Bothered Boy

So Brexit is still happening, and it's still a pandemic, and this could still have massive repercussions for Brits and the global order. It may also result in the breakup of the United Kingdom and be yet another crisis for Europe to try and manage and deal with, and we absolutely are not talking about it even though we should be.

Well, I'm beyond bothered today. No, that title is not hyperbole. Proposed legislation in the House of Commons would not only put equality for disabled persons at risk, but it would also effectively try and gently encourage disabled people to consider killing themselves. This is beyond reprehensible and should elicit outrage from every single Canadian.

We are often told that Canadian history is largely peaceful and full of compromise and partnership, but the reality is far more complicated and violent. There's this pervasive myth that "Canada got its independence by asking nicely" but that wasn't really the case. Even after Confederation, rebellion in various forms abounded, and it's high time we talk about it.

A tweet by a Liberal MP inspired this video. That's sad, but not as sad as the contents of the tweet that were proudly declared as if worthy of applause. Governments everywhere need to do more on climate change, but they won't so long as we predictably keep voting for the same two parties who allowed this situation to get so bad in the first place.

We talked about events in Ethiopia, and then India, and now it's time to talk about France. Again. Because protests blew up over there in response to 'Article 24', a proposed law that would have made it illegal to film police and allowed police to decide who was and wasn't considered press. What little coverage there was amounted to "wow, look how pissed off the French are!" rather than "Why are the French so pissed off?" That bothered me, so I made a video about it.

Striking farmers and workers in India have made history by participating in the world's largest strike, estimated to involve over 250,000,000 citizens. It was all to protest the erosion of worker rights and protections - especially for farmers - by the government of Narendra Modi. Kudos to the workers of India!

A crisis is unfolding and escalating in Ethiopia between the government and the Tigray region. Not only could this be destabilizing to Ethiopia, but it could have devastating ramifications for the Horn of Africa region, Egypt, Sudan, and the world at large.

It was recently in the news that Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and his government were silencing doctors and health experts like Dr. Deena Hinshaw. This has also been suggested in Ontario, another conservative-run province. Manitoba, another conservative-run province, is one of the worst COVID hotspots in the world at the moment. Basically, the vast majority of provinces (and the vast majority of Canadians) are being governed by conservatives who are utterly bungling the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

It is Black Friday, and Amazon workers and those in Amazon's supply chain around the world are choosing this day to have a range of protests and strikes to call attention to Amazon's gross conduct and violations. Using the hashtag #MakeAmazonPay workers are demanding respect for their rights, for Amazon to stop dodging taxes, and for them to implement higher environmental standards.

I used some belated birthday money to purchase an actual microphone setup. And now I wish I had done so much sooner. Like, before starting my channel sooner. Sorry everyone. XD