Tanning A Drug

So says Psychology Today. Tanning: More Than Skin Deep I guess we had better add this to the list for the war on drugs.

Those deprived of a UV fix experienced nausea and jitteriness—symptoms that are an awful lot like narcotic withdrawal. UV light causes the body to release endorphins, the body's natural painkiller. Baking twice a week—in the sun or in a tanning bed—is enough UV exposure to cause dependence.

Or perhaps as Dr. Andrew Weil has long proclaimed getting high is natural for human beings. And the so called dependency is the result of feeling good. Anything wrong with that?








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US Productivity Down

Sure the U.S. has a low tax regime in place for its manufacturing businesses. Lots of tax credits too at the municipal and state level, corporate welfare. Still their productivity is down. And why is that you ask. Because unlike Canada, the State does not pay for benefits.

U.S. manufacturers have become less competitive in the global marketplace in recent years because of rising energy and other "structural" costs, according to a report issued Sept. 27 by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). The study by economist Jeremy A. Leonard of the Manufacturers Alliance concludes that nonproduction costs for U.S. manufacturers are 32% higher than those of nine of the nation's major economic competitors—Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, and Taiwan. Domestic manufacturers faced a 22% disadvantage in 2003, the last time NAM studied structural costs, which include corporate taxes, employee health and pension benefits, and legal expenses.

Whereas in Canada with our public healthcare, public pensions, public education, public post secondary education, etc. we have a benefit advantage. Think if we had a real universal childcare program and a real pharmacare program what a business advantage that would be.

Our productivity is of course up this year again.

So why would we want to integrate with a basket case economy like the U.S.?


See:

Productivity


Basket Case Economy



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Dion King Maker

Over the Super Weekend for Liberal Delegates Stephane Dion is the only leadership hopeful who has not gained more delegates over the last 24 hours. His numbers remained static in fourth place. Kennedy, Rae and Ignatieff have gained more delegates over the same period. In fact Rae and Kennedy have increased at Ignatieffs expense. This is a three way race, not a four way one. Dion is the Kingmaker, his delegates become crucial for a win by Rae or Kennedy. Dion will stick it out to the Convention, but on the second ballot his delegates get released to the guy who can beat Ignatieff.

Also See

Liberal Leadership Race

Ignatieff

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Pro Life?

The Canadian blogosphere has been inundated by the anti-abortion, anti-choice, anti-women rantings of Christian Conservative moralists. Using the same old offensive assaults on those who disagree with them. As I have posted here.

A simple question for these moral simpletons, since you claim to be Pro-Life I take it you are opposed to Capital Punishment and War, both the very essence of anti-life . I look forward to your vociferous pontifications on these anti-life topics. Especially from the Catholic bloggers. But I suspect that war and capital punsihment can be justified. However many moral twists and turns that takes.

Of course those who are protestant evangelical fundamentalists face no such moral predicament. They simply justify their anti-choice positon by appealing to mythical family values, the ultimate defense of patriarchy.

Instead of saying abortion is murder and the worst crime in the history of mankind (of course for womankind it is not a crime but a historic neccisity of birth control), lets get real and deal with real crimes against humanity, war and capital punishment.

Oh and while we are on the topic of abortion and birth control I hope you support a girls/womans right to know, by providing alternatives to the neccisity of abortion, or worse infanticide, by supporting access to birth control and public sex / human relationships education K-12. Why of course you do.







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Five Things Feminism Has Done For Me

I got tagged in the Five Things Feminism Has Done For Me meme by John Murney, thanks John. You can read here to find out what its about.

Also Today the Progressive bloggers will be doing a pro feminist blog burst...october is women's history month, a call to post or re-post "5 things feminism did for me" anytime on the 2nd

I won't blog about five things rather I will blog about feminists I consider historically important. Feminism has been essential in the development of my libertarian and pagan perspective.

I will blog about those who did not take State funding to fight for womens rights and against patriarchical society. In fact their autonomous activity showed that women had to organize despite the State, academia, capitalism, and Christianity. I am not here to support the Status of Women or the State. It is reformism pure and simple. That being said I donot support the attempts by the vile rightwhing to get rid of the Status of Women. This is political correctness from the right, attempting to impose their Christian fundamentalist values on secular society.

I think Status of Women is a liberal sop and it is irrelevant to historically authentic feminism and to women organizing for themselves as the proletariat.

Since it is womens history Month I thought I would post my selection of Greatest Feminists Not Supported By the State in historic waves of Feminism. And my waves fit historic periods. While mainstream Feminism says there are three waves of Feminism historically there are actually six. And those who claim we are in some sort of post-feminist period are deluded as are the post-modernists.

I look at when these women were active or published. When dealing with their ideas and influence it is interesting to note when they actually published. Margaret Mead for instance published her works on Samoa back in the late 1920's while her influence continues right through till today.

And yes I have included liberated women who embrace sexuality as a positive affirmation of themselves. "Yes, I am a revolutionist. All true artists are revolutionists." Isadora Duncan.

And in keeping with this meme I tag the following five:

Larry Gambone

CathiefromCanada

RustyIdols

Daveberta

DearKitty



Feminist Wave 1 1790-1899

1. Mary Wollstencroft

2. Sojourner Truth

3.Victoria Woodhull

4. Anne Besant

5. Lucy Parsons

6. Eleanor Marx

7. Mother Jones

8. Voltairine de Cleyre

9. Florence Farr

10. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

11. Sophia: British Feminism in the Mid Eighteenth Century


Feminist Wave 2 1900-1950

1. Jane Ellen Harrison

2. Emma Goldman

3. Margaret Sanger

4. Alexandra Kollanti

5. Dr. Margret Murray

6. Sylvia Pankhurst

6. Mary Beard

7. Helen Keller

8. Mujeres Libres

9. Simone de Beauvoir

10. Margaret Mead

11. Dion Fortune

12. Isadora Duncan

13. Gypsy Rose Lee

14. Bettie Page

15. Elizabeth Gurley Flynn


Feminist Wave 3 1960-1970

1. Gloria Steinem

2. Betty Friedan

3. Evelyn Reed

4. Raya Dunesevkeya

5. Madalyn Murray O'Hair

6. Clara Fraser

7. Rachel Carson

8. Jayne Mansfield




Feminist Wave 4 1970-1980

1. Jane Godall

2. Shulamith Firestone

3. Selma James

4. Maria Della Costa

5. Kate Millet

6. Sheila Rowbotham

7. Angela Davis

8. Barbara Ehrenreich

9. Sharon Presley

10. Robin Morgan

11. Ti-Grace Atkinson

12. Betty Dodson

13. Jo Freeman

14. CWLU

15. Marge Piercy


Feminist Wave 5 1980-1999

1. Maria Gimbutas

2. Wendy McElory

3. Camilia Paglia

4. Stephanie Coontz

5. StarHawk

6. Annie Sprinkle

7. Nina Hartley

8. Dawn Passer


Feminist Wave 6- 2000-200?

1. Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards

2. Kathy Pollitt



For more lists of women see:

Women in Science.

WOMEN WRITERS

Literary Resources -- Feminism and Women's Literature (Lynch)



For my blog articles see:

Feminism


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The Solution To Columbine Syndrome

The Columbine syndrome is the psychosis of using video games as a similcarum for reality. As we saw at Dawson College.

But have no fear capitalism provides the virtual solution.Computer Games Prepare Battlefield Medics


Also See:

Gill

The Spectre of Charles Whitman

Wilhelm Reich

Cyborg


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Liberal Super Weekend

The Liberal Party Super Weekend is turning out quite interesting. They have a delegate counter on their website.

Currently 335 out of 467 meetings have reported. The interesting thing is that Dion is behind Kennedy, who is neck and neck with Rae, and Ignatieff has the lead, as expected. Such a humble guy, I am not the front runner. Ha.

Anyways the losers are Findlay, Brison, Volpe and Dryden in that order. With only enough delegates each to do the right thing; lick their wounds and bow out.

However include the undeclared delegates and this group has 590 delegates. More than Kennedy or Dion. Those delgates will make a difference in the Anybody But Iggy campaign. Now who will get them? Rae? Kennedy? Dion? I suspect that Dion is out of it. The race to replace Iggy will be between Kennedy and Rae.

This could get exciting, cause its been a snore fest so far. And the position of the three prime candidates in the lead are Pro-War, Mushy Middle and Anti-War.

Afghanistan will not be an issue come the Convention, the issue will be who can win the next election. Or failing that, the one after.

It's a lame duck Liberal Party that will arise from the ashes of the Leadership race, with a lame duck leader.

Also See

Liberal Leadership Race

Ignatieff

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Orwellian Marketing

When you have a lousy track record for safety what do you do? Fix the situation? Invest in safety? Nope you get the PR spinmeisters out and make safety your new motto for your corporate brand. Money well wasted.




See

CN


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Infrastructure Imbalance

It's not a fiscal imbalance we face in Canada it is an infrastructure imbalance. Inquiry to probe overpass collapse Taxes on gas etc. which was supposed to go to infrastructure, roads, overpasses, etc. don't.

Taxes taken by the province and Federal governments are not passed on to municipalities, or if they are it is crudgingly. Yet it is municpal governments that are expected to provide the infrastructure.

Instead of worrying about provincial fiscal imablances lets look at the real results of the failure of all levels of government to fund our crumbling infrastructure. All the more reason to look at a new form of confederation that includes the municipalities at the table.

And no we don't need more P3's or toll roads that benefit privateers. We have the monies it's a matter of investing them in real physical infrastructure and on going maintenance


n a 2000 study done for the Canadian Federation of Municipalities by McGill University, it was identified that almost 70% of our municipal infrastructure is in need of repair. This includes roads, bridges, sewage collection and treatment, and water distribution and treatment. The study also estimates that it will take over $20 billion to rehabilitate these facilities to year 2000 standards. Between 2001 and 2003, according to their own reports, Infrastructure Canada, a federal department that you would think would address the crumbling infrastructure in Canada, paid out over $4 billion in grants. Of that $4 billion, not a single cent was allocated to fixing existing infrastructure. Of the funds, according to the report, 43% went to new public transit, 7% went to new urban roads, 12% went to tourism, 4% to expansion of broadband Internet, 22% for new highways, 11% for new water projects and 1% to new housing.editorial - Political opinion and review - Politics Canada




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Shameless Plug

The 2006 Canadian Blog Awards are now open for nominations. Looking forward to all your votes.

See:

Blog Awards


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