Rob Ford Is Not Out...Only You Can Guarantee That!

I CHOOSE YOU!

People of the blogosphere and the vast and complicated landscape known as politics!

Why?

Simply because Mayor Rob Ford is not guaranteed out of the top spot in Toronto municipal politics any time soon, the judge may have given his verdict, but Ford still has a wide array of legal and political avenues that can bring him back into power.

Although many of you probably already know this, it is very important to outline that Ford can go ahead and protest the verdict by appealing the judges decision.

Next, if that does not work, Ford can run in a bi-election, if one is chosen to find a proper candidate to replace him.

Finally, if all else fails, Ford has the option of running once again in the 2014 election and will essentially be given a clean slate if he somehow comes to power.

This is why it is important for the people of Toronto and the rest of Canada to listen in to my advice, because it is not only simple, it is also super effective at removing what many call a "big fat slob" of a political joke.

When the election comes around, be it a bi-election or full blown municipal one, you need to get out there and simply...VOTE!

If the people really want Mayor Ford out of office for good, they need to send him a clear message and gather, organize and actually follow through with their words. Voting is the most effective way to keep Ford out of office and hopefully find a more suitable and honest replacement.

It is crucial that you vote even more so, because Mayor Ford has a fairly dedicated following, who will organize in numbers and vote if it is required.

Tell me what you think about this news and my proposed solution. How did you react when you heard the news about Mayor Rob Ford? Do you live or work in Toronto and how has he affected your daily life, if he has at all, since becoming mayor? 

I have to say, I was very shocked when I heard the news that the verdict had passed and Ford was out of office. I mean, of all the stupidity and overall rude behaviour he has shown the people of Toronto, I never would have guessed that a charitable donation on behalf of inner city children who play football, would be the final nail in his political coffin.

Just goes to show you that the world is one very random and exciting place, especially in the political sphere!

Until Next Time!

You/I Say Israel, I/You Say Palestine...

Nothing like a Friday night to show off an example of the power of politics! If you haven't already heard about the renewed fighting in Gaza between the Palestinians and Israeli's than you should really consider buying a TV.

Although, I wouldn't hold it against you if you did hear about the fighting and just continue on with your daily routine protected in a shroud of indifference. Let's face it, Israel and Palestine are a great example of the wrong way to handle a dispute, but unfortunately mistakes are often made in our world.

It sickens me that fighting has to continue between these two people, who if anything, share more of a bond in the idea of a peace between them than they do in their current dispute. I would dive into the reasons why this fighting has continued, but the point form version would require more space than this blogging website could provide in bandwidth.

Essentially, we are witnessing an action in the political community and realm that best represents kindergarten sandbox politics.

You took my toy.

I push you.

You push me back.

I cry, but push you harder.

You cry, push me harder and throw sand in my hair.

The sand feels weird, which makes me cry harder and ultimately kick you.

The toy has been broken into pieces, but both of us have yet to notice due to the continued kicking, pushing and crying that we are engaged in.

What we are left with in this scenario is an escalating situation, where both sides are now deeply disturbed by the actions of the other and are not in the mood to even search for common ground anytime soon, if ever.

The only difference between the scenario above and the current Israeli and Palestinian scuffle is that both sides have military equipment and that original push is a mortar that has killed two people, while my initial push is in the form of military jets bombing city streets. Not to mention the occupation of Gaza, which has created a sense of invasion among Palestinians and has fueled more hatred.

The question I have and I believe most of the world would ask alongside me is...Can you declare yourself a freedom fighter, when you fight on behalf of a people, who occupy land directly beside the very people you are fighting against? Under the traditional definitions of war (Ironic, I know), Palestinians are viewed as violators because they are turning arms against civilians, while Israel is essentially responding with overkill in an attempt to defend itself. This makes Israel seem like the good guy here, but then we have Israel occupying land and not allowing the Palestinians a chance to make peace in order to reclaim it, this mucks up the situation that much more.


In the end, we on the outside look at this situation and shake our heads unfortunately, while muttering..."here we go again". In the name of peace, it may be easier to just declare that Israel and Palestine do not see eye to eye and can agree to disagree, but that usually requires a third party with strength in order to enforce.

To make matters worse...while this is happening, we have our bumfuck of a Prime Minister sitting back and shouting...I support Israel 100% and shut down more embassies in Iran, they must be doing this!

So, thank you Stephen Harper, for further showing that our country is nothing like the peacekeepers we were in the past and also that you have no idea what any form of conflict resolution is...time to hit up some humanities courses at your local university and brush up on something called political science and peace studies.

Until Next Time... Hopefully, before then, both Israel and Palestine are on the road to some form of peace.

To My American Friends: A Day Before The Election, What Is Up?

To all of my American friends (All 3 of you), how have you been? I know it's been a tough past four (4) years, well...let's be realistic, the past twelve (12) years have been pretty tough. That being said though, let us all not forget that as tough as it has been, it could have been a lot tougher, so it is always important to look at the bright side of things. 

It is often recommended that a person be given the chance to get a second opinion regarding important changes in their life. In the case of the election, I want to give you that "second opinion" regarding who you should choose tomorrow.

Coming from Canada, a country located outside of the United States and located geographically right beside you ...or above you, but not in the mean way above you as to make you feel inferior, we are just more north, which is why we like snow, since it usually snows more up north. However, regarding the snow, this thing called climate change is causing it to become a lot warmer here, so we do not get much of it where I am from. I have lobbied the government, but our current right-wing government seems to not know what global warming is...since they argue it's still damn cold. Anyways, enough of Canada, let's focus back on your country.

From the limited, but informative glimpses I have been given regarding your election, I can see that there is some very severe internal strife occurring between your people and of course like many other things in this world...your all mad at each other because of money. To make you feel better...a lot of people get mad over money, just look at the divorce rates in my country and yours and one can see that money is probably one of the main reasons why they get so nasty. Now...if you vote Mitt in tomorrow as your president, do not expect this to change, well change for the better that is, since his policies will most likely make money much much much more scarce for people like you and I. Mr. Obama says he wants to help your country and I believe him, but money will still be scarce, because he is going to need it to build all of the infrastructure and energy changes to your current system. Sure it will cost a lot, but your air and water will become a lot cleaner and heck ...if things get really drastic overseas, you might just make a lot of money with the jobs his ideas will create. Mitt Romney wants to create jobs to, but he really hasn't said much about how he intends to do it...which makes one believe that his job creation will come at the command of the top rich people of America, which might seem good, but also gives them more power than they deserve in my opinion.

Then comes to the more important topic of Canada, which seems to have been left out of almost all of the debates. What will happen to my beautiful country, if your country decides to adopt fundamentalist right-wing thought that wants to push for energy production and totally disregard global warming all together? Will I ever get to see snow again? Will I ever have a white Christmas? Not with Mitt Romney and to be honest, it does not look to good even with Obama, but a little bad is sometimes much better than the chance of a lot of bad right??

Alright, I know you have heard a lot lately regarding the election and I am sorry that I have written this very long message to you, so I am going to break down some key points I want you to consider when your casting your vote tomorrow.

1. Barack Obama may seem like an outsider who has not done much, but he cares for your country, while Mitt Romney only seems to care about the country(club) and those who can afford to attend it.

2. Lets be realistic...we all love snow and global warming is happening, so come on...solar panels and wind turbines for the win! More importantly, living sustainably for the win! Leave all that conflict oil in Saudi Arabia and put money towards your own good causes and out of terrorist tyrants coin purses!!!!

3. Is America really prepared for a Mormon president? I mean you guys JUST elected your first visible minority as president, don't you want to give him a little more time to get passed all of the pressure? No one's first time is easy and it takes time to get better afterwards, which is why you shouldn't just jump the gun and kick the guy out!

4. Obama seems to represent what many republicans would associate as old school moderate to the right thinking, you call him a socialist, but he has done a lot to help big business and if anything is a corporate socialist. Those bailouts didn't keep the poor clinging to tons of cash, but Wall Street still has it's bonuses right?

5. Mitt Romney seems to have trouble getting his facts and numbers correct. Yes, he alienated 47% of you, but in his "binders full of women", he will most likely determine that the remaining 53% equals around 100% of the country...so, I mean come on!!!!

6. Women, American women in this case, if your not all over Obama, then I am just shocked! I mean, lately a lot of girls seem to be more independent and less willing to let just any man into their personal circle,it usually takes a few dates before your comfortable inviting him for a coffee, so why the hell would you vote for a guy who wants to govern your vagina and not even pay for dinner on the first date, second or ever!?!?!?!?!

So remember my American friends, use your head tomorrow and try and find that hope still urging in your heart. I know a lot of things might distract you and honey boo boo might be on, but I know you can muster up enough strength to overcome the smoke and mirrors that have been this election. Good luck and know that as a Canadian from Canada (Right above you geographically) we will stand by you as an ally, but I swear...if you guys vote Romney in, I am going to rip you a new one!

Until Next time...

Social Boxes...Political Boxes...They All Look Just the Same...

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Here at the Political Road Map, I try and incorporate a continual theme that reflects on three fundamental questions: Where did we start? Where are we? Where are we going?

These questions are usually supported further by incorporating examples that show if our government is helping us get to where we are going and more importantly, is the path we are currently on politically, socially and morally, the path we want to be on?

I know...a lot of questions, but being as politics affects everything within our individual life and communal world, we cannot escape asking questions, for if we do we risk losing our way.

I recently stumbled upon Walk Off The Earth's (W.O.T.E.) cover of a satirical song that was originally written by Malvina Reynolds in 1962. The significance and meaning of the song seem almost obvious, however if your confused, continue reading or search the song on Wikipedia.

I found it interesting that at the time of this songs creation, America and Canada respectively were going through an intense era of urbanization. People were moving in droves from the country to the city and as city space began filling up, suburbs became the new norm. At the time, many homes were built quickly, cheaply and in a cookie cutter fashion in order to compete with the vast demand from the "Nuclear Family." Time's have changed, however some things still remain the same. Although fashions have turned away from solid coloured homes, people are still immensely pressured to conform on a daily basis. 

I especially enjoy how the song utilizes the word "Ticky-Tacky" in order to explain how cheaply made the homes were. The word became trendy in 1962 and I believe should become trendy in today's society as well. Why you might ask? We are currently experiencing another era of urbanization on the planet, except this time, the urbanization is occurring across continents. With the wonderful tool called the internet, people are now able to catch a glimpse of what occurs across the world with ease and as a result we are beginning to witness global Americanization. Well, I shouldn't really use Americanization, what we are really seeing is global capitalization if anything. Why capitalization? Capitalism has become so powerful a system within society, that some genius was able to convince the Chinese to adopt many of it's characteristics within an existing Communist system that was supposed to be the complete opposite of it.

Now, we are witnessing a vast urbanization of both China and Asia in general, all at the expense of the truth. People are now being convinced that conforming to this system is in their best interest and as a result cookie-cutter-ism has re-surged.

I cannot say with certainty that this is an entirely bad thing, simply because although many people are conforming to a strict state of politics and overall living, there are many beneficial consequences that have also arisen. For example, China can be proud to know that it has done what no other country in the world has done before, which is raise millions of people from zero income to a semi-middle class status. Many people acknowledge this benefit from China and think doing business with them is an amazing idea as income and prosperity is available. However, if your in China, you won't see "little boxes" made from different colours anywhere like you did here in Canada and America around the 1960's.

No, what you will see is a bunch of "government issued boxes" that are dressed in one colour, with people walking around dressed in one colour, speaking just the same and supposedly thinking all the same. China has taken what many American's were proud to call their own and incorporated it with the most destructive characteristics of Communism in order to become the most efficient country in the world, which has led many people to believe that they are.

I for one still stand on my belief that the current Chinese system is going to fail within this decade, simply because it restricts the most crucial element to any prosperous society...freedom. I would imagine that Malvina Reynolds would look at what American has become today and how it has inspired other countries to rise up in a more extreme way, only to look at her song as a sign of good times passed.

We need to continue asking ourselves where we are going in our life. More importantly, we need to ask our government where it intends to direct our country. There is still time to correct our mistakes and ensure that our future generations can rely on knowing that we have left them something stable and optimistic.

Looking at the state of today's economic world, can a democracy remain sustainable, when Capitalism is pushed to the extreme? Can our political system remain true, when money is given the most leverage?

Looking at modern America and Canada, I unfortunately cannot say this is the case. We are diminishing the very system we held our heads high for and although we know something is wrong, it seems people feel helpless to do anything. Some thing's do not change over the years and Malvina was right to create a satire regarding conformity, because today the flavour of conformity seems to be assuming the position of victim. It seems like no one wants to work for their success anymore or do the right thing. We just blame someone for our problems and here in Canada take it out of the government. As a result, we have spawned a generation of politicians who no longer look like leaders, but crooks. We have also spawned a generation of  people that disregard others in order for a quick buck.

Next time you buy something made in China, I want you to say that it is made of "Ticky-Tacky", because it most likely was. China builds cheap in order to optimize profits, it restrains it's people as it is currently creating it's own version of the 1%. However, as much as we can point the finger at China, we must also blame ourselves, because they saw someone else do it first before they adopted it themselves.

The 60's were full of problems, but one thing can be said about this time period that cannot be said now...although there existed a 1%, people did not mind, they embraced them and aspired to be them, because the 1% was not afraid of associating itself with the 99%, they even worked hard to watch out for them and naturally both parties were able to sustain each other. Today is a different story, but I do not need to explain in any more detail...click to your local news and you'll see why.

Until Next Time...