Policy Mic.com and JETAA Ottawa

It’s been more than a week since I’ve posted here, so I figured I should probably write something giving a small update on what I’ve been doing.

About a month ago I was contacted by PolicyMic.com editors and asked if I would be interested in writing for them.  Obviously, I was and have since written 2 articles, with more in the works.  Both were kind of re-purposed blogs, so, if you look at them and you’ve read my previous posts, they may seem similar, but hey, I was just trying to get it done.  They’re probably a bit better too, seeing as there are legitimate editors reviewing the articles.  I really like how they’ve set up this site.  It’s like a public forum meets a news page.  News is created by users who know about their subjects and then debated and debate is encouraged.

Here’s a youtube video explaining how the site works.

Social Media Revolution Statistics in Video

“We don’t have a choice on whether we do social media, the question is how well we do it,” says Erik Qualman, the man behind Socialnomics has released another video that I came across while perusing the social media section of Mashable.  It has some pretty crazy statistics about social media.

One of the sadder facts I took from the video is that Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and Britney Spears have more Twitter followers than the entire populations of Sweden, Israel, Greece, Chile, North Korea and Australia.  That to me is slightly upsetting.  That those three people hold that much influence.  But there are quite a few interesting facts, like that 3 of every 5 gay couples meet online, online gamers will buy more than 6 billion in virtual goods by 2013 and that the Ford Explorer Launch on Facebook generated more traffic than a Super Bowl ad.  Check out the video below, try not to be inspired and awestruck by the Lion King-esque singing and drumming.  SIMBA!!

When No Diggity Escapes

MMMMM, I love me some mash-ups, especially when they consist of R&B from the 90s and modern indie rock.  So, with that, I present, When No Diggity Escapes from YouTube user madden4343.  A mash-up of No Diggity by Blackstreet and When We Escape, an instrumental, by Minus the Bear.  Minus the Bear actually posted this up on their Facebook page, which I think is pretty cool, seeing as at the time of writing the video only has 300 views.

You like?? I like!

The power of Twitter: Oakland MacBook thief caught in ten hours

Earlier tonight, I came across an interesting tweet that someone I follow had themselves retweeted.  Wanting to help, I retweeted it as well.  The person I retweeted it from currently lives in Japan, I live in Ottawa and Joshua Kaufman, well, he lives in California.  This tweet has been retweeted over 100 times, which is the limit to how many people Twitter will say something has been retweeted.

Click the image to go to the link in the tweet

Canada continues to support Japan through local events

For the last month or so I’ve focused on the fundraising aspect of the crisis in Japan and not much has really changed with that.  Before I get into listing the upcoming events that I’ve been made aware of recently.  I wanted to put out this article from the Japan Times written by an American who became a Japanese citizen about the “fly-jin” and difficulty being a Non-Japanese person in Japan during this ordeal.

Better to be branded a ‘flyjin’ than a man of the ‘sheeple’  A short quote from the end of the article is below.

But it’s the NJ [Non-Japanese] who got it particularly bad, since the worst critics were from within their own ranks. The word “fly-jin,” remember, was coined by a foreigner, so this meanness isn’t just a byproduct of systematic exclusion from society. This is sociopathy within the excluded people themselves — eating their own, egging on domestic bullies, somehow proving themselves as “more dedicated than thou” to Japan. What did these self-loathers ultimately succeed in doing? Making NJ, including themselves, look bad.

That being said, the situation in Japan is still dire.  Over this past weekend friends running Hearts for Haragama, a grassroots charity in Fukushima that I’ve written about previously trekked to help clean up.  The pictures show that almost 2 months after the earthquake and tsunami, there is still a lot that has to be done.  They also give hope as the owners of the Haragama Kindergarten had a small wedding on the beach, a wedding that was supposed to happen on March 12th.

Orange wave is strong, but splits the vote on the Left.

The new political landscape of Canada is a little more blue today and so are the left of center liberals throughout Canada.  Below are the new colours of Canada, the voting results of 2011 versus the voting results of 2008.  Through these national visuals, you can definitely see more orange, but this election was won in the small, densely populated ridings in Southern Ontario.

Canadian Election Results 2011 via CBC - Click for Interactive Map

Canadian Election Results 2008 via CBC - Click for Interactive Map

The orange wave of the New Democratic Party definitely has come crashing down hard, on the Bloc Quebecois specifically.  The NDP gained ground throughout Quebec, one of the major battlegrounds in any Canadian Election.

Harper’s Conservatives gain majority: first impressions

Here are just a few quick thoughts, before I head to bed.  I’ll be posting my take tomorrow on all that’s gone on in the 41st Canadian election today.  First, great gain for Jack Layton and the NDP.  From 37 to around 103 seats(still hasn’t been confirmed).  Also, Elizabeth May of the Green Party won the first seat for that party ever and the Bloc Quebecois lost almost all of it’s seats, both good things in my eyes.  The Liberal party was destroyed.  And finally, the Conservatives will form a majority government and I’m not very happy about that.

Image via http://scathinglywrongrightwingnutz.blogspot.com

Along with the image, here are a few choice quotes from Twitter that convey my thoughts.

scottfeschuk

“Today we proved that Canadians want change in politics.” – May. “The fuck you did.” – Everyone else.

JasonDeline

Hate seniors? Peace? The environment? Arts? Truth? Democracy? The working class? Accountability? Rejoice.

mnlizzy

@brentertainer I mean, you really thought Canada would have learned something watching what’s happening in America..

canadiancynic

I will try to remember my country fondly, as it sinks beneath the weight of stealth fighters and super-prisons.

revpaperboy

Obviously I moved back from japan too soon

What I write tomorrow can be summarized by the following tweet from the Canadian Press.

The rise in NDP fortunes contributed to vote splits favouring the Tories, especially in Ontario where the Liberals were decimated.

That’s all for now.

Watch what you tweet between 7pm and 10pm EST

Sssshhhhhhhhh!!!!

Between 7pm and 10pm EST today, there supposedly will be very few tweets about the Canadian election, even though results will be pouring in all over the country.  Section 329 of the Canada Elections Act makes it illegal to publish results from other ridings in places where polls are still open.  This year, Twitter and Facebook make enforcing that law a little bit more difficult.

An article in Time magazine Canadian Government Forces Citizens to Watch What They Tweet states:

Canadians need to be careful what they tweet about if they don’t want to end up with a fine of $25,000 or five years in jail.

A Canadian law that prohibits citizens from publishing election results before all the polls in the country have closed holds new meaning in today’s digital age. The law was initially directed at public radio and created to prevent Eastern voting results from affecting Western voting behavior. But given the rate and frequency at which today’s news flows through cyberspace, the law is not only somewhat obsolete but also has significant implications for some channels of information, namely, Twitter.

The Globe and Mail has put out an article detailing why they will not be reporting election results for the next few hours, until the polls close in British Columbia.  They’ve also closed their large comment section.

So during those three hours, we’re abiding by the law in all those platforms. Unfortunately, that means also temporarily disabling our high-volume comments system. To allow our readers to continue to have their say, we’ll be taking in your comments in our liveblog starting at 7 p.m.,where our editors will vet and post the best comments.

Back to the Time article, it does say that angry Canadians are organizing mass tweeting in order to protest the law.  Search #tweettheresults on twitter if you’re interested in that.  It’s been reported by CBCTheHouse that the website has been taken down, but the hashtag continues on.  I’ll be searching on Twitter for information, but I don’t have $25,000 kicking around to blow on sharing my local results in hopes of swaying those on the west coast.  CBC has an article on tweettheresults, have a read.  If you’re one who wants to take part but fly under the radar, there have been quite a few people from outside of Canada, tweeting their email and telling Canadians to send them results and they will tweet them.  And if you’re looking to stay on the lawful side, well, you can use any news source you want or go to ElectionAlmanac.com and they’ll have all the information you could want, at 10pm EST.  Hopefully the next time there’s an election, Canada will have this sorted out.

I don’t see an issue with people tweeting the results.  Each riding is it’s own entity in my eyes.  I voted Liberal today, because of the impact it had in my riding.  I would have done that regardless of what I read on Twitter about the national results in Atlantic Canada.  If one party wins in one riding, that doesn’t mean that it will win in another that is on the other side of the country if people see the results.  The mere idea that people will vote based on results from the other side of the country that they got off the of the internet from a random stranger (read: not so trustworthy source) is ridiculous.  At the end of the day, as long as you vote I don’t care who it’s for, just get out there and do it.

B

UPDATE: CBC broke the ban on reporting the election and began broadcasting just after 9pm EST.  Story from the Globe and Mail here.  CBCNews has tweeted this: For those of you who are wondering – election results on CBC are only available in locations where the polls are closed.

Voters being directed to non-existent polling stations

Only a few hours left to vote in Ontario but just for people out west.  Definitely be aware of the following.

From the Globe and Mail – Messages provide false polling station info

Bogus phone messages that mislead voters about their polling stations have caused widespread disruptions in at least two provinces: Ontario and B.C.

The automated messages claim to be from Elections Canada. They advise residents in both official languages that their polling station has been changed due to an unexpectedly heavy voter turnout.

Article continued in the link above.

Definitely be aware of this and share the article on social  networks so that people are aware.  Whoever is responsible should definitely face some kind of penalty and if there is a candidate or party involved, they should be severely punished and possibly disqualified.  According to United Canada (a website I am not completely trustworthy of) and it’s section on Offences relating to elections and campaigns, I figure it’s a level 3.

a) Obstruction/prevention of voters ability to vote at a state/regional voting station, without violence;
b) Deliberate alteration of state/regional voting papers;

B

Image via Test Canada

Orange wave hasn’t washed over Kanata

An Orange wave has swept over Canada and the last poll I read had the NDP only a few points behind the Conservative party.  The Conservative smear campaign of the Liberal Party is most likely at fault for this rise in NDP voters.  While I do think that voting NDP would be a good thing, if my candidate,  Erin Peters doesn’t even show up to all-candidate debates, why should I vote for her?  An article that highlights her low profile, actually just discusses another NDP candidate’s low profile and, well, Peters’ name is mentioned.  I guess any publicity is good publicity?  Could the reporter not even reach her for comment?  Erin Peters, spent the last year abroad and graduated from Carleton.  She currently works as a Social worker.  That’s about all I know.  I’m pretty sure I could have been the local NDP candidate.  I spent 4 years abroad, I’m currently involved in blogging and sitting on the couch in sweats.  I would have showed up to a debate at the very least.

UPDATE: Found this article from the EMC about Peters, by Phil Ambroziak, who also wrote the EMC’s article on me.  There aren’t any direct from her, just statements from her team.  The most telling quote, “In spite of several attempts made by the EMC, Peters could not be reached for comment by deadline.”

Karen McCrimmon, the local Liberal candidate, seems like a pretty good bet.  Clearly this article from the Examiner is a bit biased, but I feel like it’s a fair assessment and gives a pretty good background of Karen.  Following is a quote from the end of the article.

I have recently discussed my firm belief that voters need to think locally rather than only of Party leaders when they decide where to cast their vote. In this riding there is a clear choice between an incumbent who has abdicated his responsibility to his constituents, and an accomplished alternative who wants only to improve the lives of all of her neighbours.

At this point, I’m voting strategically and I’m voting for a candidate that I believe will make a difference locally.  I wrote yesterday that I was hoping to find a party that reflects my views and to figure out which party has the best chance to oust the local Conservative incumbent.  After having a bit of a look, it became very clear that Karen McCrimmon is most definitely the best candidate to satisfy both of my needs in this election.  Get out and vote today everyone.