tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91796002024-03-07T17:52:13.261-05:00Queer Thoughts<p>Politics and justice for all of us</p>rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17824176585273550263noreply@blogger.comBlogger1397125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9179600.post-83503876078563375342016-10-20T09:09:00.000-04:002016-10-20T09:09:30.732-04:00Donald Trump is JesusTwist yourselves into knots over this.
I for one agree with most of what Jesus is supposed to have said about looking after the poor, hospitality for the stranger.
It's always a dilemma, are we doing enough to look out for the poor, for our veterans, for our grandparents? The answer is no for many of us. So when catastrophe happens in places like Syria and people are in far more rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17824176585273550263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9179600.post-78273166766216459522016-10-18T13:08:00.000-04:002016-10-18T13:08:49.283-04:00Why Donald Trump scares me
Hate does a lot of harm. It kills. This could have been me, it could have been you.
A new election ad is out and it takes aim at the hate being generated by Donald Trump and his campaign. It's below.'
Judy Shepard, whose son Matthew was murdered in the horrific 1998 Laramie, Wyoming hate crime which brought anti-LGBT violence to the attention of the nation, speaks out against Donald Trump rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17824176585273550263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9179600.post-41433611220345421832016-10-13T15:20:00.001-04:002016-10-13T15:20:28.180-04:00We have to be afraid again...You have to be afraid again. That's how it's become. Politicians and Conservative preachers are spreading the hate.
In elections, especially in this US election cycle the politics of division are being used to drive voters to the polls.
How does that work? In the US if you're a Republican you have a subset of supporters that make up a minority of the population. You want them to vote because ifrickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17824176585273550263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9179600.post-40611603450422563802015-03-10T01:18:00.000-04:002015-03-10T01:18:25.089-04:00None is too ManyI tuned into Justin Trudeau's speech last night, like many to hear what he had to say about Liberty and the Politics of Fear. I expected he would largely ignore the NDP in the speech and target Harper and the Conservatives and that was what we got.
All day the Liberal party has been pumping up the speech, Liberty and the Politics of Fear. Trudeau provided a little bit of history, praised rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17824176585273550263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9179600.post-69296481665690226752015-03-09T08:30:00.000-04:002015-03-09T08:30:03.192-04:00UofT prevents me from attending 'The Laramie Project'
Teaching Assistants are on strike at the University of Toronto. They are underpaid, under appreciated, and under estimated by the administration of #UofT. I was astounded to learn how little these people made and how much the University actually depends on them.
You can learn more about the TA'S fight for a fair deal here
No bargaining dates set
University of rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17824176585273550263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9179600.post-36802524287623139882015-02-26T13:36:00.005-05:002015-02-26T13:36:55.639-05:00Save the CBC TV ad rejected by CBC
This ad was rejected for broadcast on CBC. The non-profit group, Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, have created an ad highly critical of Stephen Harper's government.
Will we ever see it on television?
Please share it widely.
The Man Behind The Desk EN - 60 sec from Friends of Canadian Broadcasting on Vimeo.
http://www.friends.ca/freethecbc/ -- Take action now to rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17824176585273550263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9179600.post-62704243869777451972015-02-25T14:34:00.003-05:002019-11-26T16:16:59.829-05:00"It Gets Better", and some don't make it out of the dungeon.
Me at 8 years. I made it.
Many don't.
I am pleased the Ontario government is going to implement the new health and physical education curriculum. As I stated in this post, it's long overdue and very much needed. Dammit Janet does a good piece here.
I have been passionate about this since I was a kid in high school, trying to figure my way forward. I knew I was different from graderickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17824176585273550263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9179600.post-17761203725975766612015-02-23T14:38:00.001-05:002015-02-23T14:38:21.995-05:00It's Education, Not Dirty Talk
Ontario will get it's long awaited revamp to the "health and physical education curriculum for grades 1 - 12. The changes are long overdue and expected to be well received by most in Ontario. I am very pleased to see these changes. Kudos Premier Wynne.
The Minister of Education, Liz Sandals vowed this morning that this will be the curriculum ...
The minister promising not to back down is a rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17824176585273550263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9179600.post-32319194546426755792014-09-10T16:51:00.002-04:002014-09-10T16:51:47.174-04:00If you pass this bill, I'm going to make you forget about Mike Duffy
Terri-Jean Bedford
"If you pass this bill, I'm going to make you forget about Mike Duffy,"
- dominatrix Terri-Jean Bedford
Bedford made the statement as she was sent from today's senate committee hearings into Bill C-36. It seems the one person successful in getting the court to overturn Canada's prostitution law wasn't going to be given a second more than her allotted time to addressrickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17824176585273550263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9179600.post-6716526380532713202014-09-10T16:25:00.000-04:002014-09-10T16:25:38.214-04:00BCED strike a result of Christy Clark's Vendetta against the BCTFBC workers are sticking together. Today the BC Federation of Labour and it's affiliates came up
BC Fed give $8 million to BCTF
with eight million dollars to support the BC Teachers who are on strike in BC. The BC Nurses Union separately donated $500,000. The BC Government has been especially nasty in this dispute, having lost in the courts twice now and waiting for an appeal which they rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17824176585273550263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9179600.post-42752242541940138702014-09-10T13:26:00.002-04:002014-09-10T13:26:47.189-04:00John Tory will implement Ford, Hudak and Harper's agendasThe ballot issue in Toronto has been defined as anyone but Rob Ford. Ford has embarrassed us all. He was unfit for the job and no one wants it too happen again. It's not just Ford's antics, drugs and friends that were bad for Toronto however. He is a right wingers dream. Recall he was part of the Conservative trifecta, Harper, Hudak, and Ford. A group that current mayoral candidate John rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17824176585273550263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9179600.post-10937847870439789972014-09-09T12:32:00.000-04:002014-09-09T12:32:11.639-04:00Liberals Assault on Public EducationBC's public education system is facing a major assault from BC's own government. The Liberal government has decided to create a catastrophe in order that they may take more draconian steps to put teachers in their place. It's play right out of the playbook of the republicans in North Carolina, where once they had a great system, until the government there decided to turn as much rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17824176585273550263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9179600.post-66202297114691574052014-06-02T14:35:00.000-04:002014-06-02T14:35:27.505-04:00The NDP - Big step reaching out to new voters
Andrea Horwath has abandoned NDP principles for self serving reasons, like getting elected. I hear this, see it online and its the main stream media primary talking point. Is it true?
Some background...
The NDP in Ontario after Bob Rae was a basket case. They lost the support of major union leaders and all but the most dedicated lefties stuck with them. The Conservatives won rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17824176585273550263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9179600.post-68994756405613815492014-05-29T15:28:00.000-04:002014-05-29T15:36:31.846-04:00 Ontario Liberal Maid scandalYou may have heard about the Ontario Liberal Maid scandal. It seems three Liberal Cabinet Ministers and a lot of Officials in the Liberal govt received free maid service from a company that then over billed the government for other services to make up for the free service.
Rick Bartolucci
Harinder Takhar
The Ontario NDP asked Premier Wynne to tell us who the three rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17824176585273550263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9179600.post-9819053530045576532014-05-29T15:09:00.001-04:002014-05-29T15:09:36.575-04:00Fake protestors, Fake Twitter; what's next from Ontario LiberalsFrom faking NDP members at an Andrea Horwath campaign event to faking grassroots support via astroturfing on twitter, the Liberals are proving they haven't changed under Kathleen Wynne. The astroturfing was uncovered by the Ontario NDP. The campaign was designed to show grassroots support for new taxes, in all it cost us $999,99.00.
New documents show the Liberals directed high-priced rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17824176585273550263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9179600.post-51264771757215530522014-05-28T13:44:00.000-04:002019-11-12T22:12:52.619-05:005 Cheques in all, the fifth being a Govt of Canada cheque in the amount of $1,700.
Fontana, former Liberal MP and a big player within the Ontario Liberal Party is in the middle of his fraud trial in London. This little bit of information is interesting;
The total owing for the wedding was $18,900, DiPietro testified – the amount minus the $1,700 deposit. He received $8,630 from the bride’s parents, $5,000 from Fontana, $3,570 from Fontana’s mother.
Records seized from rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17824176585273550263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9179600.post-74723250799260990512014-05-28T13:21:00.002-04:002014-05-28T13:23:42.584-04:00"In your 18 years as an MP, how many documents did you falsify?"
London Ontario Mayor, Joe Fontana, a prominent Ontario Liberal, is in court today, facing fraud charges for allegedly submitting an invoice, which was doctored, for payment to the House of Commons. The Crown suggests Fontana billed the House of Commons for his Son's wedding.
Last week as you see here, Liberal leader Kathleen Wynne is seen here shaking Mayor Fontana's hand during rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17824176585273550263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9179600.post-26871189131552905402014-05-21T15:24:00.001-04:002014-05-21T15:26:41.576-04:00Right wing populist? Andrea Horwath? Andrea Horwath is running to the right of the Liberals? Well if you believe the Liberals, the Toronto Star and some of my bestest lefty friends, this happened. Say it isn't so...
It isn't so...
First there was the minimum wage spat. The labour movement and poverty activists had been running a campaign to raise the wage to $14 per hour. A lofty and worthwhile goal. Wynne couldn't decide rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17824176585273550263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9179600.post-34355452810865431242014-05-21T15:16:00.000-04:002014-05-21T15:17:29.668-04:00Arthur Potts is the Liberals Progressive alternative to Michael Prue This is the Liberals Progressive alternative to Michael Prue. It's kinda sad...
&rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17824176585273550263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9179600.post-64252384814293578612014-05-21T12:07:00.002-04:002014-05-21T12:10:50.166-04:00Ontario Election: Why now?We're well into the Ontario Election. The minority Liberal government lasted two and a half years, a long time by any standard. The discourse among non Tim Hudak supporters has been to stop him. The oft named progressives are being sought after by both the Liberals and the NDP. That's where I begin...
In the quest for the elusive progressive voter the Liberals are championing their budgetrickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17824176585273550263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9179600.post-54641124510125175332014-03-21T14:33:00.001-04:002014-03-21T14:37:15.686-04:002013's Best Social Media CampaignThe story behind a gigantic social media success and how LGBT and other social activists can use social media!
You might not know Anastasia Khoo by name, but you've probably seen her work.
Last year, millions of Facebook users changed their profile pictures to a red "equals" logo to support the campaign calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to rule in favour of marriage equality.
rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17824176585273550263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9179600.post-23741283116074704302014-02-11T12:02:00.001-05:002014-02-11T12:02:48.384-05:00Harper and Kenny use TFW to displace Canadian WorkersTemporary Foreign Workers (TFW) program is being used to displace Canadians with much cheaper foreign workers. Pacer Promec Joint Venture in the Alberta Oil Sands fired its crew of union workers on February 4th and replaced them with workers from Croatia.
These workers are being paid half of what the Canadians were being paid.
When this came to light of the media, the company said it rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17824176585273550263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9179600.post-15343563841340631382014-02-06T14:25:00.001-05:002019-11-12T22:14:50.275-05:00Ontario Liberal's Misinformation - Campaign ad misses the contextThe minimum wage battle goes on in Ontario. Recently the Liberal government agreed to raise the wage to $11.00 per hour and plan to bring in legislation to index it to inflation. There is little need to know that Kathleen Wynne and the Liberals are trying to make hay out of this. They have in fact ensured that those receiving minimum wage will remain below the poverty line, rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17824176585273550263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9179600.post-57242694167882125692014-02-04T02:03:00.000-05:002014-02-04T02:03:07.567-05:00IOC Dick Pound says, At least in Russia you aren't put to death for being gayCanadian and IOC member Dick Pound in an article published by Metro, equates violence against gay men in Russia to lack of gay marriage in some states in the United States. He did that, Pound also suggests that you wont be put to death in Russia like you would be Malaysia.
Dick Pound IOC Member
“In Malaysia, you can be put to death. In Nigeria, you can be put in jail for Godrickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17824176585273550263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9179600.post-56861306291500179482014-02-04T01:18:00.003-05:002014-02-04T01:18:23.040-05:00Gay Men Beaten on Camera - Russia (Graphic Violence)
This is happening in Russia. Gay people are routinely attacked, beaten, humiliated and worse. The video below is very harsh. It includes a portion of a video posted to Russian social media of a gay man after a beating, being forced to rape himself with a bottle.
Warning: Graphic violence
The reality in Russia today, these neo-facists are well organized. They can attack gay men with rickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17824176585273550263noreply@blogger.com0