• All the cool political junkies kids are signing up for the CPAC/SES Research daily tracking poll.


• Howard Moscoe suggests the City impose a $5-per-car 'TTC Tax' to fund public transit.


• Check out the CBCs rundown on notable new and not-running politicos.

• Torontoist calls The Beer Hunter "both the most incredible thing to happen to Toronto and the best use of Google maps. Ever." I call it swanky.

The GM echobox

In case you haven't got enough GM plant closure and layoff news, here's what the New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Toronto Star, and CBC have to say.

The Globe and Mail wants to know who you think is to blame.

National pride via scatterplot

Here is a chart showing the evolution of income inequality (by way of the wondrous gini index) in our neck of the woods from Beaver Cleaver to Harry Potter:


Source!

Who wants a Chirstmas election?

From SES Research's recent poll [pdf] on federal election timing:



N = 525 (Ontario only!)

They break it down by gender and age group, though I think the most interesting crosstab would be answers to this question by party identification.

You don't say?

In Salon, Dana Stevens writes:

It's impossible to imagine a post-9/11 Beavis and Butt-Head. Not because the show was devoid of political content but because the world it so ruthlessly satirized, a suburban cocoon of mindless consumption and complacent self-regard, abruptly ceased to exist at the beginning of this millennium. [read more]

• "Is the party over for progressive political parties as agents for equity and social justice?" [Ontario NDP]


• "One way to cut through the confusion [surrounding intergovernmental transit funding decisions] is to have a single body scrutinize each project, compare it to the others and rank them in a agreed-upon, transparent way. The provincial government has committed to creating a so-called Greater Toronto Transportation Authority (GTTA)..." [more @ Metro]


• McGill creates Canada's latest snobby, benefactor-named, fast-track-to-capitalist-glory business school after $22-million gift from this guy. [via Globe and Mail]

• Developer sues Waterloo woman for libel over blog allegations [Toronto Star]


• The Walrus, my favourite print magazine, ought to avoid Saturday Night's sad fate now that it has charitable status [Toronto Star]

All's well that starts well

You know you're going to enjoy reading a collection of essays when the preface begins like so:

A generalized pathology of chronic mendacity seems to be a structural condition of global capitalism at the beginning of the 21st century.

Tags: Truth, Capitalism, Leo Panitch.

• In honour of tonight's (apparent) gunshots: What to Expect When Stopped By Police [Toronto Police Service]


• Pillow fight at Dundas Square tomorrow [newmindspace via Torontoist]


• NYU's TAs strike in fight for collective agreement [New York Times, Inside Higher Ed]


• "The [CAW] says the reason North American auto companies are in trouble – and demanding concessions from their workers – is unfair trade rules that favour importers of foreign-made cars." [CBC via LabourStart]


• Speaking of foreign auto makers, did you know that Honda has a gas-electric hybrid snowblower? Damn. [via Treehugger]


• Parliamentary coallition finally agreed upon in Germany [Int'l Herald Tribune]

• Maybe the NDP's plan for a January election won't work after all?


• Remember the scene from Six Feet Under with the neti pot? They're really real, maybe. Weird.

• The washed-out stretch of Finch near my apartment won't be fully repaired until late May... at the earliest. Wow. There should be two lanes of trafic and a usable sidewalk by January, though. [InsideToronto.com]

Speaking of ethics

While this latest outbreak of Gomery-driven foofaraw about "deep-rooted corruptions" is fresh in your mind, take a look at the NDP's 7-point Plan for Cleaning up Politics [pdf].

Although I strenuously disagree with the contention (point 1!) that floor-crossing by MPs is fundamentally and necessarily unethical, the document strikes me as a laying out a clear, simple plan for meaningful and lasting reform. As opposed to the Conservatives' highly cynical answer -- new blood, not new rules, i.e. 'C'mon, Guys, isn't it Our Turn Yet?!?' -- the NDP offers a set of easily formalized, realistically implementable changes that could actually make a difference.

If only anyone was listening; but alas, the media mostly seems to be running with "NDP [sketchily] props up Liberals in search of safeguards for public health care."

Bonus tidbit: confused by "NDP", Blogger's spell-check suggests I replace it with "nitpick." Artificial intelligence?

Here is a curious (if information-poor) development reported on York's site. Excalibur, York's student newspaper, also has an article. Wondering what the Union has to say?

Now you know as much as I do.

It hurts so good

Emerged from my first marathon union general membership meeting at midnight tonight. Want to know how a hot democracy injection feels? No deal yet, despite what you may have heard, but ultimately "the process" vindicated the heck out of itself. Or something.

• Gomery: No blame for Martin... It was all Chretien's fault! [CBC]


• Martin: Well, yeah, what he said. [PMO]


• Canadians gave more to charity in 2004 than ever before: $6.9 billion, up 6.3% from 2003 [StatsCan, CBC]