Alexandra-Sky

What makes you think she was inactive during the election campaign? This proves my point. You don't get any attention until you do something "drastic".

She is not asking for your sympathy. And don't be fooled, she knew exactly what the "consequences" would be when she planned this...

As you have already seen, she has gotten a ton of media coverage! People are talking--whether they dissaprove or are enlightened, they're talking. And that was the point. She does not care about getting another job with the government, and frankly, I wouldn't either. I do not know much about the specifics of the civil rights movement but I'm sure that, like all social justice movements, the civil disobedience (i.e. Rosa Parks refusing to sit at the back of the bus) carries along the movement. It is just the less heard of of tactics because those in power and those who write history don't want to let the rest of us know that disobeying the rules can some times bring larger change.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgQJwd50i9A&NR=1 See the video above. People are all up in arms about the "appropriateness" of this action. Sigh... If we can't take someone standing up quietly in Parliament with a sign in their hands, Canada will never see the change it needs to be the truly just country it already claims to be.

www.takethecapital.wordpress.com

I will be there in protest. Will post the Facebook event link when I have a minute!

I never realized how much moms actually do until I moved out and was having difficulty caring and providing for myself. I called my mom up and said "you did this for 3 of us! Holy!!" Most moms raise a family, work full time and take care of all the domestic work! And single moms! Don't even get me started! Happy moms day, I'm writing my mom a long card to ensure she knows how much I appreciate all her hard work! Xoxo Sky

Saraaaaa!!! I've planned a ga-jillion events and this would be fun to help plan with you! Let's go for a coffee date and chat about ideas! I've got lots! xoxo Sky

Thanks to all! I had a hot time! xoxo Sky

Maybe now NATO will pull out of Afghanistan? Oh wait, I forgot, they are there for women's rights. Funny, that Canada doesn't respect women's rights enough to decriminalize sex work but is overseas bombing places in the name of women's rights... Sigh. This changes nothing. Sky

As if people care about this! It's been so annoying, the media has been counting down daily for a month! So glad it's over! Sky

This, just after the whole Layton in Parlour "scandal" [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=#343434][FONT=Helvetica]Stephen Harper is pleading with traditional Liberal voters to support his Conservatives to stave off a â??disastrousâ? leftist government headed by NDP Leader Jack Layton. In an exclusive interview with the Star, Harper appealed to Liberals abandoning Leader Michael Ignatieffâ??s party to pick the Tories in Mondayâ??s election. â??I believe that as the choice becomes clear â?¦ a lot of traditional, Liberal, moderate voters, are going to look and going to say that the Conservative platform -- and where the Conservative Party is taking the economy -- is a hell of a lot closer to what I think than what the NDP has in its platform,â? the Conservative leader said. â??Mr. Ignatieff and the Liberal party are in trouble not because theyâ??ve been true to liberalism, but on the contrary,â? he said. â??Their platform represents a departure from the Liberal Party at its best. The Liberal Party has been its best â?? now, you know, I have problems with the Liberal Party, I sometimes think flexibility becomes something else in the case of the Liberal Party â?? but nevertheless, you have to be realistic about the economy,â? Harper said. â??And the NDP has not been prepared to be realistic about the world in which we are living and have economic choices that are fitting for that,â? he said. â??I think a lot of Liberals who understand that, are going to think twice and I think ultimately, rather than follow their party blindly down an alley toward the kind of merger with the NDP that Mr. Ignatieff mused about, I think they will take a hard look at voting for this (Conservative) party, and I welcome that.â? Harper, who helped unite the right in 2004 by bringing the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservatives together, repeated his plea to Liberals at a small rally at a Richmond Hill auto shop on Saturday. â??A vote for the NDP is a vote for an NDP government â?? not an experiment. A vote for the Liberals is also a vote for an NDP government,â? he said before flying to Windsor, Nova Scotia. â??I particularly want you to go out to those Liberals â?? there are many Liberals, people who have traditionally voted for that party, who do not and will not support the policies, the economic direction, of an NDP government.â? During his rare interview with the Star aboard his campaign bus after a rally in Ajax Friday night, Harper expressed genuine alarm at the prospect of a Layton-led administration. â??I think it is disastrous. Iâ??m not kidding. I think the NDP economic platform would be an utter disaster for the country,â? he said, referring to the $69 billion in new spending proposed over four years, including a $20 billion carbon tax. â??I donâ??t think an NDP-led minority coalition would last very long but I think it would do enormous damage every single day itâ??s in office.â? Harper also addressed Ontarioâ??s 13 per cent harmonized sales tax, which has proven controversial to consumers since it was launched on July 1. He gave Premier Dalton McGuinty $4.3 billion to convince Ontario to blend the 8 per cent provincial sales tax with the 5 per cent GST, raising levies on hydro bills, gasoline, and thousands of services ranging from haircuts to funerals. â??Harmonization of a provincial tax is a provincial decision. What we emphasized on the sales tax is that we reduced the federal sales tax and we will not raise it,â? he said, distancing his party from something he pointedly refuses to mention while campaigning in Ontario. On the also-touchy subject of the Toriesâ?? prospects in Toronto, where they have not elected an MP since 1988 and where he rarely campaigned this election, Harper said he doesnâ??t believe the city is â??hostile territory.â? â??There may have been that perception in the past. But I think we are very competitive in Toronto and we are going to win seats in Toronto. I think things are looking up. Weâ??ll see on Election Day,â? he said. â??But I donâ??t think Toronto is hostile territory at all. This is the city that just elected Rob Ford and our candidates are feeling good in every part of the city. But thereâ??s nothing in Toronto we could take for granted.â? [/FONT][/COLOR][/FONT][/COLOR]

I've read A LOT of posts on the threads re: political parties/voting/elections and thought I'd throw this out there: When the politicians aren't getting shit done, time for the people to stop relying on them to do so. So what can you do, you ask? Well. First, I just want to say that we are taught to feel powerless, and many of us who want to see REAL changes are left feeling overwhelmed and helpless or simply don't know where to start. (This is done on purpose by the way, they want you to feel like you aren't able to change anything so that the people don't take over)... There's lots you can do: -set up a neighborhood community group that meets the needs of the immediate community -if there's an issue you're particularly passionate about (something that maybe affects you directly so you can have some lived experience expertise surrounding it), do some research. is there a group or organization in your area that organizes around this? if not, start your own! - donate: now this is a tricky one: a lot of charities in Canada are restricted as to the amount of political advocacy they can do as they will either lose their govn't funding if they're political or their charity status. what does this mean? a lot of organizations and agencies end up doing a lot of support/reactive work which is SUPER important, but what ends up happening is that they are unable to be pro-active and work to change the circumstances around what they exist. (i.e. sexual violence shelters and support centers can only support survivors, and not actively work to change the conditions that cause them in the first place). so try and donate to organizations who are not restricted by their financial situation. pick one that organizes around a cause you believe in! believe me, there are lots out there! Now, this may not seem like a lot. Or maybe you just don't have enough spare time (totally fair reason to not organize by the way, that's another way they keep us down- they make us work work work and then we don't have time/energy to organize). BUT if EVERYONE put in one hour a week, then these changes would start to show AND all us full-time activists wouldn't be so burnt out all the time cuz we'd share the load! Maybe I am just dreaming, but deep down in my heart I strongly believe in the power of the people. With love and in Struggle, Sky

NDPers! Come out of your closets. The Liberals are splitting the left vote! I don't agree with a lot of what the NDP stands for, but I feel like in my opinion, they are the lesser of the evils! Woo! And I believe they are not far behinds the NeoConservatives! Sky

Lol... if only politics doesn't affect EVERYTHING. and if only the elections didn't affect the upcoming ruling on prostitution... then maybe political discussions would be irrelevant to CERB...

This would work if our society wasn't characterized by economic stratification in which a large percentage of the population would not be able to pay for their own health care if they had to.

Not that Iggy wouldn't do the same, but yeah. Harper.... ick.

More shit Harper did: http://federalelectionblog.ca/2011/04/13/wanted-ethnic-costumes-and-the-immigrant-vote/

This is an interesting take on breast cancer and the ways in which as a society, we are mostly reactive to cancer and not pro-actively tackling the reasons we get it in such high rates: http://annieappleseedproject.stores.yahoo.net/barehar.html Thanks for posting Isabella! xoxo Sky

Sorry, I guess I came off a bit aggressive. The Cons haven't made these statements directly, but they are hiding behind the courts on this one: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/obligation+protect+trade+workers+government+argues/4417029/story.html

Thanks to the gents who take us for the gems we are and all the skills and knowledge that come with us! I've met some of the most respectful men in my life working this job and have enjoyed most of my experiences! xoxo Sky

HOLY SEXISM (women are manipulative) , WHOREPHOBIA (sex workers must be insane), ABLEISM (having mental health issues= not being trustworthy... even though we all have mental health issues to some degree) If you don't know what those mean, try google!

Aha, love you too!!!

Although I respect people's preferences in not wanting to give their full real name to their SPs, what are the assumptions here about what we will use it for? What do you think we're going to do with it?

While I think screening is really important for many of the reasons already stated, I have some better ways to "protect" SPs: (@ the comment about sreening being necessary so that sex workers aren't killed) how about people don't kill/hurt us? how about we don't get discriminated against by the police and health care systems? how about decriminalizing prostitution? and how about humanizing sex workers and valuing our work? while I recognize that screening is essential and does lessen the risk of violence or whatever it may be the we need "protection" from, we need to look at the bigger picture here. sex workers wouldn't be killed at the rates we are if it weren't for how we are perceived to be less than human or immoral. and there are larger structures that govern these discriminatory ideologies. Sky