Getting young Canadians involved in issues that impact us globally.
What's your Just Because?
So what exactly do we do? We run events, such as an awesome development related video contest. YOU could win a free trip anywhere in the world!
We are currently renovating and designing the next phase of the campaign BUT we are committed to raising awareness, about social justice issues. FOLLOW US! We promise not to disappoint.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
money money money, MONEY!
Is International Foreign AID a good thing?
Not according to a large majority of the people in Yemen who are yet to see the benefits.
According to a recent article in the Guardian 45% of the people in Yemen are going hungry, unemployment is at 70% and, according to the IMF, the economy contracted by 10.5% in 2011.
In a predictable fashion, the government is doing what it can to secure MORE AID - as “essential to Yemen’s future development.” BUT there is a debate about how beneficial AID really is … especially given that aid organizations have to overcome corrupt institutions and inefficient bureaucracies.
Hesitancy and ill feeling toward foreign aid is strong in Yemen (and elsewhere) as highlighted by Atiaf al-Wazir, (a researcher and blogger) :
“We have a corrupt government that lacks the capacity to handle large amounts of aid. Before we keep pumping aid, we should build the capacity of the government and make sure it is more transparent so that the money can actually reach the people it is intended for.”
Perhaps it is true that both the reliance on, and business of, foreign aid, causes more harm than good?
…
Read further about the situation in Yemen at: http://bit.ly/Vxrjym
OR CHECK OUT a billionaires perspective on Foreign Aid, and recommendation to the British government to “‘turn off the golden taps’ of foreign aid and stop pandering to ‘St Bob and Bono’” !! http://bit.ly/PCTjMX
For Republicans, Canada is a convenient truth
It’s interesting to see how foreign relations comes into domestic politics, regardless of facts on the ground. Canada is portrayed by American neocons as a Marxist wasteland when they need it to be and a fiscally conservative, low federal taxed haven when they please. Something to think about.
George Clooney raised almost $15 million for President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign at the actor’s Los Angeles home in May. For his second act, Clooney is set to arrive Monday in Geneva, a center for international organizations, governance and business.
Organizers expect to pull in a more modest amount of about $500,000 from U.S. donors for Obama’s campaign, with many flying in to Geneva from around the world.
Americans Abroad for Obama, the event’s sponsor, says on its Web site that guests are paying $15,000 per person to dine with Clooney, $5,000 for a photo with him and $1,000 to attend a reception before the dinner. About 30 people are attending the dinner, with at least 100 at the reception.
The Center for Responsive Politics reported recently on all the money President Obama and Mitt Romney have received from Americans abroad.
Youth day, everyday!
2012 International Youth Day: Building a Better World: Partnering with Youth… August 12 was declared International Youth Day by the UN in 1999.
So what has the UN done for youth, other than passing a Resolution 54/120 to declare this magnificent day so that everyone can remember youth once in a while?
Quite a bit. But more could be and should be done.
You gotta give credit when credit is due. Some cool stuff happens August 12 every year.
BUT… there’s always a But. What youth need is better future. That comes with better planning. Better management of resources. Less war mongering and more caring about what kind of planet are we leaving for the youth we commemorate today.
A bullet costs much less than a piece of bread, or medication to treat Neglected Tropical Diseases, or stationary so a child can learn how to read and write, or… many other things.
Yet, for instance in Canada, we spend billions of dollars every year in arms races for wars we’ll never fight and unlikely enemies we’ll never face.
Let’s just hope that a new generation of leaders would have the sense to change the development discourse more towards where it should be: focused on the future of youth.
Happy International Youth Day everyone!
R.
A brief history of campaign finance. George Washington didn’t mess around.
Today in history, The Japanese-American Internment Compensation Bill is Signed by President Ronald Reagan.
In 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which was used almost exclusively to intern Americans of Japanese descent. By 1943, more than 110,000 Japanese Americans had been forced from their homes and moved to camps.
Forty-six years later, on August 10, 1988, President Reagan signed the Japanese-American Internment Compensation Bill. The bill acknowledged the injustice of the internment, apologized for it, and provided a $20,000 cash payment to each person who was interned.
Pictured above: First-grade children of Japanese ancestry during flag pledge ceremony at a public school in San Francisco prior to internment. 4/20/42
Below: President Reagan signs the Reparations Bill for Japanese-Americans in the Old Executive Office Building. 8/10/88
Obama pushes small-dollar donors
“If we don’t step it up, we’re in trouble,” the Obama campaign pleaded in a fundraising email Monday that emphasized the threat of “billionaires and super PACs” that are seeking to defeat the president.
The email message also included the graphic above that name-checked casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who, along with his family, has donated more than $30 million to Republican super PACs so far this election cycle.
GOP-aligned super PACs and nonprofits and Republican party committees have buoyed Mitt Romney’s own presidential bid. Party committees have higher contribution limits than candidates’ campaigns and super PACs and nonprofits have no contribution limits at all.
Thanks to these higher contribution limits, Romney and his Romney Victory Fund — which benefits his campaign and several Republican party groups — has now outraised the president and his joint fundraising operation for three months in a row.
In contrast, President Barack Obama has long sought to mobilize grassroots donors.
According to campaign finance filings with the Federal Election Commission, about 60% of the money that Obama has raised has come in chucks of $200 or less. And about three-fourths of the money Obama has raised has come from people giving less than $1,000.
Romney’s campaign has only relied on donations of $200 or less for about 20 percent of its funding. And more than half of the money Romney has raised has come from people giving at least $2,000, FEC records show.
Federal law prohibits individuals from donating more than $5,000 to either Romney or Obama — that’s $2,500 a piece for their primary and general election funds.
(Source: opensecretsdc)
My Just Because, Marginalized Youth.
Here in Canada, gang violence has been a serious problem for urban areas for a long time. But the problem is not that we don’t have enough police officers. How much can the police do? Militarization of marginalized communities only adds to the tension in those areas.
What Mayor Ford is proposing is merely political pandering to the Right. More guns for the police, more officers, more fire power. There are many people who feel that’s the way to go when dealing with gang problems.
To put it in the most simple terms possible, what they fail to realize or decide to ignore is that even if we incarcerate all the criminals in Toronto, gang culture won’t subside unless the at-risk youth are given alternative lifestyle choices to that of being involved in a gang: chances of respectable employment, opportunities for civil involvement, a sense of community and support from the ‘fat cats’ sitting in Queens Park.
Obese or not, the feline controlling our democracy need to get their act together and realize that, Green, Orange, Red or Blue need to gather and develop solutions for these problems. If appropriate attention is not invested in these areas, the criminal activity in Toronto and other metropolitan areas will soar in the next decade and then we will have impulsive criminal activities, even in beautifully constructed gated neighbourhood the ‘job creator’ class lives in.
Now lets put this in economical terms, when young Canadians don’t finish high school….. It costs the country, annually……. wait for it 10.3 BILLION freaking DOLLARS in private earnings and a whopping 378 Million Dollars in public revenue in taxes. (source: http://bit.ly/OXb1wG)
How do we help at-risk youth? Yes. We need to stop guns from getting into their hands. But we must also invest in them, help them grow, allow them to reach their potentials.
Here’s to a better future, for all of us. :)
R.
Gun violence cannot be ignored. Some say its always been there and now its being publicized. To that I say, the Wisconsin shooter had a 9/11 tattoo. The #TheatreShooting in Colorado was done by a guy that was holding various guns, big and small, ALL legally acquired.
It is about time. Why are white supremacist nut jobs allowed to buy guns? How about people with mental instabilities?
The discussion should be about mental health and gun control, intertwined. But its not being addressed because its an election year in the US. Leaders need to address this, its nothing short of disastrous to stall societal planning for a year, every 4 years because of political games.
R.
