viridiian.

Arnold: “Sweet, we’re internet famous!”

Spencer: “131,000?!”

Arnold: “What are notes? What does that mean, is that good?”

Petition information:

PETITION TO THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA

Whereas:

Canadian Blood Services (CBS) will not accept blood donations from men who have sex with men, if they had a male sexual partner within a year;

The ban focuses on gender and sexual identity over sexual behaviours more likely to indicate risk of sexual disease, despite the fact CBS screens all blood from all donors for a variety of factors, including HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases;

The ban creates and reinforces negative stigma surrounding men who have sex with men, and prevents potentially healthy donors from donating blood; and

CBS misgenders trans women as men for the purposes of blood donation and focuses on their gender affirmation surgery status, despite there not being a single documented case of a trans person donating infected blood.

We, the undersigned, concerned citizens, call upon the government of Canada to act now to repeal the blood ban against men who have sex with men.

Sign the petition here.

Flare: Empyrean Campaign is a Diablo-esque retro dungeon crawling hack n’ slash RPG adventure filled with monsters, loot and side-quests!

Dear Minerva,

Thank you so much for your kind letter of the 17th. It is always a pleasure to hear from you. I do appreciate your waiving the rules about familiars to allow Wednesday to bring little Homer - she dotes on that spider, and I don’t think she could consider Hogwarts home without his company.

We were delighted but completely unsurprised by the children’s Sorting. Of course Wednesday is a Ravenclaw - she has always had a brilliant mind, and it is rather traditional for the women in our family. Slytherin might have been a possibility, with her cleverness and ambition, but sadly (and quietly, between friends) I must admit the wrong sort have rather taken over that House at the moment. Death Eaters are so vulgar. Gomez, naturally, is over the moon about our little Harry being a fellow Gryffindor - the world does need more dashing, brave, and reckless men. They make life so interesting for the rest of us, don’t you agree? And I am certain he will be safe under your care, after his rather difficult start in life, poor child. That aunt and uncle of his are just too terribly common to protect him adequately - I am grateful Albus saw sense and left him with us rather than her.

I appreciate your bringing to my attention the small difficulty between Harry and Draco - I shall have a word with Narcissa. (Lucius is still being terribly silly about that little peacock incident, and refuses to speak to Gomez at all. Men can be so ridiculously proud. And they really did look so much better in black.) Really, though, Harry was only defending his friend. I probably should warn you that Wednesday writes that she is teaching young Longbottom a few of her more subtle defenses - I sincerely doubt Draco will trouble him in future if he uses those. I assure you, none of them cause permanent damage, only temporary discomfort, and she is well aware that they are only for self-defense, not mere childish aggression. Addamses do not start fights, but we do finish them, and Wednesday has always looked out for her brothers.

At least that little incident allowed you to see Harry’s flying skills in time to recruit him for the Quidditch team. I think he shall be an excellent Seeker - he was always the best at bat-spotting on summer evenings, and then there was the time he “borrowed” Gomez’s broom to rescue Pugsley’s pet octopus Aristotle, who had developed an unaccountable taste for tree-climbing, but had neglected to learn how to climb down. It was a successful rescue, even though he was mildly hampered on his descent by Aristotle clinging to his face in terror.

Please send my apologies to Severus for that unfortunate incident in Potions class. I should have warned him that Wednesday was experimenting with, shall we say, some variant recipes. I am quite certain, however, that Miss Parkinson’s hair will grow back normally, and that the snakes are only a temporary embellishment.

My best regards, and do drop by for tea if you ever happen to be in the neighborhood. Thing has perfected your favorite shortbread recipe - I do believe he has a little crush on you. Or perhaps it is merely that you are the only visitor we have had, outside of family, who is sensible enough to shake hands with him without flinching.

Yours truly,

“When Fred Lee was just one year old, his father said goodbye to him and his mother in China and returned to Canada. He wouldn’t see him for the next 18 years, prevented from joining him by a racist Canadian law.

“Unless you experience growing up without a father figure, without someone to love you and protect you — I can’t explain how it feels after the fact,” said Lee, who is now 86 years old and lives in Halifax.

“I can’t express the feeling when I first saw my father.”

While July 1 is celebrated as Canada Day, for many Chinese-Canadians it is remembered by another name — “Humiliation Day.”

On July 1, 1923, the Chinese Immigration Act or “Chinese Exclusion Act” was passed. The law stopped all Chinese immigration into Canada and divided hundreds of families like Lee’s for years. It was only repealed in 1946.

Lee’s father had emigrated to Canada before the law. After the legislation was put in place, he travelled back to China temporarily and then returned to Canada. But his new family was forbidden from following and he left his young son and wife behind.

Before the exclusion act was passed, the government collected tax on every Chinese person who entered the country. The tax started at $50 per person but shot up to $500 as more Chinese began moving to Canada.

By 1923, the government of Canada had collected over $33 million in head tax.“

I like Canada. For the most part it does have a lot good going for it. I have no interest in leaving Canada unless I have to. If i had to move elsewhere, maybe Northern or central Europe? Not sure.

With that said that doesn’t mean that Canada is not without fault. There are serious issues in Canada that do need to be paid attention to, and dealt with. We need to own up to our horrible, colonial history and make significant changes if we ever want to progress as a Country.

I like to think that those who love their country want it to be a place that all of those within it will love as well. Which means that you have to fight for those who are not treated well enough in your country. 

Seeing mistakes and calling them out is a form of love. 

A lot.

Here’s a short list I made a little while ago:

-Trudeau is considering selling our ports & airports.

-Trudeau is pushing an infrastructure bank, which is going to privatize public infrastructure.

-Trudeau selling weapons to Saudi Arabia.

-Trudeau approving 2 huge oil pipelines and happy about Donald Trump’s approval of Keystone XL.

-Despite making it pretty clear before the election that communities and First Nations would need to give consent for projects, Trudeau has backtracked and now says that this is no longer true.

-Justin Trudeau bailing out Bombardier with millions, doesn’t care that their CEO’s are getting huge bonuses as they’re laying off thousands of workers.

-Their Marijuana legislation is filled with harsh penalties, and it is not true legalization. There will be limits on the amount you can grow and carry (and if you exceed these limits you can be arrested or charged), and new harsh penalties related to youth & driving under the influence.

-Justin Trudeau’s government is refusing to pay First Nations children equally, despite the Human Rights Commission sending him notices saying he has to (they have now sent 4 compliance orders for him to comply with the law).

-Justin Trudeau’s government is still underfunding First Nations education.

-Justin Trudeau supports Donald Trump’s bombing of Syria.

-Justin Trudeau is in favour of Regime Change in Syria, which many feel could escalate violence in that region.

-Justin Trudeau has not ruled out sending the military into Syria.

-Justin Trudeau is refusing to change the ‘Safe Third Country’ agreement to help refugees fleeing the USA.

-Justin Trudeau is refusing to fund a basic income pilot project on PEI.

-Justin Trudeau abandoned electoral reform (a big election promise) and has stuck with the First Past the Post system (a system the Conservative Party of Canada also supports).

-Justin Trudeau refuses to decriminalize marijuana in the meantime. Cops will arrest thousands more people for marijuana possession before 2018.

-Justin Trudeau is refusing to pardon anyone for marijuana possession despite knowing full well how harmful this can be for people job searching or crossing the border.

-Justin Trudeau is not in favour of a $15/hour minimum wage.

-Despite his feminist rhetoric, Status of Women Canada received no new funding in the 2017 budget.

-Justin Trudeau broke a campaign promise to close a tax loophole that largely benefits millionaire CEO’s.

-Justin Trudeau is breaking indigenous rights to consent with permits given on the Site C Dam and Kinder Morgan Oil Pipeline.

-Justin Trudeau’s tax cut for the middle cut, benefits the top 10% of income earners the most. Those making under $40,000 per year get nothing.

-Justin Trudeau still hasn’t changed or repealed the draconian anti-terrorism bill, Bill C-51.

-Despite a push from the NDP, Trudeau is refusing to expand our healthcare system to cover things like Pharmacare.

-Justin Trudeau is maintaining Stephen Harper’s cuts to healthcare transfers.

-Justin Trudeau is maintaining Stephen Harper’s weak climate change targets

.-Justin Trudeau wants to delay a promise to cut methane (a potent greenhouse gas) emissions for 3 years or more.

There’s plenty more than that. Yes, arguably Justin Trudeau is better than Stephen Harper, but that is a very low bar to pass.

This is point #5:

-Despite making it pretty clear before the election that communities and First Nations would need to give consent for projects, Trudeau has backtracked and now says that this is no longer true.

Pre-2015 election Justin Trudeau:

“Canadians must be able to trust that government will engage in appropriate regulatory oversight, including credible environmental assessments, and that it will respect the rights of those most affected, such as Indigenous communities. While governments grant permits for resource development, only communities can grant permission.“ (x)

Post-2015 Prime Minister Trudeau:

Trudeau says First Nations ‘don’t have a veto’ over energy projects

How so? For starters.

American finance grew on the back of slaves

Economic Consequences of Segregation

GI Bill: White male affirmative action program

Predatory Lending in Black Communities and Black Wealth

African-Americans With College Degrees Are Twice As Likely to Be Unemployed as Other Graduates

America’s giant wealth disparity is driven by a history of racist redlining

Black Graduates From Top Colleges Face Discrimination In Job Search, Salaries

A Black College Student Has The Same Chances Of Getting A Job As A White High School Dropout

40 Acres and a Mule Would Be at Least $6.4 Trillion Today—What the U.S. Really Owes Black America

Racial Bias and Interstate Highway Planning

Race, Opportunity and Uneven Development in Urban America

so please…

A barrage of criticism from think-tanks, economists and opposition MPs is tearing into a Liberal plan for a private Infrastructure Bank – but the Trudeau government is fast-tracking what NDP MP Guy Caron calls “a reverse Robin Hood scheme.”

After election, the Liberals abandoned a platform pledge to “use the government’s strong credit rating” to fund infrastructure, opting instead for an investor-recommended Infrastructure Bank.

The Infrastructure Bank would collect fare, fee and toll revenue when Canadians use infrastructure financed by the Bank – transit, roads, bridges, waterworks, etc. – and remit it back to the Bank’s private investors.