2011 Elections: Everything is Possible
April 27th, 2011 Comments Off
The current federal campaign surrounding the upcoming elections (in less than a week already!) has been many times labeled as flavourless by many media outlets. The very minute that parlement was suspended and that the government was out of office, everybody was expecting a repeat of the last federal elections: a month of futile of partisan brawl that would eventually result in another Conservative minority. Every party would get it’s usual seats, and life would go on.
The polls published in various newspapers however have brought a new dynamic to the campaign, that many discribed as Jack-mania. This wave of support for the NDP’s leader is causing turmoil all across the country, and especially in Quebec. While the polls are suggesting a Conservative minority with the neodemocrats forming the opposition, I believe that those drastic changes in vote intention over the last election’s results could have much deeper implications in the forming of our next governement. According to me, two scenarios must be considered if we are to try to guess the outcome of the upcoming elections.
First scenario: The support for Jack Layton and his party is impressive on paper, but will yield little to no additional seats for the party in the House of Commons. The NDP, it is was mentionned by many at the beginning of the campaign, has had much less ballots than the polls had predicted it would back in 2008. Why? Probably because of the laziness of their target demographic: it is of public notoriety that those who ideologically support social measures and a left-leaning governement usually participate very little in the elections. I’m looking at you, students and lower-income families. In Quebec, the feeling is that most of the seats that the NDP will steal from the Bloc will be won with votes from Blocist deserters, usually more inclined (I have no evidence to back this up mind you) to get their asses to the polling stations than the NDP folks. In the ridings where the struggle is more intense, specially in places like the Maritimes where the party is also experiencing massive gains in polls, the absence of a disciplined electorat will atomize the vote for Jack’s Party. Lets also not forget that raw votes are nothing if you don’t get the seat in the end… If the NDPs votes concentrate in certain circonscriptions, they have much less chance of becoming the opposition.
Second scenario: Conservative minority, NDP opposition. Betting on the fact that no opposition party has any intention to overthrow the governement over the first presented bill and make the governement even more unstable than it currently is, the Conservatives will present the Flaherty budget without modification for approval by the assembly. This cocky move is nothing that the Conservative Party is incapable of. The opposition, with nothing to lose, will vote against the budget, a choice that is concurrent with the one that threw us in an election in the first place. According to the constitution, the governor general can, in case of governement instability (aka a new executive being voted out within a couple of months of it’s election), choose to use alternative measures to form an executive. Does that sound like 2008 to anyone? Except in this scenario, Ingitieff is positionned strongly against a coalition and the Bloc would be almost absent… leaving only the NDP to form the government.
Woops, NPD is now in power. Is this what Jack means when he says that he is ready to become in Prime Minister? Coming from the smart man that is Mr. Layton, it wouldn’t be surprising, specially not in this period of electoral high very conducive to wishful thinking. Is this a good thing for the country? For supporters of the NDP’s program, apparently geared torwards social utopia, sure. But keep in mind that another minority government, specially one that DIDN’T win elections, will get kicked out rather swiftly by the older parties at the smallest mistake. The NDP’s young and unexperienced staff (which includes blonde bombshell, restaurant manager and Hull resident[!!!] Ruth Ellen Brosseau from my riding) will only catalyze this inevitable expulsion.
I know I’m repeating what everybody in the press has been telling you for the past 3 weeks, but on the 2nd of May, do go out and vote. It’s your DUTY as a citizen to do so, even if it means canceling your ballot. Not to mention that it would be horrible for Canada to be second to the US in terms of participation in the elections.
Klipsch S3: Solid, No-fuss Intra-Aurals
April 24th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
The purchase of my Klipsch S3 was pretty much a spur of the moment thing. Two years of accumulated rage against the old Sony earbuds that I owned took its toll, I guess. I use full-sized headphones normally when I’m not in the gym, and rediscovering how crappy my old earphones were when switch between pairs was growing old. On my way to the gym one day, I decided enough was enough, and went to my local Futureshop to purchase some new workout earphones.
This Week’s iPhone Pics (33/52)
April 6th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
Moar like last month’s iPhone pics amirite? Anyways, this week’s combo is Jimmy on Blanko.
- Last bit of Montreal before takeoff: smoked meat in a bagel. It’s doesn’t get more local than this. Best airport food I’ve had so far.
- Something more exotic: Jamaican beer. I’ll be honest, it ain’t got shit on the bitter lagers I usually drink up, but in it’s context, it’s a very nice drink to have. 35SPn in the background: it was on beach duty for a part of my trip.
- In Florida, cars are clean. This particular picture shows a set of pristine BMW Z3 M Roadster wheels, dubbed Roadstars. 17×9, et8 in the rear… how’s that for width and low offset? Near impossible to fit on any vehicle without serious bodywork, camber and tire stretch. Check the lip out on these bad boys. It’s the kind of stuff I dream about these days…
- That’s actually a real name for a real shop. Wow.
More pictures of my trip to Miami / the Caribbean via the Carnival Glory are coming up soon… the amount of 30+ shot panos and HDR shots I have to process is kind of slowing down my post-processing routine.
À la défense des étudiants, disaient-ils…
April 3rd, 2011 § 3 Comments
Jeudi dernier était jour de manifestation nationale contre la hausse des frais de scolarité, manifestation pour laquelle vous avez probablement vu amplement de collants, pancartes, et autres pubs de tout genre. Un grand rassemblement pour la défense de nos droits à une éducation accessible (lire: gratuite) et de qualité, regroupant des milliers de jeunes (60 000 selons les organismes responsables) de partout au Quebec venus des CEGEPs et des Universités de notre province, sous diverses affiliations à des regroupements etudiants. Le tout etait visiblement chapeauté par la Coalition opposée à la tarification et à la privatisation des services publics et l’Alliance Sociale, selon le materiel promotionel distribué dans notre propre établissement.
Le bilan de cette manifestation? La perte de tout credibilité du mouvement étudiant. La presse a amplement couvert les dégats qu’ont causé les manifestants: mise à part le grabuge habituel de défiance des autorités, de bruit et de désordre général qui sont usuels et auquels on devait s’attendre, certains étudiants ont decidés de pousser la “revendication” plus loin, en perpétrant des gestes illégaux et gratuits contre ce qui incarne pour eux la méchante droite élitiste. Quelques voitures de luxe on ete abimées, mais sans banalisé ce geste vide et stupide, ca ne me derange pas tant: je ne connais pas beaucoup de proprio de BMW qui ne sont pas assurés feu-vol-vandalisme, donc les dégats sont minimes. Ce qui m’agace vraiment, c’est ce groupe de manifestants visiblement sans jugement qui ont decidés d’aller occuper les bureaux de M. Michel Pigeon, deputé libéral de Charlesbourg. Dans le but de contester les hausses de frais de scolarité pour lesquelles les manifestants considerent Mr. Pigeon complice, ceux-ci ont donc vandaliser les bureau du deputé avec des graines de tournesol et de croutons a l’ail. “Les miettes c’est pour les pigeons, pas pour la population!” peut-on les entendre scander dans un video Youtube, alors qu’ils s’adonnent à leur vandalisme. De tels gestes stupides centrés sur une attaque personnelle aux inspirations juvéniles et insipides portent rapidement à croire que le groupuscule qui a perpetré ses actes sont des déviants, une minorité marginale du mouvement étudiant qui n’avais pas pris son Nescafé ce matin là. Malheureusement, non: ces actes ont été prémédités par les têtes dirigeantes de la Coalition opposée à la tarification et à la privatisation des services publics, comme l’a confirmé le responsable des communications Francois Couillard pendant une entrevue radiophonique où il n’a pas pu s’empêcher de ricanner en discutant de l’acte, visiblement indifferent aux torts causes. Je pense qu’il est pertinent de rapeller que l’ASSE est une organisation membre de la COTPSP, et que l’ASSÉ compte comme membres en rêgle plusieurs associations étudiantes et un nombre encore plus grand de sympathisants dans plusieurs autres institutions; vous avez probablement vu a de nombreuses reprises les petits carrés de feutre rouge portés par quelques étudiants. Donc, officellement, tout les membres (membre = élève) des 21 associations étudiantes membres ont cautionner ces actions lâches et ultimement inutiles. Allez donc demander au etudiants du CEGEP de Matane si ils appuient majoritairement cette action, pour voir…
Ceci en dit long sur la representativité des divers regroupements étudiants. Une minorité au conseil pondent des idées (la participation à la manifestation du 31 mars, par exemple) qui sont acceptées par la majorite d’une minorité en assemblée, et ces idées et actions qui en découlent sont prononcés comme le voeux de l’entiêreté de la population étudiante. Dans le cas du souillage des bureaux de Mr. Pigeon, l’organisation responsable des actes a agis au nom d’organismes qui représentent des organismes qui représentent des étudiants! Et en bout de ligne, ce sont les étudiants en général qui sont pointés du doigt.
Prétendre que l’on retrouve la representativité adéquate de la base étudiante dans les associations étudiants, c’est ridicule, et je suis content que la nôtre le reconnaisse en appelant à plus de participation. Mais soyons réalistes, cette participation n’est pas toujours possible, voir carrément impossible; après tout, plusieurs des étudiants en situations précaires que nous sommes ont besoin de se soumettre aux quatres volontes de nos patrons en milieux non-syndiqués plusieurs heures par semaine pour pouvoir payer notre education! (Ah! la misère de devoir fournir de l’effort pour se developper!) Resultat, on subi, et on se fait humilier par des gens qui parlent en notre nom.
Et ce n’est pas fini! Au rythme actuel, on devrait voir une autre manifestation en notre nom d’ici quelques semaines à peine, question de faire le suivi aux 2 manifs qui ont déja eux lieu pendant le mois de mars. Ça promet.
D-Link DNS-323: The Everyman’s NAS
March 30th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
As an in-store technician for a big box retail, I am shocked by how little people are aware of the evanescence of computer storage. Countless times I have seen customers come back with defective hard drives in their 6 month old laptop and be dumbfounded when they are told that their data can not be recovered. Of all the ways that the computer industry has found to make customers spend, it seems that too little effort has been put into making the public aware that hard drives, like all other things, will eventually die, and that when they do, you better be prepared. That’s why I am happy to see D-Link come out with a product like the DNS-323 that facilitates practice of safe data storage.
When the Press Perpetuates Ignorance
March 27th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
Quebec doesn’t have a very big appetite for politics. Being totally bilingual, I get to compare the content from the English Canadian media outlets to their French counterparts, and this lack of interest for politics is something that you get to notice pretty quickly when you have a standard to compare it to. On weeknight TV at stations like CBC, it seems (and I’m going by gut on this one) that much more time is put on actual important issues like local, provincial and national politics, and less on silly human interest stories (hrm hrm, looking at you TVA!). Maybe it’s a cultural thing, but we French Canadians don’t have shows like RMR or 22 Minutes to make politics less dry, and when our stand-up comedians mention the subject, it usually just ends up in politicos bashing using overworked stereotypes.
As a person who enjoys learning about politics on all levels and humanities in general, I am greatly disappointed that my community puts so little interest in the system that makes our nation work. So just imagine what I feel when I see an atrocity like this in the paper:
Journal de Quebec, March 26th. Translates to "It's On (again)"
That’s not journalism, even by the Journal de Montreal/Journal de Quebec’s low, low standards. That’s outright anti-journalism. Dumbing down the masses, polarizing cynicism and encouraging the stagnation of politics in our nation. The “It’s on!” part I can get. But, for sensationalism’s sake, they just HAD to include the “again” part, that perpetuates the idea that elections are unwanted, for reasons that Vincent Marissal did a fine job of underlining in last week’s La Presse. From the very start of the campaign I’ve had to deal with this kind of cynic crap. The complaint on cost is very popular apparently, as I’ve had the “another couple hundred million dollars down the drain” type of talk many times since the campaign started. People, get it straight: a federal election 3 years into a minority government is not something out of the ordinary, and the mechanism surrounding the fall of the government is ESSENTIAL to democracy in that it prevents the undue preservation of power by the executive against the will of the people, via the opposition.
This front page tells loads about the Journal’s prime target audience: cynics, ignorants, people who always want more but never do more, who have an opinon on everything yet have nothing to back it up. I kind of want to hate Quebecor for this (despite the fact that their flamboyant victory over the STIJM made me pretty giddy), but after all, who’s to blame? The population, they’re the ones who chew up that kind of crap; come to think about it, JdM and JdQ reader’s appetite for garbage is the only thing that kept the papers afloat on such a long strike.
You want a government that’ll last five years? Give tories a majority, I guarantee they’ll squeeze out every last drop of their mandate. Just don’t be signing petitions to kick out the PM 3 years from now.
This Week’s iPhone Pics (33/52)
March 10th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
This week’s combo, Kaimal Mark 2 on BlacKeys Ultrachrome.
- Typo or cool new way to spell computer?
- Shouts to Manmade clothing, a little indy brand from New York who screenprints in-house. Ordered two shirts from them the other day, top shelf stuff.
- I can’t believe my Daewoo Lanos. Under a grand of repairs and maintenance over more or less 8 years, original brakes, original ignition, original everything basically. Hopefully it stays that way and I won’t get killed.
- Couldn’t have said it better.
Next week is a special week: I’m going on a cruise in the Caribbeans! For this reason, I won’t be posting up a TWiP next week, but I’ll be back in two weeks!
This Week’s iPhone Pics (32/52)
March 2nd, 2011 § Leave a Comment
First is Salvador on Alfred Infrared, others are Roboto Glitter on Alfred Infrared.
- The now traditional Monday omelette. 5-6 eggs, an assortment of meats (usually ham and bacon), red onions, metric tons of cheese, and whatever else happens to be in the fridge at the moment pretty much. Protip: a very thick omelette needs to cook slowly if you want to be able to flip it!
- When somebody at a booze-fueled party climbs on some other person’s shoulders, it usually means disaster. But this time, what came out of the ordeal is probably one of my best iPhone pics to date.
- Nothing like cuddling up with your newest acquaintance after a night of debauchery. Do it while you’re young, I was told!
This Week’s iPhone Pics (31/52)
February 23rd, 2011 § Leave a Comment
Chunky on BlacKeys B+W.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/maximerousseau/5472884048/
- Special edition collabo shirt from Defgrip, Animal and rider Edwin Delarosa. Shirt is sick and I’m currently working on getting some laminates done to compliment my Mike Brennan poster.
- It’s this dude’s birthday. Two big tens, a few gulps of straight-up white rum and a couple of random drinks later, he’s out in the freezing rain downtown puking his guts out. Hard stuff.
- Late night snack at the golden arches. You just can’t beat nuggets when it comes to alcohol-induced hunger.
- I’ve been seeing this car all over town but never got a chance to take a picture of it. Can’t get any more gangsta than a murdered out Sebring, right?
Now that I’m actually taking pictures, let’s set a new goal: publish the TWiP post by Monday! See you next Monday !
This Week’s iPhone Pics (30/52)
February 17th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
This week’s combo, Bettie XL on Ina’s 1969. Late, as usual.
- The new hotness over here: taping your cans on on top of the other when you’re finished with them and strutting around drunk as hell with your Pabst Cane of Wisedom. LATFH.
- Yeah, this was totally on purpose. Dude at Mia Pasta cooking up my meal, those guys put on a pretty good show while cooking stuff.
More next week…. I promise!
