The News Bastards

Author: Bill M.
It seems that the world is always heading, rather quickly, to hell in hard and shallow handbaskets.  The major media outlets have kept our eyes glued to the latest of these in the form of oil spewing out of the Gulf of Mexico, the pissed off proletariat in Greece flailing molotov cocktails into riot shields, and Eminem's new single. 

In this atmosphere we often find ourselves exhausted by the world's problems before we even get to work in the morning.  It become difficult to question the validity of privatizing Ontario's water distribution system, understanding how new copyright laws may affect us, or even the passive condoning of child abuse.

Many of those sometimes depressing, yet crucial bits of information about the fabric of our society go unnoticed as we try and stay abreast of all the world's issues and challenges.  As I surf the net in search of intelligent banter I often come across some pretty interesting stuff.  In addition to the articles referenced above I'd like to present what I'd like to call:  This Month's Bastards.

The following articles are those that seem to never hit page one of the major media outlets but are nevertheless deemed important by our staff.  Always the bridesmaid, never the bride - or in this case: always the bastards.

Bastard #1:  I found this article on the website for the Canadian Council on Social Development.  Although some people may shudder when they hear the word "poverty", this report by the group Canadians for Public Justice outlines how the recent recession has affected Canadians.  If nothing else it begs the question:  How are we going to deal with this when the government has already raised taxes (HST for some provinces) and public sector jobs are being cut?

Does this make you mad?  Do something about it here.  Because our politicians certainly aren't.

Bastard #2:  Everyone was cheering for democracy winning the day in parliament - but why did it even get to such a point?  I may be kicking a dead horse here, but where the fuck was democracy when parliament was prorogued?  And why did it take so long for the speaker to come to the conclusion that the parties should work together?

Does this make you angry?  Do something about it here.

Bastard #3:  If the stuff up top doesn't make you want to vomit just a little bit then take a look at this.  Erik Prince, the mastermind of the modern day Private Military Corporation (PMC) is usually pretty secretive when it comes to his strategy and opinions.  In this rare transcript of a speech he gave recently he says some pretty interesting things: including some bits of praise for the Canadians fighting and dying in Afghanistan.  Did you know that Canada uses Blackwater (the above mentioned PMC) to train some of its soldiers?

If this pisses you off, click here.

That's all for this week's bastards.  Be sure to check the rest of the articles in this issue and, if you're feeling motivated, click here to be added to our contact list.