Look what landed in my e-mail box today, in re: ACTA (and its equally scuzzy Canadian equivalent):

Dear Sabina,

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your electronic correspondence dated May 15, 2012 regarding bill C-11: The Copyright Modernization Act.

The Government of Canada reintroduced the Copyright Modernization Act without changes on September 29, 2011. This fulfills the government’s commitment from the 2011 Speech from the Throne to reintroduce and seek swift passage of the Copyright Modernization Act.

Since 1997, three attempts have been made to amend Canada’s Copyright Act. During the last Parliament, Bill C-32 was introduced by the government in June 2010 but died on the Order Paper. The Bill passed Second Reading and was being reviewed by a legislative committee when an election was called. The legislative committee received over 150 written submissions from stakeholders and heard from over 70 individuals and organizations that appeared as witnesses.

A part of Canada’s Digital Economy Strategy, the Copyright Modernization Act is designed to address the interests of Canadians, from those who create content to the consumers who will benefit from it. Combined with the other legislative initiatives under the Digital Economy Strategy, the bill will contribute to a well functioning digital economy by instilling trust and confidence in the online marketplace and electronic commerce. For creators, the bill proposes strong measures to help them protect their work in the digital environment, notably by implementing the rights and protections of the 1996 World Intellectual Property Organization Internet treaties, including strong legal protections for digital locks, a new liability for those promoting infringement online and making available rights to ensure control of material over the Internet. For users, it provides new and updated exceptions to promote the benefits of new technologies. For intermediaries (e.g., Internet service providers), the bill outlines their responsibilities and potential liability with respect to copyright protection.

In fact, recently, the Government of Canada struck a special committee that would examine all aspects of bill C-11 to ensure that the proposed bill is in the best interest of industry and Canadians alike. If you have further comment or wish to make a submission to the committee, I would encourage you to write to the committee clerk at: CC11@parl.gc.ca.

I would like to once again thank you for your letter and please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions or concerns.

Yours truly,

Rick Norlock, MP
Northumberland-Quinte West

Well, he’s polite, I’ll give him that.

Now, can anybody make heads or tails of that? Because it sure sounds to me like “Thanks for your concern, you’ve been heard but you’re still being disregarded. Our minds are already made up, so please don’t try to confuse us with the facts. Yours truly, etc.”

I’ll just let the LOLcats do the talking from now on, how ’bout that?

Couple of quick education-related items for ya. First, one from my own province, one that spells bad news for institutionalized bigotry:

Ontarians favour the right of students to form gay-straight alliance clubs in Catholic schools by a margin of almost two to one, a new poll suggests.

The Forum Research survey also found more than half of Ontario residents — 53 per cent — oppose the public funding of Catholic schools with 40 per cent supportive and 6 per cent unsure.

As the issue of gay-straight alliances dominates debate around new anti-bullying legislation, the poll concluded people are accepting of the anti-homophobia clubs designed to promote tolerance.

Fifty-one per cent agreed that students in publicly funded Catholic schools should be allowed to form clubs under that sometimes contentious name with 28 per cent opposed and 21 per cent undecided.

“Now that people are more familiar with them, there’s more support for them,” Forum president Lorne Bozinoff told the Star on Tuesday.

Forum’s interactive voice response telephone survey of 1,072 Ontarians was conducted Monday.

And if the Vatican wants to go on indoctrinating kids in bigotry, forcing them to participate in anti-choice bullshit, and consigning at least one in ten of them self-hate and closet-hiding, I suggest it start paying for that out of its own capacious pocket. After all, it’s got its own fucking bank.

Meanwhile, in La Belle Province, the three-month-old student strike has some allies that may surprise some of you:

Surreal scenes at a Quebec college underscored Tuesday how bizarre the student-related conflict has become — and how difficult it might be to resolve.

Consider this: A court order had forced the school to reopen; as a result, some teachers and parents helped striking students form a picket line to keep other kids out; riot police then burst through to help enforce the court order; and, in the end, the school closed again because teachers weren’t prepared to teach.

The height of Tuesday’s standoff at Collège Lionel-Groulx saw riot police use pepper spray and physical force to help 53 students return to class after winning a court injunction.

But the self-described strikers, many of them wearing masks, have received support from some parents and school faculty who stood alongside them in a show of solidarity at the school north of Montreal.

After a few days of picketing, police moved in Tuesday. They issued warnings before bursting in and arresting five people, including a professor from another school.

As they blasted the crowd with chemical irritants, some of the protesters hugged and wept. Some of their adult supporters reportedly did the same.

And it all appeared for nought.

A few hours later, after staff meetings, the college issued a statement: Lionel-Groulx would remain closed for two more days, on Wednesday and Thursday. The professors said they were too emotional to be able to teach classes regularly.

So the school has shut its doors until Friday, at the earliest, at which point a new injunction takes effect.

I suspect that one will also be breached. The strikers are nothing if not monumentally determined, and what they are doing could well catch on elsewhere. Nothing like the tyranny of a good example, which is why the cops are now out in force. But if we have a police state on our hands, we also have huge popular opposition to it…and parents and teachers are part of that opposition.

Meaning, the traditional forces of social conservatism are actually in trouble on more fronts than one!

Interesting that this cheaty-pants couple got stuck together in the missionary position. I was kind of expecting doggy-style.

What do you get when you cross Gilligan’s Island with The Love Boat, but take away the good clean fun and replace it with some real tragedy and drama? Something that looks an awful lot like this:

A Panamanian fisherman who survived 28 days adrift in the Pacific and watched two companions die is suing the owners of a cruise ship that sailed past.

Adrian Vasquez has filed a lawsuit in Florida alleging negligence by Princess Cruises, his lawyer said.

The American cruise company has said it deeply regrets that one of its ships sailed past the dying men.

Passengers said they spotted the castaways and alerted staff, but the firm said the captain was not informed.

[...]

One passenger, Judy Meredith, earlier told reporters she had informed a sales representative about the boat and had shown him it through a spotting telescope.

She said she had been assured the information had been passed on to the crew.

Mr Vasquez and his friends set out in their three-metre-long open fishing boat the Fifty Cents from the port of Rio Hato in February, and were on their way back after their catch when the engine failed.

After 16 days adrift, he says, they saw a cruise ship sailing past, and had made attempts to flag it down with a red sweater.

“We felt happy, because we thought they were coming to rescue us,” he said.

Mr Vasquez was eventually rescued 1,000km (620 miles) off the mainland, near the Galapagos Islands. His friends had already died of thirst.

He said he survived thanks to a sudden rainstorm that replenished his drinking water supplies.

Princess Cruises said there appeared to have been a “breakdown in communication”.

Which I guess is what you can expect when you have to go through a “sales representative” instead of being able to communicate directly with your ship’s captain, first officer, etc.

Meanwhile, UN convention states that cruise ships are legally bound to offer assistance to any stranded castaway or vessel in distress they find in international waters. Which the “sales representative” aboard this Princess cruiseliner failed to bear in mind, obviously. Talk about dereliction of duty!

In short, Captain Stubing would NOT approve.

On a day sure to be cram-jammed with all kinds of sappy commercialized tributes to Mom, it might be good to remember that not all of them are so sweet. Or their offspring, either. Happy Mother’s Day!

Crappy Mother’s Day weekend, everyone! Ever have one of those weeks where you devoutly wish you’d never been born, but it’s too late to crawl back into the mommy-cave? Yeah, it’s been one of those weeks for me, too. And here’s who made it so, in no particular order:

1. Rob Fucking Ford. He’s not just Toronto’s embarrassment anymore, he’s a national disgrace. And if he’s really so concerned about his family’s safety, he should stop being so fucking chintzy and just hire a security detail already. Actually, though, safety is really the least of his concerns; it’s his overfed ego, not the nosiness of “effeminate” Toronto Star reporters, that’s got his Y-fronts all in a bunch.

2. John Fucking Swinimer. Since when does one fucking religious nut get to determine an entire school curriculum? Since NEVER. And, FYI, schools DO teach “the basics”. And if your religion isn’t one of them, too fucking bad! Intolerant and religiously bigoted is no way to go through life, daddy-o. Now stop sending your son to school to preach in dumb crapaganda shirts and just let the kid LEARN, already.

3. Mitt Fucking Romney. Last week Mittens was a wanker for firing an openly gay staffer; this week he is one for sending a flack to try and spin that as proof of his championing tolerance. He has a lot of chutzpah, and absolutely no fucking guts whatsoever. PS: And speaking of gutless, how about this? Or this? Or, Bog help us all, THIS?

4. Andrew Fucking Scheer. If Parliament was not misled on the F-35, then they were all party to a lie. Isn’t that right, Mr. Speaker? Well, isn’t it???

5. Catherine Fucking Scalia. Need some mustard on your hotdog, mister? She’ll give you a hand with that. Literally. PS: Kudos to the NY Post for assigning so much importance to this literal wanker that they had not one, not two, but three reporters on the story. PPS: This woman is delusional. Psychiatric evaluation? Yeah, it would be a good idea. I’ve never seen reverse body-dysmorphic disorder so crazy.

6. Jan Fucking Brewer. Why am I not a bit surprised that the most misogynous female governor in the United States has a son who was charged with sexual assault?

7. Joe Fucking Bovino. If you need an unfunny sexist, racist “field guide” to women, ur doin it rong. And if you’re toting it around as a PUA-style conversation starter, you definitely fit one very broad category of males that can be seen the world over: Les Douchebags.

8. Jesse Lee Fucking Peterson. He laments the “mistake” of letting women vote, and thinks blacks should go back to slavery to “learn the work ethic”? I lament the mistake of letting teabaggers exist.

9. Andrew Fucking MacDougall. Why?

That’s why. BTW, we pay taxes, and our taxes pay your salary. That means you and Harpo (the asshole in question) both work for us. And you’re doing a piss-poor job of it, too. Guess that makes you our second-biggest asshole, at least this week.

10. Michele Fucking Bachmann. Watch out, Switzerland, you’re about to get two more cuckoos in your clock. Marcus Bachmann’s parents were born there, and it looks as though sonny-boy has finally taken advantage of that fact to claim Swiss citizenship. His beard — er, WIFE — also automatically qualifies. On the plus side, this dual citizenship means she is probably no longer eligible ever again to run for president of the United States. (Her eternally delusional mental state ought to be a definite disqualifier.) PS: Aw, shit. Well, that was quick.

11. Jonah Fucking Goldberg. Somebody please give this irrelevant nonentity a Bullshitzer prize, it’s the only award he’s truly entitled to.

12. Pat Fucking Robertson. I have a copy of the King James bible with the words of Jesus printed in red. And as much as I’ve scoured through it, I’ve never found one word even HINTING that LGBT people “displease” him. I suspect the displeased one here is therefore Patwa, because un-self-hating queerfolk are notoriously hard to brainwash into handing over large wads of cash in exchange for de-gayifying “prayers”.

13. And in other pissing-Jesus-off news, how about our own lesser northern Patwa, Charles Fucking McVety? Everybody knows he’s just kissing Israel’s ass because he seriously believes that once the Apocalypse comes, Israel will be handed over to his corpulent ass, while the Chosen People get thrown under a metaphorical bus.

14. Rush Fucking Limbaugh. Why?

That’s why. The Pigman lives in a glass sty. And yet he still insists on throwing rocks. Funny dat! PS: There are still women who listen to him? That’s fucking pathetic. Don’t they know he hates the entire sex?

15. Tim Fucking Huelskamp. Figures this professional homophobe of a House Repug is from Kansas. And yeah, I bet he’s rubbing his hands over having done his teensy widdle bit to foil any progress His Barackness might ever actually make. But how homophobia is supposed to “defend” marriage (and from what?) is a question none of these idiots will ever be able to satisfactorily answer. And it’s only a matter of time before DOMA bites the dust. So yeah, go wave yer widdle willy, Timmy. It’s the last accomplishment you’ll ever have, so savor it for the short time it lasts.

16. George W. Fucking Bush. Yep, Dubya’s still alive, and this week he made the wankapedia. For livin’ high on the hawg at taxpayers’ expense, in direct contradiction to all that fiscal conservatism shee-yit. Don’t look to the fucking “Taxed Enough Already” teabaggers to say boo about this, though. He’s still their golden boy, and they’ll cheerfully fork over whatever he wants. Ain’t that right, assholes?

17. Vic Fucking Toews. Someone give this out-of-touch adulterous walrus a lesson in economics. Better still, basic math. Even better: Throw him in prison and force him to live the way he wants prisoners to. That oughta straighten his mathematical problems right out. PS: Ha, ha. And nyah, nyah.

18. Joe Fucking Arpaio. Meanwhile, the World’s Worst Sheriff is getting sued. And about time, too!

19. Bill Fucking Donohue. For a rabid Catholic cultist who hates sex so much, he sure is fond of using it to sell his shady anti-sex agenda. Hey Bill, keep yer rosaries off our ovaries — and yer crucifixes off our clitorises!

20. Bristol Fucking Palin. She’s a fine one to be talking about “thousands of years of thinking on marriage”, seeing as she never quite made it to the altar herself. “Thinking”, in any case, seems to come with great difficulty for her. Mostly due to massive cognitive dissonance, which is sadly common in almost-adult children of fundamentalists. (Also, Levi Fucking Johnston.) And when it comes to “leadership”, I don’t see her drawing any solid examples from her mother the Quitbull, either.

21. Chet Fucking Haze. Who? Oh, just some no-account dude who thinks he’s being “real” and “badass” by calling bullying victims who commit suicide “weak” and “pussyass”. Yeah, that’s right, he’s a nobody who bullies the easiest victims ever — the dead. Well, I hope he appreciates this former bullied kid’s blunt sincerity when I call him a total fucking douchenozzle who needs to get a life in the worst fucking way.

22. Jerad Fucking Wheeler. I find it hard to believe you couldn’t tell that the woman you kicked in the belly was nine months pregnant. With eyesight that poor, you shouldn’t be a fucking cop. PS: Oh, what am I saying? She’s black. And you’re white. And it’s Georgia. My mistake!

23. Peter Fucking MacKay. Another day, another dollar, another DND lie. But when your Libya wank costs taxpayers seven times more than the already exorbitant sum you originally gave, and even the brass isn’t backing you up anymore, shouldn’t that be yet another reason to get out of Dodge?

24. John Fucking Baird. Oh look, Squealer’s sucking up to Israel again. Yawn. Someone please tell him that the overwhelming majority of Canadian Jews are not conservative (big C or small), and therefore don’t think highly of the Chabad Lubavitchers, any more than they do of Israeli Likudniks. And they think even less highly of Tory cronyism and blatant pandering.

25. Scott Fucking Walker. Shark: Jumped. When even Forbes, the plutocrat magazine par excellence, turns against you, it’s time to pack it in and go home.

26. Geraldo Fucking Rivera. Don’t wear a hoodie to the airport, or the TSA agent will be honor-bound to manhandle your, uh, man handle.

27. Jane Fucking Skrovota. Please, don’t anyone tell her that a straight man’s P-E-N-I-S can just as easily penetrate a straight woman’s anus. She might just beshit herself harder than she already has. PS: That guy right behind her in the video is a fucking KING. PPS: She has a Facebook page and blogspot devoted to her insane ramblings. Popcorn, anyone? Tumblr?

28. Patricia Fucking Weaver. Oh look, the teabagger brownshirts are projecting again. I wish these idiots would make up their minds whether they really think His Barackness is a commie or a Nazi, because it’s so tiresome to watch them seesawing back and forth like this.

29. Allen Fucking West. See above, and add extra WTF for not being able to recognize a capitalist puppet when he sees one in Hamid Karzai. And he can’t seem to remember that it was his boy Dubya that installed said puppet, either.

30. Dennis Fucking Prager. Same-sex marriage is a “radical social experiment”? Um, no. It’s simply a small step to equality in a world where many other social experiments much more radical have gone unremarked by rightard idiots who just haven’t the ‘nads to admit that they just really fucking hate the queers for no good reason at all.

And finally, to the fucking homophobes of North Fucking Carolina. You people are a national embarrassment and disgrace. And Gene Wilder has just the words for YOU:

Good night, and get fucked!

Heh…maybe a better question to ask is Why wouldn’t he be? After all, with approval ratings like these…

The approval ratings for the governance and credibility of the president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, surpassed 80 percent in Quito and Guayaquil. Five years into his rule, the consulting firm Perfiles de Opinión, indicates that the leader has historic levels of acceptance.

The study, cited by state news agency Andes and taken on April 29 in Quito and Guayaquil, shows 83 and 82 approval ratings for Correa, respectively. The president took power on January 15, 2007.

In an interview with Ecuadorinmediato Radio, Perfiles director Paulina Recalde also revealed that the question “Do you find Correa credible?” received a “yes” response of 68 percent in Guayquil and 67 percent in Quito.

The third question of the survey asked respondents for their impression of the leader. 76 percent replied “good”, 21 percent “bad” and 3 percent did not respond.

Recalde considers these figures to be exceptionally high. “I don’t believe we could register a leader with such positive numbers in the entire democratic history of the country,” she says, adding that since December of last year these numbers have remained very stable.

The analyst added that Correa “benefited” from the latest mobilizations of opposition organizations.

Translation mine.

And the real kicker? Guayaquil is supposedly an anti-Correa stronghold, full of oligarchs and angry, angry haters. Yet he gets 82% approval there, and even slightly higher credibility ratings than in the “pro-Correa” capital city of Quito. Go figure!

For all the lamestream media up here trying to make out like he’s been bad for the country and should be ousted and look at the “police rebellion”! and blah blah blabbity blah blah, Rafael Correa sure has ratings to kill for. (Trust me, Stevie the Spiteful and His Barackness would, and so far neither has gotten anything close to them.)

Ecuador is politically stable for the first time in living memory, it’s improving economically a lot as well, and it loves its rebellious, super-smart president. He’s been good for the country overall, even the so-called opposition strongholds. And everything they’ve tried to do to hurt him has ended up backfiring in their faces.

And now you know why he’s smiling.