Redeemer University College gets its first Political Science Association

Despite getting of to a rough start with getting the room numbers mixed up, between 214 and 241, which resulted later in the delay of the meeting and missing half a dozen initial members, the Redeemer University College Students Political Science Association got off the ground and immediately began arguing what all the reasons to its existence were in the political sense as it were.

The founding meeting's first agenda struck for another future meeting, where specific committees would be created for its constitution, electoral and membership issues, though everyone agreed by democratic vote that our provisional council would decide where to go issue by issue until these essential parts of the assocation were put in place.

For those over half of a dozen members who did make it, we had a think-and-do tanker on the idea of democratic "Christianist" sovereignty with the conceptual underpinnings of communitarianism, really great stuff for a first meeting of the minds, quite intellectually stimulating or at least entertaining ideas and everyone agreed that it was too bad Dr. K wasn't out and just about with us for its premier.

State of the Union Address grades a W

2007's State of the Union Address was quite interesting, as George W. Bush played his role as the President of the United States of America quite convincingly, though one could have easily fell asleep to it as it just seemed to drone on and on with no end in sight, with little in actual substance, but lots in style as I guess that is what it really is about, trivia was key that night, as it was the first address to female Speaker of the House ever in American history and Democrat Majority Congress since 1994.

GWB spoke domestically on taxes, immigration and oil, especially on how they would have to work as one nation towards finding alternative fuels, which is something I have never been able to figure out, such a great civilization as our America never has been able to create an open, free and voluntarily competitive market within industry for the supply and demand of environmentally safer products, imagine the amount of companies, management and jobs built just to make cars powered by reclamated sea water, private homes and public buildings cooled or heated by solar, small traditional farms and big classic factories using wind to boost productivity, using renewable biomass energy from natural living organisms or their metabolic byproduct sources for most anywhere, mini or micro hydro plants from the smallest public waterways and also along with conservation through means of reduce, reuse and recycle, the energy efficient enterprise is one not only being sound on economic merits but also ones for the environment too as well.

He stood by his same old story on the foreign affairs front, despite being a protectionist or isolationist on the economic political order, yet he is also quite the globalist or interventionlist on the social political order, as we know all Right-Left Republicrat or Democans have no traditional spectrum, asking for more aid and involvement in Iraq, Afghanistan and Darfur, that immediately rules him out as Jeffersonian, but then his attacks against true global guilds like the United Nation has him locked out from being either a Hamiltonian or Wilsonian, therefore he would have to be a Jacksonian, though I believe Walter R. Meade just may have missed another influential American statesman, who epitomize principles of a lost school of American foreign policy thought, to create a Rooseveltite, as he would stand for little to no policy on foreign affairs like Jackson or Jefferson, yet as Hamilton and Wilson differ slightly, would build a model of progressively democratic reform within its own republic, a sort of a Pax Americana when at peace and a Bellum Americanum when at war, showing others how best to act on the global stage and this is why I give Bush a grade of "W" on his State of the Union Address for 2007.

Icy Wind Storm in Hamilton

One huge icy wind storm has just hit us in Hamilton and those across the province, supposedly there were many students who almost slid off the Mountain on Garth or just into the ditch on the Linc and those on campus this morning who like me and Peter Frieswick were just trying hard to duck and cover from the falling icicles from the big trees on the narrow path.

I believe this was the first cancellation for Redeemer University College this whole year, not including the Attack of the Flying Jihadic Squirrels as that episode was from last season, but one would have to wait for the remainder to see what else is yet in store for us.

We of the ones who enjoyed hot sunny weather, the kind of stuff that had the gentlemen of RUC pitching the footy about the tarmack and the ladies of ReDee sunbathing right up there until our last exams, such as mine in poli sci wearing a white tee, plaid tartan peejays and those Just Do It sandals, Dr. Koyzis has it right with his great photos but despite all of this I just wonder how things are going back home in the Snow Belt Country!

City Ottawa off on our own Ontarian Alternative

Almost one full week ago, the Ontarian Alternative's Silent Majority Revolution suddenly became a little bit louder, its original brainchild of former Ontario Reform activists Anthony Silvestro, Randy Hillier, Bill Cook, Constance Wilkins and Marc Fournier of the 1990s has entered the 2000s with a bang and now this provincial mantra of less government, more democracy and taxation reform within our representation is ready for public consumption, the Concerned Citizens of Ontario seem to have a perfect mix of classic liberalism, traditional conservatism and populist libertarian reform that makes room for the regular everyday taxpayer, family and environmental Green conservationalist who just wants to protect, preserve and defend their rights, responsibilities, freedoms, liberties and independence.

The Ontarian Alternative kicks off its Campaign Team Ontario in Eastern Ontario as it holds its first regional town hall meetup in the City of Ottawa, where its push to bring equality back to Canada and Ontario starts right here with ideas like Re-Con-Federation that will fight separation with its special distinct status for one yet nothing for the rest and instead give equal provincial political powers back to all ten provinces and combined territories from the big government hand of a highly centralized Ottawa, it begins on Sunday, February 4, 2007 from 12 Noon to 5 PM at the Ottawa Citizen building, 1101 Baxter Road or (613) 829-9100 and the directions to the Ottawa Citizen building are take Highway 417 or the Queensway to the Pinecrest/Greenbank exit, (if coming from the West) go straight through the intersection onto Iris Street, stay in right lane on Iris Street, go straight and do not take curve to left, at second stop sign turn left onto Baxter Road, Ottawa Citizen building is on the right side around the corner, (if coming from the East) left turn or go south onto Pinecrest/Greenbank exit, stay in left lane, left at first lights, two lanes turn left at Iris Street, be in right hand one, go straight do not take curve to left at second stop sign turn left onto Baxter Road, Ottawa Citizen building is on the right side around the corner.

Much can quickly change in a week, Anthony Silvestro genuinely spoke to people's issues on CFRA 580 AM radio then went on to emcee the regional town hall meetup to a successful crowd who made known their views from the grassroots as to how change in the Province of Ontario should be made for all Ontarian people, citizens and taxpayers, Randy Hillier announced he would seek the nomination for the candidacy of record in the Lanark, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington riding with the John Tory Ontario Progressive Conservatives, Bill Cook is being touted as the Liberal nominee as provincial candidate of record in the riding of Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound for Dalton Mcguinty, Constance Wilkins and Marc Fournier continue to run the Free Dominion website that promotes third parties outside the Rabble Babble endorsed New Democratic Party.

First Ten Principles of the New Canada movement interesting

The political New Canada movement, which kicks off with today's meeting at Strathroy and a future meeting in Cambridge on the 20th, is one that is based on respect for nine principles: Individual Rights, Government Finances, Environment, Federal, Provincial and Municipal areas of Responsibility, Individual Choice, Canada’s External Affairs, the Supremacy of Parliament over the structure of our National Government and its Courts, the developing of the Canadian Federation, Canada’s Founding Cultures and International Peace and Security.

Now these former Reform Party and Ontario Party federal members used these first ten principles to move forward their policy direction as they start their process of official party registration, at first blush, one must ask what the exact ideology of this organzation is so one can determine after careful analysis of what coherent structural characteristics it has that makes it differ from the Big Three in Ottawa and their own token Antagonist for Separation and how it would benefit the average Canadian voter to have such a different option made available for them in the next federal election.

Simply put here, one can already see a distinct societal difference between the first principle of "We will ensure that all Canadians citizens and provinces and territories are treated equally under the law at all times." and the ninth principle of "We will work to ensure that Canada’s founding cultures – British, French, and Aboriginal – are respected as 'integral' to Canada, while at the same time celebrating our wide cultural diversity." with a promise of a brand "new and larger" immigration policy that "will allow more to enter Canada provided they speak one of the country's founding languages, are a proven non-threat to national security and the health of Canadians, and adhere to new Settlement Programme requirements to qualify for Canadian Citizenship".

Equality is when one treats another completely the same without any differences, whether they be linguistic, racial or cultural, the first and ninth principle, as well as the brand new larger immigration policy of New Canada don't jive with each other, either all of we Canadians are equal, or some of us Canadians are more superior while other Canadians are more inferior, one just simply can't have it both ways, having one's cake, along with the eating of it too, most likely wouldn't really want it to be like that anyhow, truthfully as equality is as close to justice as one can get and justice is something all progressive democratic reformers must work forward towards every day of their political lives.

We must thank, laude and respect the political New Canada movement's honest efforts to bring progressive democratic reform back to the federal electoral stage, but I kindly suggest they go back to their constitutional drawingboard to decide whether principle number one or nine remains, as one of the two will not survive a town hall meeting here in Ontario and likely not Canada as a whole either, let alone a national policy convention federally and would be rightly thumbed down by its collective internally to maintain the democratic grassroots integrity of the organization externally.

Top Ten Thoughts for 2007