It’s Cocktail Time…!!!
Albert Tokayi Tosomba
Recently at a party, Albert Tosomba, an African Canadian, was allegedly assaulted by two gentlemen. He believes he was attacked because of his race. The North Bay Police have declined to press charges, leaving Albert feeling as though justice has been denied to him… perhaps based on his race. Albert proceeded to begin a Facebook group called Racism and Hate Crimes in North Bay. To date, in a massive show of community support, over 1000 people have joined this group, and the result has been a robust discussion on racial issues in North Bay. Albert himself has discouraged all would-be vigilantes, and is the first to remind everyone that the gentlemen in question are innocent until proven guilty. He wants to spread awareness and he wants his attackers to have their day in court. He wants justice, but even though frustrated, has not become jaded toward North Bay. Albert’s conduct has been inspirational to say the least. Although he points out that there are issues of racism in our city, he is quick to point out that in general the people of North Bay should not be painted with that brush. Have a martini Albert, and thanks for being a member of this community. North Bay could use more people like Albert Tokayi Tosomba.
Some Canadians
Quebecor, the parent company of Sun Media, the parent company of the North Bay Nugget is set to launch Sun TV News, a national news channel, otherwise known as Fox News North. Why the comparison to Fox News? Well, for starters, Kory Teneycke, former Stephen Harper mouthpiece will be running it. Given the extreme right wing tendencies of Quebecor, we can conclude that the Conservative Party now has a new network. So, Martini or Molotov? And who gets it? After all, people in the media have freedom of expression. Just because the NDP or Green Party have no backing that can afford a whole news network, doesn’t mean that idealogical friends (large business interests) of the Conservatives shouldn’t be allowed to. So, it will be a Molotov, and it is for every single Canadian that tunes in Sun TV News without employing their faculties of critical thinking, and without their bullshit detector on high alert. Those will be the people that Fox News North will use to manipulate election results. Fox News has had a devastating effect on the social discourse in the States, Fox News North will have the same effect in Canada unless we are smarter than Americans. Thankfully, we’re supposed to be.
British Petroleum:
Why not give BP a Martini? The obvious thing to do would be to give that corporation a Molotov cocktail filled with enough petroleum to destroy the entire gulf coast, but sometimes the obvious, ain’t the best. BP is a company whose sole purpose is to generate profit and anyone who thinks otherwise is seriously deluded. That is what companies do. Cancer kills, snakes bite, and corporations generate profits. That having been said, people tend to think that corporations should be good citizens of the societies in which they operate. People tend to think this in the almost total absence of any example of a corporation putting anything ahead of profits. This massive oil leak, which is clearly due to BP’s negligent cost cutting in order to maximize profit, and incidentally, risk, provides people with exactly the lesson needed to clear up those delusions of theirs. Governments are not in charge of transnational corporations, transnational corporations are in charge of governments. As Obama stands impotently by, pleading with BP to cap that well, clean up, and compensate people, we all see that Obama is not actually wearing the pants. The pants in question, are being worn by BP. We can all thank BP for clearing up our misconception about how power is structured in our society, and now, we can vote accordingly. There are politicians out there who are not in bed with big business, and all we gotta do to figure out who they are, is figure out what politicians take no money from business interests. Bingo. Since we can vote, we can fix this mess, all thanks to BP educating us.
City Council / Chamber of Commerce Task Force
A martini to every member of city council and this community who fought for those 31 mental health care beds to remain in North Bay. Whether or not it makes more sense to move them to Sudbury is almost irrelevant. At some level, politics are normally involved in these types of decisions. Future governments must be dissuaded from acting against the interests of Nipissing for fear of political retribution. North Bay needs a reputation for making it difficult for governments who would act against OUR economic interests. The efforts of people like Dave Mendicino, Sean Lawlor, and Mac Bain go a long way to establishing this reputation.
Peter Mansbridge and Gordon Campbell
Canadians sure would like to know what these guys were doing at this year’s Bilderberg meeting. For those who are not actively tracking the secret machinations of the world’s elite power brokers… Bilderberg is an annual invitation-only meeting of some of the world’s most influential leaders in government, banking, business, and the media. Usual guests are people like Bill Gates, Henry Kissinger, Condoleeza Rice, Ben Bernanke (Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve), and Mike Harris, who is about to have a library named after him. These meetings are held in the utmost secrecy. It is thought that this small group makes decisions on behalf of all of mankind. When asked directly, they do not confirm this, but, nor do they deny it. Nobody that attends these meetings will open their mouths about it. Not very cool, and not very democratic. I would like to sit down with a couple of nice warm Molotov Cocktails, and ask the elected Premier of British Columbia and the Chief Correspondent of our government funded news network what happened at those meetings, and what, if any instructions they have received from our masters. Gordon Campbell presides over a province that is currently debating privatizing healthcare, and selling off fresh water. I wonder what American bankers and C.E.O.’s had to say to him on that subject, and what promises they made him provided he makes the “right” (pun absolutely intended) decisions on these issues. Peter Mansbridge shapes the news that Canadians are exposed to every night. I want to know why a news correspondent who collects a salary from the Canadian people for the service of providing news, has no news to report on these meetings. Meetings which he would not be invited to, if not for his influential position – a position he would not have, but for the tax dollars of Canadians. Both of those guys owe us an explanation.
