Saturday, February 18, 2017
Why Trump Hates Traditional Journalism and Loves Digital Media (Videos)
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
The Importance and the Power of Protest: Why We Must Stand Up to Trump
Friday, December 23, 2016
How Conservatives Use Fake News to Control the Narrative
The Washington Post reports that conservatives are both more likely to post fake news and more likely to believe it compared to liberals.
Conservatives have been found to be highly receptive to stories that reinforce their existing worldview. While this may be somewhat true of many people, there is evidence to show that liberals are not as receptive to fake news. Not only are conservatives more likely to fall for fake news they are more likely to produce it. A Buzzfeed analysis of Facebook revealed that leading conservative pages were twice as likely to publish fake news compared to leading liberal pages.
Saturday, September 6, 2014
Video - McConnell Confirms the Koch Brothers Power Over America
Sen. Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) provides the smoking gun illustrating the Koch brothers control over America. These comments by one of their own are evidence for the Koch brothers insidious power. McConnell's remarks were recorded during a speech he gave at a secret strategy meeting hosted by the infamous climate denying oil billionaires known as the Koch brothers.
Friday, September 5, 2014
The Koch Brothers Control of America
They have also undermined efforts to pass climate and energy legislation at both the state and national levels. They have even managed to influence the Supreme Court and help sour American attitudes on the veracity of global warming.
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Video - Trailer for the Koch Brothers Documentary: Buying Democracy
This is the trailer for "Koch Exposed," a hard-hitting investigation of the 1% at its very worst from acclaimed director Robert Greenwald. Charles and David Koch are using their billions to put a stranglehold on American democracy. The film also explores what we can do about it. Click here to get the film.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Buying Support for the Keystone XL
Monday, November 12, 2012
California's Proposition 39 will Generate Half a Billion a Year for Clean Energy and Efficiency
"California voters not only modernized the state’s corporate tax structure by passing Prop 39, they indicated their strong support for renewable energy, including expanding solar energy and encouraging related investment over the next five years,” Carrie Cullen Hitt, vice president for state affairs at The Solar Energy Industries Association.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
European Elections and Sustainable Development
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
No Reprieve for the Environment as Slacktivists Hand Majority to Canadian Conservatives
Although we will not have hard data from Elections Canada for a few weeks, publications like Saanich News are reporting low youth vote turnout: "Despite expectations, early numbers suggest social media hype before Monday’s election did not translate into more young people making it to the polls."
The election of US President Barack Obama succeeded due in large part to the youth vote. Many were hoping that similar youth involvement in Canada would impede the Conservative's assault on the environment. With fewer than 14 million ballots cast in the last federal election, Canada's 5.5 million Canadians under the age of 30 could have been a game changer.
The reason why younger voters are so important is because they tend to favor parties other than the Conservatives. In the 2008 federal election less than 40 percent of young people voted and although advanced polling suggested that we would see a surge of young voters, Canada's youth did not materialize in sufficient numbers to deny a Conservative majority.
The fact that the Conservatives won 167 seats indicates that young people did not get out and vote en masse. Although Canada's youth did help propel the NDP to a second place finish with 31 percent of the popular vote. An “orange crush” of historic NDP support swept through Quebec, parts of Ontario and the Prairies to give the party 102 seats. “You, young Canadians, are an inspiration and a source of hope for our country’s future,” NDP leader Jack Layton told a large crowd in downtown Toronto.
Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff resigned after his party lost more than half their seats leaving them with 34.“We’ve seen tonight, I think, the emergence of a polarization in Canadian politics,” a defeated Ignatieff told supporters in Toronto. The people may be polarized, but the power is now in the hands of the Conservatives. Canadians failure to vote against the Conservatives have given a majority to a party that will aggressively support tar sands oil and largely ignore the environment and the green economy.
In British Columbia, Green Party leader Elizabeth May won the party’s first-ever elected seat in Saanich—Gulf Islands. The Green Party's first seat along with Liberal losses and NDP gains make this a historic election. This election is also historic as a missed opportunity to reverse Canada's anti-environment trajectory.
According to an early Elections Canada report, 61 percent of eligible Canadians voted in the 2011 federal election. The 2011 turnout was only slightly more than 2008's dismal electoral participation of 59 percent.
More than 70,000 youth had pledged to vote as part of the “I Will Vote” campaign, but efforts to boost the youth vote with social media and vote mobs were insufficient to prevent a Conservative majority. The outcome of the 2011 election indicates that while Canadian youth like online campaigns, they are not interested in doing much to manage climate change, even when it concerns an action as simple as voting.
Some attribute lower than expected youth voter turnout to a lack of engagement by Canada's political parties and the need for more face-to-face mobilization. The truth is the 2011 election results show that Canada's youth are indeed an apathetic group of slackers, (hence the expression slacktivists). Even though the under 30s claim to care about efforts to manage climate change, through their inaction they have effectively given the Conservatives carte blanche to continue to ravage the environment.
Young Canadians could have moved beyond raising awareness and started changing the world. Instead the under 30s stayed home in many parts of the country. Canada's youth missed a historic opportunity to use their democratic rights to lead the country into the future and enjoin the battle against climate change.
© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.
Next: The Last Best Hope to Combat Climate Change
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Monday, May 2, 2011
Youth Vote May Determine the Outcome of the Canadian Federal Election
At the very least young people are likely to foil a Conservative majority. If the youth vote doubles from 2008, it is entirely possible that the NDP or Liberals may form a minority government. If the youth vote triples, we may even see an NDP or Liberal majority.
Canadian youth are strong supporters of the environment and many hold staunch anti-Conservative views. Vote mob websites, and opinion pieces in university newpapers single out Conservatives for criticism, not the Liberals, NDP or Greens. The environment is an important issue for many of those who organized vote mobs. A number of these people have been actively involved with the progressive environmental action groups like 350.org.
No one can be sure exactly what percentage of those participating in vote mobs will actually cast a vote, but by the end of election day we may find that the youth vote has been vastly underestimated by the pundits and the pollsters.
© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.
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The ruling Conservative government is at odds with Canadians on climate change. Harper's Conservatives have a history of contempt for the environment. Despite the fact that the world urged Canada to do more on the environmental front, Conservatives have amassed a deplorable track record on some of the most important environmental issues, including the way they have handled international climate change summits and greenhouse gas emissions reductions.
Due to the country's dependence on oil, Canada is a world leader in GHG emissions. Harper's Conservatives are working to ramp-up tar sands oil production which cause up to five times the climate change pollution of conventional crude oil. The proposed Canadian Enbridge Northern Gateway oil sands pipeline would cut through British Columbia’s pristine temperate rainforests and coastal ecosystems to export tar sand oil to Asia. For more information or to take action click here.
Canada's woodland caribou are an example of one species that is in urgent danger. In Alberta, some herds have less than 100 caribou left. Caribou are considered threatened species under Canada's Species at Risk Act, yet Alberta's tar sands development and forestry industry operations are driving vulnerable herds to the brink of survival. For more information or to take action click here.
Canada enacted the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA) in June 2003 to address the mounting threats to Canada’s endangered animals. But the Canadian government is failing to fulfill its duty of care toward our nation’s wildlife by refusing to properly implement the Act.
Many of Canada’s endangered animals live in the Arctic, which is suffering disproportionally from the consequences of global warming. Research shows that temperatures in the Arctic are rising at almost twice the rate of the rest of the world. As a result, Arctic sea ice is shrinking by up to 5% every ten years. This is crucial because sea ice not only provides hunting ground for polar bears, but shelter and transportation for seals, walrus, arctic foxes, and the Inuit people.
The underside of Arctic ice provides a surface for algae that support cod, char, beluga, and narwhal. The white sea ice also has a cooling effect on climate by reflecting light away from Earth's surface. As the Arctic continues to melt, global warming will advance even more quickly. For more information or to take action click here.
There are a total of 256 species that are listed by the Scientific Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) as being extinct, extirpated, endangered, threatened or vulnerable. In Canada environmental degradation is widespread. For more detailed information about the state of Canada's environment see the WWF's Canadian Living Planet Report
A comparison of the environmental platforms of the four national parties in Canada reveals that the Conservatives are the worst choice for the environment. In 2008 they laughed at Dion's Green Shift platform and we have had ample opportunity to see them put their environmental disregard into action.
Contrary to the traditional view, Conservatives are not the party for the economy either. Their lack of action on the environment undermines Canada's international competitiveness and this is a high priority economic issue.
By voting strategically, Canadians can make democracy work and perhaps even restore Canada to its rightful role as an environmental leader.
© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.
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Friday, April 8, 2011
Video: Leadnow Interview on CPAC
In this March 3rd 2011 interview, Leadnow co-founders Jamie Biggar and Adam Shedletzsky appear on CPAC's Prime Time Politics. As discussed in the interview, young people are increasingly apolitical, but Leadnow wants to put the power of social media to work to encourage young voters to exercise their democratic rights. Although Leadnow is a nonpartisan organization, their efforts could significantly change the political landscape. As Chantal Hébert, said in Le Devoir, on april 4, 2011, "In Canada, the current Conservative Party would have much less chance of coming back to power and almost no chance of winning a majority if the youngest portion of the electorate voted in large numbers on May 2."
© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.
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Thursday, April 7, 2011
Leadnow: Voting for Change in Canada
Leadnow is a grassroots movement that seeks to bring Canadians together to hold politicians accountable and take action for a cleaner future. Leadnow is Canada’s embryonic answer to Moveon.org, the US site that helped put Barack Obama in the White House in 2008.
In Leadnow's online surveys, thousands of Canadians are ranking the environment as the issue they most care about. According to these surveys the environmental issues that are most pressing to Canadians include:
-Establishing climate legislation to meet international and science-based targets
-Putting a price on global warming pollution
-Ending subsidies to fossil fuel companies
-Investing in renewable energy, energy efficiency and home retrofits
-Investing in creating sustainable economies in resource dependent communities
-Investing in public transportation and rail networks
-Protecting half of Canada's wild land and ocean areas
Using the revolutionary power of social media, the non-partisan site leadnow fights against voter apathy and generates debate about national values. At their site, users can rank policy issues, then pledge support to the party leader who conforms to the values of Canadians.
According to Leadnow, it's time to work together for change to combat toxic politics and divisions that are holding Canada back and hurting Canadians and the planet.
According to former Clerk of the Privy Council Alex Himelfarb, Leadnow.ca is exactly what Canada needs. “Leadnow addresses what has arguably been an infrastructure deficit: they provide the much needed opportunity to work with others from every region and sector of the country, to influence the political agenda by defining the Canada we want based on environmental stewardship, equality and justice," Himelfarb said.
“Our federal government is dividing us, damaging our democracy and failing to address the major challenges that face our country,” said Jamie Biggar, co-founder and Executive Director of Leadnow.ca. “Whether we’re talking about the lack of action for our environment, the unequal economic recovery, or the erosion of democratic values – this government is failing to take action on the issues that matter to Canadians. It’s time we work together for change.”
Canadians are coming together in support of political cooperation. Canadians are creating the Declaration for Change—a call for politicians to work together for progress on the major challenges facing our country.
A nationwide event took place from March 6-12, 2011, it was titled (Re)Generation: Voices for Canada. Canadians from across the country participated in face-to-face gatherings to discuss their hopes and ideas for their country and their future. Dozens of Canadian cities hosted events from coast to coast.
Through Leadnow, thousands of Canadians are sharing their values and ideas for Canada and politicians should take notice. The Declaration for Change has identified four major areas: reforming our democracy, protecting our environment, promoting equality and economic opportunity, and improving our systems of care. See the Declaration for Change online values survey.
Many of the people working with Leadnow.ca started organizing in the youth climate movement, and they have participated in many 350 events. They are excited because they know that if Canadians work together, they can change Canadian politics.
Leadnow is enriching Canada's democracy encouraging people to participate in a new kind of politics that asks people to lead. Click here to join the process online, share your views with politicians and see what Canadians want for Canada.
As explained by Jamie Biggar, "Our goal is to create a new way for Canadians to come together online to talk about their hopes and priorities for the country and create a really strong voice that's going to be heard in Ottawa. Today is the beginning of a new type of politics in Canada. We will no longer wait to be told who and what we should vote for. Leadnow.ca will enable people to take politics into their own hands - by coming together around shared values, and telling our politicians what they can do to earn our vote...We will be a united force in the next election, strengthening the voices of thousands of Canadians who want a different type of politics in Ottawa.”
See Leadnow on Facebook or follow them on Twitter. For more information, contact: Jamie Biggar, Co-Founder & Executive Director (jamie@leadnow.ca, 778-847-8205 - Vancouver) or Adam Shedletzky, Co-Founder (adam@leadnow.ca, 647-213-6591 - Toronto).
© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.
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Tuesday, February 24, 2009
A Sustainable World Order
Green is not a new movement, although buried under a mountain of cynical conspiracy theories, many of the logistics for a sustainable world order have been around for more than a decade.The current economic hardships serve as a catalyst for change. According to William E. Halal, professor emeritus of science, technology and innovation at George Washington University, "the normal level of social resistance and political stalemate is likely to oppose change. Thus, it may take an occasional environmental collapse, global wars and terrorism, or yet unknown calamities to force the move to global consciousness...Even with the turmoil that is sure to follow, this will mark the serious beginning of a unified global intelligence - a fine web of conscious thought directing life on the planet." [1]
Despite the current Conservative government, Canadians have a proud heritage of environmental leadership. Before the dawn of the 21st century Canadians were actively exploring global interdependence and strategies for greater global cooperation. A cynical article entitled "A New World Agenda," written 10 years ago, follows the work of United Nations reformer, Canadian Maurice Strong. He chaired a task force that revealed that the post-cold war period has "become nothing less than a global experiment in international development." [2] He went on to say, Canada "is in a position to make a unique contribution...by committing itself to be a model of sustainable development...It offers the prospect of uniting Canadians behind a new vision of their own future and a new generation of leadership internationally." [3]
As former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien once said, "We are one world. We in Canada feel this deeply. Responsible international citizenship is one of our proudest shared values. And the place we exercise that responsible citizenship is in multilateral organizations the town hall meetings of the world community." [4]
Here is a condensed summary of Canada's past environmental efforts as the planetary meeting ground and sponsor for major sustainable development events.
- Canada co-sponsored the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (the first Earth Conference) held in Stockholm, Sweden.
-The World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), producer of the influential report Our Common Future, convened a special meeting in Ottawa, Ontario in 1986. At this WCED meeting, the idea of a "world conservation bank" was forwarded. The WCED was the key organization promoting the term "sustainable development" in the late 1980's.
-The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer formatted international rules to combat "global warming" and was adopted in Montreal, Quebec.
-The World Environment Energy and Economic Conference (WEEEC) hosted by the Manitoba provincial government and held in Winnipeg in October, 1990. It was attended by over 3000 delegates from around the globe, it's official theme was "Sustainable Development Strategies and the New World Order." [13]
-Canada played an influential role at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. Maurice Strong acting as the summit's Secretary-Gerneral.
-The creation of The Earth Council, which is headquartered in Costa Rica. Led by Mr. Strong, The Earth Council [drafted] the global Earth Charter -- a new world-wide Green constitution. [5]
In the words of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, "Canada [was] at the forefront of efforts to ensure that the United Nations is prepared for the challenges of the future." [6] Consider the following quotes from a 1992 meeting of the Canadian Council for International Co-operation.
"We need a unified one world order to replace the collectivity of nation states at the international level. The Euro-American model which now dominates the world systematically disables people, destroys the earth and creates dependency on wage labour." [8]
"In this model, politics loses its left-versus-right conflict and moves instead towards a fundamental concern for the health of the ecosystem...Democracy remains a need within this model, at both local and global levels, but as one part of the whole system. "Participation" becomes more than people's physical presence and deepens to contain a cultural and spiritual dimension...To implement these concepts, we start with bringing the community together and look at the land resources available. We decide how we want the community to evolve and decide who has control of the resources." [9]
Likewise, the following statement from the Canadian federal government to the United Nations contains a similar thread -- a sustainable world order based on complete world management.
"Canada believes the establishment of an international financial and economic system that is conducive to sustainable development must be a cornerstone of efforts to implement Agenda 21. Canada strongly supports efforts to reform international organizations to ensure effectiveness and efficiency in the promotion of global sustainable development." [10]
[An] international tax on world monetary transactions, known as the Tobin tax...would be "a feasible part of a new world order and new world vision," as stated by Lorne Nystrom, member of the Canadian House of Commons. [11] "If there were a 0.1% Tobin tax on foreign currency transactions, that would raise, in 1995 dollars, $176 billion U.S. A Tobin tax of 0.003% would be enough money to fund United Nations peacekeeping around the world. One of the consequences would be the establishment of a global village which would have a common good amongst the nations of the world. There would be a strengthening of international organizations. The United Nations would become a meaningful world government. There could be permanent international peacekeeping forces. There are many things that could be done. How would this be implemented? There are a number of ways of doing it. The International Monetary Fund could be reformed to do it or the World Bank could be reformed to do it. [Or we could create] a new international financial agency to administer the Tobin tax. National governments would collect the tax around the world." [12]
The introduction to the WEEEC's final report [contained] the revolutionary concept of Sustainable Development Strategies as the New World Agenda." [14] The forward to the report explained, "sustainable development principles that will affect policies, plans and the direction of programs in the coming years on a global scale." [15]
Chisman and Holbrook further explained the importance of education, "The overall strategy is to design courses so as to prepare for a 'sustainable development' literate society." [17] [Here we are talking about] the concept of sustainable education, [and] the importance of global "values" for education, including "population control and support," "intercultural tolerance," "the transfer of appropriate technology," and "environmental literacy." [18] The WEEEC educational platform [also included a] presentation on creating a "Global Green Constitution," or "a global perestroika," it was explained that this "revolutionary" global green political machine would encompass a form of "human rights." [19]
The concept of framing a global "green" constitution was directly linked to national education contributions aimed at furthering this new world agenda. As explained in the report, uncooperative nations would not be tolerated.
"[G]reen governments will oppose any culture if it proves to be prejudicial by means of gender, age, colour, race, religion, belief, sexual orientation, mental or physical condition, marital status, family composition, source of income, political belief, nationality, language preference or place of origin." [20]
"Eventually, a public referendum would be held in each nation state with the objective of obtaining a simple majority in favour of enshrining a Global Green Constitution....Every nation's government would ultimately be a signator to the Global Green Constitution. Obligation to do so would come from grass roots pressure within democratic societies. Less democratic nations or dictatorships would be brought on side through sanctions." [21]
"The question is how do we achieve binding agreements in Law complete with effective programs for applying sanctions against non-compliance that would oblige each nation, regardless of size, to abide by a set of principles that are required to guarantee the survival of life on this earth. Perhaps we will find that there is no other alternative to a system of rigid controls that some would equate to a police state. Unfortunately, in order to save the planet from biocide, there have to be very powerful constraints from doing the 'wrong' things. The constraints must transcend national boundaries, be world-around and enforceable. There would be a need for an agency for preventing eco-vandals from acting unilaterally. Enforcement agencies would need the power to act without being invited by the offending nation. Therefore, there needs to be an agency that is acceptable to all nation states on the planet. We can probably accept the fact that there will always be one or more nations that will not go along but there must be effective sanctions in place. If sanctions do not work, then physical occupation and the installation of a World Trusteeship would be imposed upon the offending nations." [22]
As former Prime Minister Jean Chretian said, the United Nations is "the centre piece of Canadian foreign policy." [23] However the author of worries "that this foreign policy, this promotion of "global order," is taking North America down the fast track to international socialism. Hidden under the guise of sustainable development, our two nations are trading freedom for a draconian world agenda."
The idea of a world government animates the ghosts of the cold war and inspires the conspiratorial musings of anarchists. But these sinister allegations should be taken as seriously as a man in a monkey suit passing for Sasquatch. That is not to say that we can afford to leave our democracies to our elected officials, quite the contrary, we need to be ever vigilant, for where there is power, there is also room for corruption. But the pressing need for international cooperation demands that we develop frameworks within which we can assume our respective environmental and social responsibilities.
As British PM Gordon Brown said, “This crisis demonstrates beyond doubt that a global capital market requires much stronger global cooperation and supervision. And we need to ensure that we have an effective global early warning system to alert us across continents to economic and financial risk.” [24]
Recession and global warming are the defining crises of our time and these issues are powerful justifications for a system of world governance. As stated by Halal, "Some new form of global order is needed to avert disaster." A sustainable world order is a pragmatic corollary of our efforts to manage the global environment.[25]
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