Some use it to encompass all non-heterosexual, non-cisgender identities. That’s an understandable use of the term – like I mentioned, I interpret it to be partially about giving space for exploring gender and sexuality, and including so many different groups of people demands that space, demands a challenge to stability. Certainly a wide variety of non-heterosexual, non-cisgender folks are queer.
But though queer might cover some part of that spectrum, it is not limited to it. I am not gay nor lesbian nor bisexual nor transgender. I am not anything other than just queer.
There are people who some of you might call straight, if you looked at them and their partners and impose genders onto them, but who are actually queer. And many gay, lesbian, and transgender individuals do not identify as queer.
Like plenty of the names marginalized people call themselves, queer has a fraught history of reclamation, many controversial political implications, and a universalizing aspect that is too contradictory for some.
Adrian Ballou is a Contributing Writer for Everyday Feminism. A genderqueer writer, artist, activist, and educator who does youth development work both inside and outside the classroom, they particularly enjoy writing and facilitating social justice education and youth organizing curriculum.
A part of the ongoing public discussion over what can be done as traditional news media are weakened in their ability to do public interest journalism. The answer, according to CBC executives, is: Let’s have more CBC! But the solution to the disrupted news media scene in Canada is not for taxpayers to shell out more to a public provider of news, no matter how high-quality or how high-minded.
The CBC has rapidly become the 800-pound gorilla in news media in many communities across Canada, not just because of its own increased resources but also because of reduced revenues at private media outlets. The result is a distortion of the marketplace that undermines the ability of private firms to transition and to continue to report the very same news and information that CBC executives say it should be publicly funded to provide.
Over the past year, the Winnipeg Free Press has found itself in bidding wars with the local CBC station trying to hire away reporters and editors from the newspaper. The journalists were hired not to do innovative work that was not being done by private media, but rather to report on areas like city hall, the very beats that they covered for the newspaper.
These weren’t journalists shed by indiscriminate layoffs. They were the most valuable resources the paper had in its continued comprehensive coverage of Winnipeg, and the paper had spent considerable money over the years developing their knowledge and skills. In most cases, the CBC won, offering greater security backed by taxpayer funding.
Bob Cox is publisher of the Winnipeg Free Press, also responsible for the Brandon Sun and eight community newspapers in Manitoba. He is currently chair of News Media Canada, the association representing daily and community newspapers across the country.
(Note: The CBC, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, is funded in a large part by the government of Canada. Total funding when adding some advertising revenue and cable subscriptions is almost $1.6 billion per year. The government portion is $1.1 billion of the total.
At this point the funding gets very hazy. The CBC will broadcast a special program produced by someone in Canada. Costs related to the program are not included, except for royalties paid, in the overall CBC cost. In almost every case the extra programs receive their funding from several government fully funded sources. Government funded Canada Council for the Arts is one of the big players especially for those who know the application process. The recent Liberal government budget allocated $1.9 billion to it an various other arts funding.)
The space travel veteran said in Berlin that the space research conducted over the past 60 years has shown that people face a larger task than the conquest of space: namely, preserving nature on earth.
His point of view was supported by German astronauts Sigmund Jähn and Thomas Reiter.
“If you look down from there on our beautiful planet, you are thrilled by its beauty, on the one hand. But on the other, you are frightened how vulnerable our planet is. And you become very thoughtful when you fly over these many regions where conflicts take place,” Reiter said.
“If we continue this way, we will destroy the ground for the future of the mankind,” Jähn said. “We must understand that any stupid things and crimes that we are doing with our small earth does not go unpunished. So, it is time to protect the earth!” the cosmonaut concluded.
President Putin with the elected representatives, turned the economy of Russia around, to give Russia back to the people of Russia. The middle class appeared by 2004 and continues to increase to this day. Over 30% of the Russian population is now middle class while the west sinks into poverty. Unemployment is very low so Russia is being careful on immigration. Very little of what he and the elected Duma and Senate have done is told to the western audience. While the west continues to spend trillions on war Russia built a rapid rail system between Moscow and St. Petersburg. A nine hour trip now takes under three environmentally friendly hours.
The age of Empire ended with the decline of the Roman Empire between 400 to 700 C.E. (Common Era)
The vast trade routes of Rome extended to China, India, Africa and Europe. An Empire expands into unknown territories and the Roman Empire did so over more than a 1500 years.
“There was but one Rome: no other city, either of ancient or modern times, has ever rivaled this astonishing metropolis in the grandeur of magnitude; and not many—if we except the cities of Greece, none at all—in the grandeur of architectural display.
Among empires: the Persians, the Spanish, French and British cannot but be admired as prodigious growths out of so small a stem. There was but one Rome: no other city, as we are satisfied by the collation of many facts, either of ancient or modern times, has ever rivaled Rome. The earth had its prerogative city and that city was Rome.
Power is measured by resistance. Upon such a scale, if it were applied with skill, the relations of greatness in Rome to the greatest of all that has gone before her, and has yet come after her, would first be adequately revealed. Since that era no land, no part and parcel of the Roman empire, has ever risen into strength and opulence, except where unusual artificial industry has availed to counteract the tendencies of nature.” Thomas de Quincey
How is Your World?
Do you wonder how long it will take for the populist media to mention unemployment or under-employment? Did you receive an increase in pay from your employer during the past two years? Have you noticed how the food industry has reduced the size of the package and increased the cost of food?
When the media writes a story about food or price increases they use the term average price. Average is taking all of the prices over a time frame and dividing it. Only the median price or cost lets you see how many dollars are removed from your budget to cover the increase. It is deceit on the part of the media to leave out the details.
The Truth or Not is in the Wording
Some believe we are in an age of information made simple with electronic devices. I would agree we have improved on a rapidly moving technology. How many people look at their mobile device and think of it as a hand-held computer? Here is the result of a search for the most favored apps being used from the Google Play store.
It doesn’t appear as though many people are using a dictionary in that group. We certainly have no desire to ruin their day by teaching them to understand the meaning of words. Let’s look at another group from Google Play rated as the most used apps.
This group definitely sees no need to learn how to spell or understand composition. Say what you want to say in a myriad of characters and gain fans, friends and followers. Whatever you do keep it short and use one syllable words since very few people read or know how to read an article. The trick to raising your totals on most of these most used website apps is by posting a nude or semi-nude photo.
When you get into an argument with a know-it-all you can get rid of the person with a quick photo such as the one below. The person in this case retorted with “that’s not Moscow..!!” For over 15 years and counting Russia bolted forward while the populist media kept silent. Moscow became a financial hub bringing with it good paying employment, massive reconstruction, a space program second to no one and a rising middle class.
The sanctions placed on Russia go far beyond the Ukraine or Crimea. They were meant to slow down the billions of dollars flowing into Russia as a sound investment. There was a slight pause by investors for almost three or so months.
The Facts Please
Let’s be reasonable with the knowledge the cold war ended when the Berlin Wall came tumbling down in 1989. Followed closely by the wall in Berlin the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) began to unravel. Each of the former states within the USSR, including Russia, began to feel freedom for the first time since 1917. (some countries were pulled into the Soviet sphere after WW II)
A marvelous writer wrote an article from an American perspective about the cold war. I re-blogged it a few weeks ago. As the communist Soviet Union came undone I was happy there were no longer Russian boggy men waiting to take my life. Now as the years pass I realize it was all a fabrication of lies to instill fear rather than peace in my life. For whatever reason, the US and its’ NATO allies, need an enemy to create a society for the very wealthy. As for the rest of us there are food banks, poverty, drugs and some food stamps.
We are not Equal in the Eyes of the Wealthiest
This article began by saying a few words about the Roman Empire. Seldom seen in the movies or documentaries are the lives of the slaves. We see the brave Senators while hearing the words of the largest land owners. They are in fact the same people. Rome was built on the backs of the slaves in the same way many western nations were built. A woman had no rights being considered unequal in the eyes of the men who wrote the rules. Simply read the biblical words men wrote on how a proper slave may be worthy of salvation. Why do you allow anyone to fill you with fear by placing themselves in the lofty position over you?
The media moguls should know when the cold war ended the so-called leader of the free world vanished too. Isn’t it odd the media repeats the free world lie while articles about our environment disappear? Follow the money trail whenever you read, listen to, or watch their trail of fear, lies and lack of imagination.
Enjoy Life
“The international community should have learned from the past lessons. The historical parallels in this case are undeniable. Unwillingness to join forces against Nazism in the 20th century cost us millions of lives in the bloodiest world war in human history. If they expected a nervous or hysterical reaction from us, if they wanted to see us become a danger to ourselves as much as to the world, they won’t get it. They won’t get any response meant for show or even for immediate political gain. They won’t get it..” Vladimir Putin Dec. 2, 2016
They didn’t get it nor do they understand.
Thank you for the Music – Freddie was our Friend too
Image from my library – camping in a wilderness area with friends
Lesson One
We will begin with a few simple facts hidden from you by our governments. You are currently being misled into a campaign of hate by the media meant to derail honest discussions. The western media in particular have side-tracked important issues concerning our future.
Let’s get into lesson one about Propaganda
How many vehicles do you own? How many kilometers do you drive per year and what is the cost of your fuel consumption?
Developers are building what I call mini-castles as a family home. Do you need 7 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms? You might find room to plant a flower beside the 2 or 3 car garage.
The best calculator I was able to find is from The National Geographic website. It gives you a glance at your foot print on our planet.
Give it a try since it is one of the few things really free on the Internet. Everything else is cluttered with ways to save money by spending it called advertising.
This ends lesson one on how propaganda is used every day.
We can be thankful for the elected Parliamentary style government in the nation’s capital Ottawa. A parliamentary style government is the most common one used world wide.
Thankfully we do not have to put up with a circus even close to what is happening in the United States. (please bring back your Constitution and get rid of the Patriot Act)
Our Prime Minister is hand picked by fulling paid up members from a Party. Whichever party wins a majority the leader becomes the Prime Minister. The flaw in the system is having a government in office with less than 40% of the votes. We could rectify it by allowing proportional representation although I am doubtful it will happen. Canada also has a few elected members of Parliament who remain Independent. Most of it comprises of Liberals, New Democrats, Conservatives, Green Party and Bloc Québécois.
I see the unelected Senate in Canada as a deporable group of political party appointees having one thing in common. They paid into a political party and are handed a highly paid position with an elaborate pension. Many need to be flown into the country from their homes in Bermuda, or elsewhere, simply to cast a vote in the Senate.
India is a shining example of a nation who ridded itself of a Senate along with connections to the monarchy. (The United States did a beautiful job of sending the monarchy for a long walk off a short cliff). Every member of the two Houses in India are elected as it should be in any country calling itself democratic.
Canada’s government for reasons unknown to Canadians, continues to give its loyalty and Oath of Allegiance, to the Queen of England. Any person working for the Federal and Provincial governments must give thier oath to the same foreigner. Elected Provincial governments must also bow to monarchy when they give their Oath of Allegiance. The evidence is on Canadian currency and behind the judge in a court of law.
We hear the politicians talk about transperancy and openness every time they are front of a camera. In the truest sense of the word transperancy Canadians would know exactly what the government is doing. It would also mean the various governments would let the people know where every dollar is being spent. Cities would no longer spend federal and provincial funds on projects meant to satisfy their egos. Any association or company recieving funds from the Federal and Provincial governments would be accountable.
What’s the point of saying you are accountable when clear cut accounting is not available for Canadians to see? It’s all too easy for politicians to hide behind the Oath given to the Queen of England.
Scattered geniously into the mix is a myriad of appointees, paid up political hacks, sitting on 1000s of committees.
When Canada elects a true reformer the task will be to eliminate the governor general, lieutenant governors, senate and bring the Oath of Alligence up to date.
New Oath of Allegiance
I, do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Canada, the Constitution and Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
For those who break and/or breech the Charter daily feel free to leave Canada permanently.
The planet could pass the critical 1.5°C global temperature threshold in a decade—and is already two-thirds of the way to hit that warming limit, climate scientists warned on Thursday.Speaking at a University of Oxford conference this week, led by leading U.K. climate researcher Richard Betts, scientists said global greenhouse gas emissions are not likely to slow down quickly enough to avoid passing the 1.5°C target.
We all know the governments of the West, lead by the US and the UK, have turned against Russia. There are many reasons offered by our media: Russia tried to stop the Ukraine from joining the EU. Russia helped the pro-Russian rebels shoot down MH-17. Russia invaded the Crimea illegally. Thousands of Russian troops and tanks are fighting in the Ukraine. Some of us think these claims are war propaganda for the citizens of the West used to justify sanctions against Russia and increasing military tensions.
The Geo-political Reasons
Less widely discussed but much more important are the Geo-political reasons which look at the areas of conflict between the economic interests of the US and those of Russia and China. At the moment the EU is heavily dependent on energy from Russia. The US would like to stop this. The conflict in the Ukraine is an important part of the process of economically separating the EU from Russia. But there is also a wider agenda. China and Russia lead the BRICS group of countries consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The BRICS countries want to develop a world wide economic system that does not depend the US dollar. They want to be independent of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World bank. China has also suggested to Europe that they join together with Russia and themselves in what they call the New Silk Road, stretching across the whole of Eurasia, from Lisbon to Shanghai. Needless to say there is no immediate place for the US in this plan, so this gives another reason to cut the economic ties between Russia and the EU.
The Secret Reason – The War that Didn’t Happen
While these factors are all important, there is another factor which is never discussed in the Western media. The trigger for the sudden hostility against Russia and Putin can be found in almost unreported events which took place late in August and early September 2013. What happen in that crucial period is that a planned NATO surprise attack on Syria was stopped by Russia. This was probably the first time since WWII that a military attack planned by the West was confronted by sufficient force to require its cancellation. The people in the West will not be told because their belligerent, tough-talking leaders “blinked”. They backed down and decided to change their plans. The new plan: Undermine the Ukraine and seize Crimea for NATO. This obviously didn’t work either, and the mess they created is still with us.
The Planned US-French Attack on Syria
Early in the morning of Saturday, August 31, 2013, an American official called the office of President Hollande telling him to expect a call from Obama later in the day. “Assuming that the evening phone call would announce the commencement of U.S. air strikes (against Syria), Hollande ordered his officers to quickly finalize their own attack plans. Rafale fighters were loaded with Scalp cruise missiles, their pilots told to launch the 250-mile-range munitions while over the Mediterranean.”(1) In other words, at this point in time the French pilots and the US forces were only waiting for the final command from President Obama to begin their attack. However, later that same day, at 6:15 pm, Obama called the French President to tell him that the strike scheduled for 3:00 am, September 1, would not take place as planned. He would need to consult Congress.(2)
Why Did the US Change Plans?
It is difficult for us to know all of the manoeuvres which took place behind the scenes during August and September, 2013, but the final outcome is clear. After years of increasing tensions and threats, the US and its allies decided not to launch a direct attack on Syria as planned. Given the rhetoric and military deployment directed against Syria seemed to follow the script used for Iraq and Libya, there has been little discussion in the West about why the US and its friends suddenly changed their plans. Now with hindsight we can see that this failed direct attack led to an increased indirect attack and the rise of what is know known as ISIS.
Two of the obvious reasons
I can see for this sudden change are not the sort of things the political leaders of the West want to discuss. One is the fact that these wars are very unpopular. As a result of countless lies and failures revealed about the pointless and savage wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, it seems that some of the politicians are listening to their citizens. How else can you explain the unexpected decision of the British Parliament on Thursday, 29 August, to vote against the UK taking part in any strikes on Syria?
The other reason is the extent of the military build-up by Syria, Russia and even China.(9) The Russians and Chinese have not only blocked the US in the Security Council. They “voted” with their military hardware. They are not happy about what the US planned for Syria and made it quite clear that they would use force to stop them. When was the last time the Chinese ever sent warships to the Mediterranean? Russia and China are clearly not happy with the way the US decides to invade one country after another.
While Omar Mateen may have proclaimed allegiance to ISIS prior to unleashing mass murder in Orlando, he is the child of an American culture terminally ill with hatred of the other, and an addiction to guns and lethal violence in which it swims.
Slaughtering 49 people in a nightclub over their sexuality is as barbaric as it gets. It reminds us that bigotry, whether against Muslims, blacks, Jews, gays, or any other minority, is the enemy of all right thinking humanity. Not only on moral grounds but also to ensure we live up to the epic struggles previous generations have waged in crushing ideologies of hate and racism whenever and wherever they have emerged.
Fascism, the most obvious example, was and remains an equal opportunities ideology of hate and genocide. In Hitler’s concentration camps you had Russian Soviet POW’s, Jews, Communists, leftists, trade unionists, gypsies, disabled people and also gays. Predicated on a perverse belief in racial supremacy, the Nazis deemed each of the aforementioned subhuman and their eradication a non-negotiable condition of ‘purifying’ and ‘cleansing’ humanity.
The Nazis were crushed by the Red Army and the Soviet Union at huge cost and with the help from Western allies. Joining in common cause on the understanding that any ideological or cultural differences that existed between them were as nothing compared to the necessity of confronting and defeating an ideology that posed a threat to humanity itself. It is an alliance between East and West that the world is crying out for today when it comes to confronting and defeating ISIS and its various offshoots, groups whose inhumanity and barbarism are fueled by a fascist-like sense of divinely inspired supremacy, though religious rather than racial in their case.
That no such alliance between East and West currently exists when it comes to eradicating ISIS is an indictment of the lack of awareness. This is due to the responsibility and statesmanship prevalent within Western governments and on the part of Western ideologues. Prisoners of a cold war mind set, the West is being led by fools who consider Russia and China pose as much of a threat as ISIS, if not greater. It would be fair to assume that the families and friends of the victims of Omar Mateen would strenuously disagree right now.
The insanity that underpins such a twisted cold war prism is responsible for the absurdity of NATO military exercises being conducted on Russia’s border at the very moment Russian aircraft and servicemen are leading the fight against ISIS in Syria.
Though much is being made of Mateen’s radicalization and pledge of allegiance to ISIS – and of the fact he was investigated by the FBI not once, not twice, but three times without further action taken. He was still able to freely purchase the AR-15 assault rifle he used to carry out his massacre. Less is being made of the selfies that have emerged of Mateen dressed in a T-shirt and sweatshirt emblazoned with the logo of the NYPD (New York Police Department).
Here we arrive at the heart of the matter. For as much as the twisted ideology of hate that fuels ISIS has much to answer for when it comes to this crime, so does the twisted ideology that fuels America’s fixation with violence, power, and domination. A fixation that is reflected in a racist and bigoted law enforcement culture which values the lives of the citizens it exists to protect according to their race and wealth, and which places a priority on shooting first and asking questions later.
Don’t believe me just ask the Native Americans, whose presence and culture was almost completely eradicated from their land in service to white supremacy. Just ask African Americans, whose ancestors suffered centuries of slavery in service to the very same supremacist ideals. Or the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, cities used by psychopaths in suits for the purposes of a live experiment in nuclear destruction? Then we have the people of Korea and Vietnam, of Central and South America, not forgetting most recently the people of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya, all of whom have experienced the harsh reality of American exceptionalism.
Speaking the language of freedom and democracy while destroying societies and countries for the crime of refusing to bend the knee to this exceptionalism has poisoned American culture and society at home. The rank hypocrisy involved in a country proclaiming itself the home of liberty while counting among its closest allies medieval and barbaric states such as Saudi Arabia, where gay people are whipped and worse on regular basis, is reflected in the idiocy of gun laws devised in the 18th century still being considered relevant in the 21st.
(John Wight has written for newspapers and websites across the world, including the Independent, Morning Star, Huffington Post, Counterpunch, London Progressive Journal, and Foreign Policy Journal. He is also a regular commentator on RT and BBC Radio)
Journalism as Art 