I'VE HAD ENOUGH POLITICS

      This week the CBC has started "in depth" coverage of the American election. Now I had over kill a couple of months ago with the American election. No offense intended about the election.

     Now CBC is our national station and presents much different programming than commercial stations. I listen to it all the time.

    So teams of broadcasters have been set up all over the main areas of the US to "give us the background" on what they think are key areas and  policies.

    With that, many of the usual programs are cancelled. 

    What I find particularly offensive is the handling of the truth by the political parties. Parties have always skillfully used slant to make their policies appealing. Now they just plain out lie about things. 

    I saw a picture of an interesting cap that said Make lying wrong again. Wouldn't that be great.

   However in a short time all the shenanigans of the last year will be over and the fight will begin as to who won. So apparently counting of votes doesn't show who wins. Some people think that people can't count and for sure machines can't count. 

   Machine counting is very easy and accurate. You take the ballots and records  to head quarters. There are a few checks and balances and then the ballots are put in the machine and the count is spit out. 

   So I will have to enjoy some more election time. 

THE MOUSE

     I wrote my last post because I had just heard an explanation about something I'd been curious about for many years. As I said before, I had listened to a radio interview of Carolyn Anderson , head of African American studies at Emory . She gave information as to how the African American vote has been suppressed.

    Now I hope I didn't come across as a smart ass on the last post. The "mouse" Canada has a few tricks if it's own when it comes to voter suppression. The most common operation is gerrymandering. Our constituency boundaries have to be adjusted governed by terms of the elections act.  That's when the fun begins. Parties know the exact location of where their votes come from. So why not get the new constituency boundary to corral in these votes into one constituency.  The parties have in put into the redrawing of boundaries.

     People can be easily discouraged from voting. All of their reasons are wrong. Some people are convinced that their vote won't count. Well, having worked in elections I know that all votes are counted. People think their vote only counts if the party wins. It doesn't work that way. 2017 was the first time my candidate and party of choice won. I still feel that all my other votes mattered.

    In our last election many people were told to go to the wrong poll. Several of our politicians have done some jail time over this trick when they were caught.

    So the mouse is not innocent of dirty tricks. We just have to keep participating and make sure that elections are fair and just. With the electronic age it's become easier than every for outsiders to influence an election. I think we'll find that many elections have been tampered with by the Russians.

    So let's keep our noses in current affairs and remain well informed so that government will work like it's supposed to work.

    

The Security Card

     Canada had a general election on Oct. 19, 2015. It was a very long campaign and over  the time a number of issues had an influence. The niqab was one  major issue and had an influence of the election outcome.

     The Conservative Party of Canada's (CPC) strategy was to divide the people so that CPC and Steven Harper would win the election with very few votes. One wedge issue was security. Security is an easy card to play. You don't have to be too careful with facts or statistics. People are vulnerable when it comes to crime and security. Canada's crime rate has been slowly going down since 1980. However CPC still claimed crime and terrorism were a problem. Solution: We'll make more jails and throw the bums in jail. They came up with one "fact" that "the rate of unreported crime had gone up." How does the rate go up when it's unreported? When it comes to crime there's only so much that can be done. We'll never be without crime.

     Criticize the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is the referee when it comes to the legality of certain legislation. Bashing the court works to divide people. 

    Stoking up insecurity and tensions is an extremely negative thing to do. People are set against one another.  People separate from one another. Communication doesn't take place and they are easier prey for security fears. Energy is wasted by conflict. Groups of people begin to dislike each other and fear others. Take any group: refugees, Muslims, colors, languages. They're fair game for the security card.

    Thinking leaders should attempt to gain power from a unity standpoint. There is power in uniting. There is positivity in unity. Once elected these parties have a better chance of governing rather than continuing to stoke the security fires. Groups have to be brought together. 

    We have to learn that we must compromise. It's impossible for the complete accommodation of all points of view. The government has to work at communication to help put policies into effect that will be best for the society

    The Government elected in Canada is far from perfect. They will not solve all our problems. They will make mistakes. We have to pick the best of the bunch and run with it.

    I dislike conflict. I dislike fighting. I'm ok with good discussion.

    So let's look for politicians who will try their best to work for all of us.