!" causing accidents and bodily harm and such.
All I'm saying is: PLEASE WORLD. GET THE FUCK OVER HARRY POTTER ALREADY. If you're going to be coo-coo over some piece of fiction, please, choose a piece of fiction that has at the very least spent enough time in an editor's office.
All I'm REALLY trying to say is: PLEASE WORLD. GIVE A SHIT ABOUT THE REAL WORLD AND NOT A PIECE OF FICTION, BE IT FILMED OR WRITTEN. Like, who cares if Dumbledore might be gay. That doesn't change things in the world. Gays, etc. are still getting one of the many short ended sticks. Oh, wait, this just in, no, their stick is a long one because Dumbledore is now on their side.
27 October 2007
Re: Oh My God! Buy More Potter Crap if you're Gay!
So, apparently page A3 in the Toronto Star is NOT a news page.
On Thursday there was a huge article on how to barter for things. You know, shop cheaper? Now, I don't have anything against bartering (although I do think there is a time and a place for it) but one of the last things that people here need is: How to buy more stuff!
Oh my God! Buy more crap if you're breathing!
My last entry was not to just hate on Harry Potter, although I find a large enough group of its fan-base so irritating that it's incredibly tempting... but the way that our news system works is so problematic. Now, I know that there's a lot of crap going on in the world, and you can't represent all of it at any given time... but newspapers could do a lot more than what they are doing now. But news is becoming a form of entertainment too, and you can tell by the pictures they choose...
24 October 2007 @ 02:25 pm
Oh My God! Buy More Potter Crap if you're Gay!
Yesterday, I was disgusted.
Oui, oui, je sais. How surprising. Quelle suprise. I am so easily disgusted. So often disgusted. Perhaps I just have a low tolerance to disgust. Perhaps I am not suited for this.
I was disgusted because yesterday, I picked up the Toronto Star (yes, the Toronto Star) which as we all know is at least a semi-serious newspaper with in-slight-depth news articles. I opened the paper, the front page, to get to the index. There, on page A3, which is a very prominant page, because of where it is placed, you cannot skip A3 if you intend to read your paper, was a PAGE-SIZED ARTICLE on how apparently Dumbledore might be gay. (Ok, so it's really more a half-page coupled with other "Gay Rumours in Literature" and a 1/3 of the page going to an ad for some stupid rich person's watch).
No, nevermind anything else in the world. Anything else in the fucking city. STOP THE FUCKING PRESSES! BECAUSE A FUCKING HARRY POTTER CHARACTER MIGHT BE GAY. This was an entire fucking page worth of speculation based off of an off-the-cuff comment that J.K. Rowling made at a book signing about a fucking FICTIONAL CHARACTER. I know that many, many, many people hold the Harry Potter series in high regard (oftentimes higher regard than I believe it desserves) but why must we pretend that Harry Potter, nay, a Harry Potter sub-character is more important than: Dundas Square new home of Citytv or Family awaiting answers in dogs' shooting deaths or Educated people get dementia later but decline quicker: Research or Pedophiles tend to be short men, study finds, which were all on the next page?
Ok, so none of this is really what I feel is "serious news". Well, I feel sorry for the family that lost its dog, sure, but I don't give a shit about Citytv moving, I don't care if I get dementia faster later on in my life because I'm nowhere near that yet, and it's really too simplistic to pin pedophilia on short men alone. So maybe it's just that newspapers need some fucking help. Because, really, this isn't making me go "NEWS". The next page is about new Taxlaws in Toronto. That would be more important news. Then there's a bunch of trivial and serious Toronto crap and then a bit about Canada's Peacekeeping Stance questioned real brief-like in the back... That and also Canadian soldiers being douchy in Afghanistan, but really, that's not trendy in the news stories anymore.
Ok, so, still. With all this stuff going on, WHY DO WE GIVE A SHIT ABOUT A HARRY POTTER CHARACTER BEING (MAYBE) GAY? I mean, the books are out, you've read them, you can make your own assumptions, and DOES THIS CHANGE ANYONE'S LIFE? Like, does this actually make a difference in the world? I open the paper and I'm actually more interested in things like global conflicts that we don't hear about (like Israel marching into Syria sort of deal, wait, was that actually in the news?). In the Toronto Star, the "A" section doesn't cover that, only the "AA" or "World" section. But I'm pretty sure there's a hell of a lot more going on in TORONTO itself than J.K. Rowling saying "I always thought of Dumbledore as gay" in (wait for it, wait for it) NEW YORK. Or somewhere. Where ever she was, she wasn't here, so there were no dramatic Harry Potter fans running round the streets going "OH MY GOD!" causing accidents and bodily harm and such.
All I'm saying is: PLEASE WORLD. GET THE FUCK OVER HARRY POTTER ALREADY. If you're going to be coo-coo over some piece of fiction, please, choose a piece of fiction that has at the very least spent enough time in an editor's office.
All I'm REALLY trying to say is: PLEASE WORLD. GIVE A SHIT ABOUT THE REAL WORLD AND NOT A PIECE OF FICTION, BE IT FILMED OR WRITTEN. Like, who cares if Dumbledore might be gay. That doesn't change things in the world. Gays, etc. are still getting one of the many short ended sticks. Oh, wait, this just in, no, their stick is a long one because Dumbledore is now on their side.
27 October 2007
Re: Oh My God! Buy More Potter Crap if you're Gay!
So, apparently page A3 in the Toronto Star is NOT a news page.
On Thursday there was a huge article on how to barter for things. You know, shop cheaper? Now, I don't have anything against bartering (although I do think there is a time and a place for it) but one of the last things that people here need is: How to buy more stuff!
Oh my God! Buy more crap if you're breathing!
My last entry was not to just hate on Harry Potter, although I find a large enough group of its fan-base so irritating that it's incredibly tempting... but the way that our news system works is so problematic. Now, I know that there's a lot of crap going on in the world, and you can't represent all of it at any given time... but newspapers could do a lot more than what they are doing now. But news is becoming a form of entertainment too, and you can tell by the pictures they choose...
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