UN rejects water as basic human right

OTTAWA - The Harper government can declare victory after a United Nations meeting rejected calls for water to be recognized as a basic human right.

Instead, a special resolution proposed by Germany and Spain at the UN human rights council was stripped of references that recognized access to water as a human right. The countries also chose to scrap the idea of creating an international watchdog to investigate the issue, choosing instead to appoint a new consultant that would make recommendations over the next three years.

Federal officials in Canada said last week that the government wanted to ensure the meeting's outcome reflected the fact that access to water is not formally recognized as a human right in international law. But a social advocacy group said that the position was designed to protect the right to sell water under the North American Free Trade Agreement.

"Clearly (the Harper government is) happy with the status quo: They're not going to be an agent for change, and they're not going to support the right to water," said Maude Barlow, chair of the Council of Canadians. "About every eight seconds, a child somewhere in the world is dying from dirty water, and it's just shocking that our government has taken this position."

The opposition Liberals supported the government's position last week, arguing that the original UN resolution could open the door to bulk water exports to the U.S. because of NAFTA. Liberal water critic Francis Scarpaleggia said he planned to introduce a private member's bill to restrict large transfers of water within Canada to ensure that bulk exports abroad would also be forbidden.

The UN's high commissioner for human rights, Louise Arbour, said last week that the position doesn't reflect Canada's traditional role on the international stage.

"Canada is taking a position that is not the more classic perceived, Canada as the kind of the bridge builder, peacemaker, consensus maker," Arbour told the CBC.

Meantime, Barlow denied that the resolution would require Canada to make bulk water exports to the U.S.

"The requirement in the United States would be for them to conserve first," said Barlow. "There's no requirement as a human right for us to provide water for swimming pools and golf courses and fountains in Las Vegas."

A spokesperson for the Foreign Affairs Department said in an e-mail that there was "no consensus among states regarding the existence, scope or content of such a right."

mdesouza@canwest.com

Just a sample

Panic at the Disco: She's a Handsome Woman

Innocence.
Sunk the glow and drowned in covers,
Send for all your absent lovers things.

Sheepish Wolves.
Looking lived in eating buttons,
Wink, just don`t put your teeth on me.

Accidents.
Let the evening in the backdoor,
filled the room ceiling to the floor.

Beat backbones.
Grazed the poem and made it strange,
I wasn't born to be a skeleton.

Go on,
Grab your hat and fetch a camera.
Go on, film the world before it happens.

Jealous orchard.
The sky is falling off the ceiling
While I`m tucking fibs into a cookie jar.

Bombed reverie.
It`s useless searching in the cupboards
When everything you have is on your back.

-c.s.

lets bake a fake! (conclusive evidence for the contrary)

filled with youthful cynicism
you stomp about self important
chest out, shoulders back
protesting this and that

stuffed with mindless wits
you shout about freedom of choice
warped minds, devoted hearts
loving this and that

clogged with eager emotions
you feel so d*** blue
slit wrists, empty stomach
hating this and that

shown the truth
you look around
world, people
this and that

just what it is

-c.s.

I'm Not There Review

I just watched an hour of the Bob Dylan movie: I'm Not There and I'm going to have to say that it is one of the worst films I have ever seen. It could've been put together a whole lot better but the way it is feels very jumbled, nonsensical, uninteresting, and to be quite frank amateur! I had no invested interest in the movie which is why I didn't finish watching it. I feel it would have been better if it was edited into a chronological sequence instead of jumping every which way which could have worked but actually ended up screwing up the movie. It tries to be a Ulysses but ends up as some cheap drug-store paperback. Some hail it as a great work of art but in my opinion I think it was horrible.

Despite all that however, the acting is great, except for Cate Blanchett who just didn't seem to fit into the role. I especially liked Christian Bale's portrayal.

What other critics say:

"There are those who will applaud what Haynes and his actors have accomplished, and I can understand its appeal on an intellectual level. But I am not a supporter of film without form or art without structure."

"Even with new information provided in the film, however, his personality remains not so much elusive as cantankerous, particularly in contrast with the expansiveness of his songs. That gap gives I'm Not There something of a hollow centre."

"It's not nearly as enjoyable as one of his rambling, meditative songs, though perhaps it is aspiring to be the cinematic equivalent. Give me "Tangled Up in Blue" any day over this incoherent, tangled trip."

"Too often, it’s the MOVIE that isn’t there. What’s meant to be archetypal comes across as superficial."

"It doesn't work. It is just a mess -- though the sound track, full of Dylan songs is, of course, good to hear."

-c.s.

Life Rolling into a Huge Ball

After a long list of things going wrong something finally goes right. Pretty. Odd. has leaked onto the album and although I was planning on buying the album I downloaded it! :D

It is an amazing album. I'm listening to it right now: see:

----------------
Now playing: Panic At The Disco - When the Day Met The Night
via FoxyTunes

WOW!!!

I have only a few more days left of school. This week is my last full week and then I have 2 days the week after and an exam the week after that. Then I'm finished!!


DONE!!!! I can't wait!

And on April 3rd I can find out if I'm off to teacher's college next year or if I have to take the suicide route...just kidding!

I've eaten nothing but chocolate all day. :S

Well, what an interesting post eh?

I plan on getting my chapter outlines for R271 done when I have a week off before volunteering at Hall again. And after Hall is work and after work is school and after school is more work!!!

I never get a break! LOL!!!!!

Well, I'm going to listen to Pretty Odd some more!!



----------------
Now playing: Panic At The Disco - The Piano Knows Something I Don't Know
via FoxyTunes


-c.s.

In Response to Stephen:

My cousin, Stephen, wrote a note that inspired me to write my own.

You can read his note here!

Without further ado...

I believe in liberal principles of morality. I believe in extended government influence on economy, education, and industry. I don't believe in capitalism or privatized corporations. I believe that Christ's teachings lead us to be more liberal and concerned with world-wide humanity over private interests.

I believe in unlimited free speech because the government and its people need to be constantly challenged.

I do not believe that electoral democracy is the best form of institutional regimes because of its flaws but I do believe that people should control the government.

I believe we should not judge other countries on their economic value to us but that if they require our help or our punishment we should step up and lead the way.

I believe in universal healthcare, free education, and opportunity for everyone. I believe it is our own duty whether we be Christian, Muslim, Jew, or Atheist to help those in need.

I leave you with this quotation from Thomas Jefferson:

When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.
When the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-c.s.

Shtuff!

I'm just bored and felt like giving a little update.

I took a nap today---a really long nap. I really enjoy sleeping when I'm sleeping but when I'm awake I feel guilty about all the time I've wasted. How many of you feel like that? I think it has to do with dreaming. I just have really good dreams. I find it a lot easier to get out of bed if I've had a bad dream or a nightmare then if I had a really good dream. The best dreams are flying dreams, even if I am lost in the dream or flying away from something it is still an amazing feeling. And I try to explain to others in my dream how to fly but no one ever listens. It's just like swimming. You push yourself into the air and then kick---yes it requires effort but gah! you're FLYING!!!! The strangest flying dream I've ever had was after watching Death to Smoochy. The whole world was comprised of people in dinosaur costumes, the girls wore pink and the boys wore green. All the girls were related--they were princesses---and only the girls could fly! So we had to build this giant tower. I don't remember much else detail; it was about 4 or 5 years ago.

The days do not seem to be passing by. Two weeks ago, I had 30 days left of school, and now I have 27 days left of school. What's up with that? I must have counted funny or rounded up or something. It just doesn't make any sense. Either way, I'm glad for this week. I don't have anything due but I still plan on working on some stuff to alleviate myself in the coming weeks. I have two essays and three exams! I'll be done on April 9th and on April 3rd I can find out if I got accepted to any of the schools I applied to for teacher's college!

I completely cleaned by room on the weekend and found all of my assignments from last year. I knew I was hoarding them somewhere. I can't wait until I can move everything back home and set up my room. I don't think I'm going to have enough space for everything. I have way too many books but I don't want to give any away--correction, I can't give any away. It would be physically impossible for me to part with any of my books. You know, as soon as you give it away or throw it out you need it-->CONFESSIONS OF A PACK RAT!!

I have a ton of things on my to do list for this summer. I want to first finish R271 and then work on some lyrics for my imaginary band based on Ulysses called the Mollycoddles. I don't have the time to be in a band but if you want my lyrics you're more than welcome to help yourself to them. The only stipulation is that if you happen to become semi-famous or even famous, you must credit me for the writing. I don't ask for money, royalties, or anything except credit and maybe a hug and a glass of milk! Life would be a lot easier if we could pay off debts with hugs and cookies. I'd become a professional baker!!

My bed is seductively calling my name even though my eyes are not yet drooping. Off I must to read and dream. A sweet night's dream to you and your all!

-c.s.

batman

nananananananananananana BATMAN!! BATMAN!!! BATMAN!!!!

I just finished watching Batman Begins and although some of the dialogue was really cheesy, I felt that it was completely awesome! I can't wait for Dark Knight. It's going to be really cool to see what they do with it.

I really felt the movie combined different elements from all the other movies but still maintained its own "personality". I'm anything but a purist when it comes to adapting comics into movies or anything into movies (as long as the author didn't expressly say, "don't do it") so all this nonsense about sticking to the comic is, to me, just pretentious show-offs saying "I know the comics!"

Anywho, that's it. Just felt like writing something since I haven't written in a while and I really enjoyed Batman Begins.

Now excuse me while I catch up on some sleep!!!

-c.s.

p.s. Christian Bale is an amazing actor!

The light...

keeps going on and off!


I have so many ideas. I want to write a screenplay for Ulysses. I don't want to give too much away but I already have the Molly situation figured out for the movie and if ever I get to it, it's going to be a surprise.

I only have three weeks left and then I can really devote my time to R271 which I really want to get done before anything else.

I don't have much else to say except that I've noticed that I've started all my sentences with "I"...

-c.s.

Life

"Cash for life", "prison for life"

Actually the "life" in these phrases mean 25 years. Since when did 25 years come to mean life? Does that mean that my life is almost over? Does this mean that my parents are zombies?

I need some answers!!


-c.s.

Conversation about the military

This is a conversation I had with TJ. Just thought I'd share it because it might explain a bit more about my ideals.

TJ (3:26 PM):

32MILLION CANADIANS PROTEST ON CANADA DAY AGAINST THERE CORRUPT GOVERNMENT

Courtney (3:27 PM):

did you see what I wrote on the wall for that group?

TJ (3:27 PM):

no

TJ (3:27 PM):

what did u write ?

Courtney (3:27 PM):

that it was groups like that that prevent the right from taking us seriously what with all the caplocks, spelling mistakes, and grammatical errors

TJ (3:28 PM):

lol they did comment back to that.

TJ (3:28 PM):

The people who run this site are just as authoritarian and deceitful as our so called "Corrupt Government." I posted some notes disagreeing with that they said, and they deleted my comments. They did not even try to disprove what I had to see, they merely deleted it. So hypocritical. Go on deleted these comments too. I will keep posting. Continue to prove that you are not really interested in just

TJ (3:29 PM):

"It bugs me when SOME RUDE people that i had to delete their posts focus more on the problems of spelling and of the wright, anyway thank you to all the Supports that focus on the real problems and look past the little things."

Courtney (3:29 PM):

yes, i got a private message that was very insulting saying i should start my own group if i knew what i was doing and stuff like that, i'd rather not associate with those people

Courtney (3:29 PM):

i read that

TJ (3:29 PM):

lol.

Courtney (3:31 PM):

it really is people like that that prevent people from taking our message seriously though, you know how many conservatives are on the internet posting pictures of protestors with misspelt banners and dressed like hippies! they are just inviting people to ridicule our fight

TJ (3:31 PM):

well then u should have just told them u will help them out with there spelling n shit and u could have corrected it ..

Courtney (3:33 PM):

i tried but they are a bunch of, no offense, high school students who will believe anything you tell them if it goes against the government; they are just like the people they are fighting, they refuse to educate themselves about what they are fighting against and it just gets me so angry, don't bother inviting me to those groups anymore

Courtney (3:33 PM):

its not like facebook groups are going to make a difference in the world anyways

TJ (3:34 PM):

lol.

TJ (3:34 PM):

well this group has 1 lady in it whos not around right now but she hosts most major protests in toronto.

Courtney (3:35 PM):

i hope she spells better on her placards

Courtney (3:35 PM):

protests don't do anything, when are we going to learn that too

Courtney (3:36 PM):

it didn't help for vietnam, it didn't help for iraq, its not going to help for anything

Courtney (3:36 PM):

the government doesn't care, you already elected them into power, there's nothing you can do about it

Funny...

...not really!

There's a military recruiter outside of my dorm right now. I'm confused as to why he is here. Why would people in university want to join the army? I mean their education is likely paid for by OSAP or their parents. They already have a bright future in whatever field they are studying in. And this is a left-leaning institution.



Now you know what is funny!

A good British comedy. Black Books is really funny and I love Dylan Moran's accent. I love it when people say "I tink" or "I tought". It makes me giggle like a school girl!

You know what's even more funny!

I'm just writing all this nonsense to further procrastinate working on my essay. There's no reason for my procrastination. I practically have the thing written in point form. I just need to put in a "the", "however", and a "heretofore" every now and again to be finished. Maybe it's just the fact that it is so boring and pointless that I don't want to do it.



I'd rather be outside ranting about the military then anything else right now. Or maybe I'd rather be sleeping...




Aside from this essay, a three-day migraine, and burning my lip (yes I have a blister) on a piece of pasta, there's not much else going on.

I only have 22 days left of school including weekends; that's only 12 days of classes left! I can't wait to be out of here!!!!!!!!

FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDOM!!!!!

Here's a picture of Dylan Moran to keep us all satisfied until then!

Superheros meet Classical Art

-c.s.

School

You know what's difficult! Trying to write a stupid essay (and I'm not using stupid as a throw-away diss here) when you have a migraine. For three days I have been thrown into an apathetic state because I can't concentrate long enough to care. This essay is completely pointless, moreso this class is completely pointless. All we ever do is talk about what it means to be homosexual. That's 24 weeks on the same topic. Well, I've completely lost interest in this blog entry so here's a picture:




-c.s.

according to google:

number of horns on a unicorn acre = 7.76750034 × 10²⁴ US teaspoons per light year

-C.S.

...

Being anti-war...where do we draw the line?

It is easy for us, as privileged North Americans, to be anti-war. We can say that killing people is bad and that we shouldn't do it. We are indoctrinated with anti-war sentiments from bumper stickers to songs. (Side rant: I hate John Lennon. "Wars over if you want it" is not a feasible solution. Sometimes people don't want the war to be over: see below.)

In less-privileged countries, the inclination towards violence and warfare is much much higher. When you are oppressed, when your attempts at diplomacy fail, the only solution is revolution--the only solution is war, violence, death! Most revolutions are sparked when the CIA steps in removes a democratically elected head of state (or a head of state that is 'beloved' among the people) and institutes a dictator. These people have seen diplomacy and know that it doesn't work!

The reason for going to war, not the war itself is what should be scrutinized. The military and their training is what should be examined.

This is just another example of unthinking devotion; another example of why the right laughs at the left. Don't let this happen. Be what you preach! THINK!

-C.S.

*untitled*

"witnessing"--why i don't

Anyone who has broached the subject of Christianity with me knows that I am four-square against "witnessing". For those of you who haven't let me explain.

Witnessing is when a Christian goes up to a person and tries to convert them to Christianity. Some of the techniques include "Is Jesus in charge of your life?" or the more hands-on scare-tactic "Have you ever told a lie?". In the second approach, employed by the likes of Kirk Cameron and his partner Ray Comfort, an evangelical (a Christian who wants to convert others to Christianity is my loose definition) approaches a person and argues that if you ever told a simple white lie that you are going to burn in hell for eternity unless you turn to Jesus. This is the evangelicalism with which I have a major problem.

On the one hand, a simple white lie is not prohibited by the commandments and you won't go to hell for telling your wife that she looks great in that dress. The commandment is Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour not the misinterpreted Thou shalt not lie. The commandment prohibits a specific, limited, and despicable sort of lie--a lie told in court. But there is no Biblical rule forbidding simple untruth. So evangelists who use this approach would be better off telling the people that if they had committed murder and not asked for forgiveness they would go to hell which would probably make evangelism a lot more dangerous!

The second problem I have has to do with the above as well--scare tactics! Don't go up to a person and say that they are going to hell because they are horrible people--it doesn't work. People don't believe in Hell anymore (more about this later). You have to show them the positive sides of being a Christian, such as involvement in social justice. (Note: Don't use the aphorism: God is Love. This is too sentimental for atheists and the like.) I have come across this passage that I would like to share: "The most I could possibly do would be to urge her to seek salvation. But I would have to do it most carefully. One does not persuade a butterfly to light on one's hand by brandishing a sword". That is an amazing epigram for what I'm trying to say here.

One thing that I think some Christians can't grasp is that atheists do not believe in the Bible. That is why they laugh at you and tear you to shreds if you draw all your proof from the Bible.
This really bothers me when I watch a debate between atheists and Christians and the Christian debater argues that it is so because it says so in the Bible. I know what it is like to be an atheist. The Bible is just another piece of fiction to atheists. They don't believe in it and therefore attempting to argue from it is pointless! POINTLESS!!!!! When you are trying to argue for the existence of God do not look to the Bible! (Blasphemy you say! Nay say I!) St. Augustine did not philosophize just for something to do (okay maybe he did or maybe he didn't, either way we can benefit from his work). He created something called the Five Proofs of God found in his Summa Theologica Part I. These are incredible and are one part of the reason for my conversion. I won't detail them here as they are quite lengthy (another post, another day) but you can find the full version here or the wikipedia version here. Another great logical conversion is that of C.S. Lewis. He argued this: Men (all humans) crave things and those cravings are satisfied. If a man is thirsty, his craving is satisfied with water. If a man is hungry, his craving is satisfied with food. If a pregnant woman craves, she can be satisfied with pickles and ice cream! If man craves for a higher spiritual being, the logical conclusion is that there must be one. Tada!

Lastly, the reason why I don't evangelize is found in the Bible itself. First let me clarify that I do not believe in any of the books following the Gospel of John, including all letters, the book of Acts, and Revelations because (and I won't get into detail, another day, another post) they basically contradict what Jesus says in the Gospels. The passage I refer to when arguing about evangilism is Luke 6:41-42. It reads: "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." I do not have the arrogance nor the audacity to assume that I am cleansed enough to tell others that they are going to go to Hell. No one can be certain about Heaven or Hell, Jesus said so. No one knows except God (and in that I include the Holy Ghost and Jesus) what it is like and who will go where so don't be so arrogant as to assume that you are going to Heaven because you don't know!

Well, that's enough out of me for one day. I have an essay to finish. I just wanted to clarify a few things out there.

And just in case you didn't catch it, I am Christian. I believe in the Bible but I also know what it is like to be a non-believer.

-C.S. (Lewis?? lol, jk)

fun with photos