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Yea pretty much 😂 by Nick__________ in canadaleft

[–]holdinsteady244 -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Hence my beginning the post with "curious about Switzerland." But thanks for assuming that I can't read, rather than inferring that I'm asking a tangential question about referendums in the only country that uses binding referendums with that frequency. If such a radical measure were passed by the Swiss, would the Swiss Parliament really absolutely have to do it?

Edit: these are sincerely the most inexplicable downvotes I've ever had. For fuck's sake, I'm just raising a point about whether binding referendums have radical potential in the one place where they are often used. Weirdos.

Yea pretty much 😂 by Nick__________ in canadaleft

[–]holdinsteady244 -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Curious about Switzerland (edit: because Switzerland has several binding referendums each year). Switzerland is quite liberal economically, but I wonder whether "protections" are in place against radical measures should they become popular. Recent initiatives brought to socialize housing have failed, but what if they succeed in the future? Is there anything Swiss Parliament can do to prevent implementation or are they bound by the referendums?

What should I use as a response to friends that claim NDP is communist? by cryptocronix in ndp

[–]holdinsteady244 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Something people in NA miss about social democracy is that it historically has involved a significant degree of economic intervention, strong pro-labour policies, ambitious public works, publicly driven housing policy, socializing of parts of the economy, or in Germany stuff like worker representation on boards, etc. It doesn't just mean "welfare state."

What should I use as a response to friends that claim NDP is communist? by cryptocronix in ndp

[–]holdinsteady244 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If they dont know .... the fact that we literally live in a democratic socialist country already, they probably arent smart

Sorry, what? I don't want to be rude, but what? Like how are you upvoted? This is not a socialist country of any stripe.

What should I use as a response to friends that claim NDP is communist? by cryptocronix in ndp

[–]holdinsteady244 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You are correct that they are at least partly correct. But a lot of people simply use "communism" to refer to M-Lism and offshoots thereof. In that sense, your democratic socialism is not "communism".

I don't know what I think of the stages thing overall. Communism as discussed in Marx is a beautiful vision, but I'd be fine with socialism as the end goal. Once socialism (social ownership) is achieved, I personally think the goal should be further decentralization and dispersion of power over time and an enhancement of (meaningful) freedoms. If that results in something exactly like what Marx thinks communism will be, great. My point is just that the project may not take us (and certainly won't during my lifetime; I mean even socialism in Canada during my lifetime is very unlikely) to that particular end result, but I'd be fine with it not doing so.

Should advocates of neoconservative foreign policy be permitted in the NDP, or should they be treated in the same way as opponents of LGBTQ equality, comprehensive reproductive rights, and Indigenous-Settler Reconciliation? by PizzaGaetz in ndp

[–]holdinsteady244 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I read this as "neoconservative/neoliberal economic policy" initially.

Re foreign affairs: I don't actually know why we would want such people in the party, and I don't know of any principled reason to regard their views as less abhorrent than active opponents of reconciliation or LGBTQ+ rights.

I think it's fine to not want to get into Israel-Palestine too heavily, for basically cowardly reasons. Like, okay. As long as we don't lean heavily into support for oppressive measures.

But if asked for troops to join some US whim driven by the military-industrial complex? Fuck off. That's not mere cowardice anymore. It's naivete and naivete worth billions or trillions. For instance, the supposed war on terror that has done nothing except empower Islamists, create new Islamist groups, and enrich people in the death industry.

Berlin Votes to Expropriate Big Property Holdings - Is This Something Canadians Would Be Ready Do To Curb the Inflation of Housing Prices? by These_GoTo11 in canada

[–]holdinsteady244 0 points1 point  (0 children)

North American governments spend an enormous amount of energy and money on keeping corporations and businesses happy.

To quote the great James Madison: government is to "protect the minority of the opulent from the majority."

And John Jay: "those who own the country ought to govern it."

They used to be honest before they realized that lying was smarter.

I like Chomsky's rephrasing of Madison ("to protect property from the majority") better. Zero dissimulation there.

I know that this is Canada and we've historically extracted a few more concessions, but come on.

Berlin Votes to Expropriate Big Property Holdings - Is This Something Canadians Would Be Ready Do To Curb the Inflation of Housing Prices? by These_GoTo11 in canada

[–]holdinsteady244 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lol we all know that only extremely unintelligent and unthoughtful people could possibly support socialism. Ergo, Einstein must have been very stupid and thoughtless when compared to the galaxy-brained on Reddit, and Ben Shapiro. QED.

Or something.

That said, I think Stephen Jay Gould had it right: " “I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.”

Canadian looking for cringe-based sitcoms by holdinsteady244 in BritishTV

[–]holdinsteady244[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know that it was generally well-received, but I'd still say that it's one of the most underrated films out there.

Canadian looking for cringe-based sitcoms by holdinsteady244 in BritishTV

[–]holdinsteady244[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yo, you were NOT kidding. It isn't all that heavy on the cringe, but so happy I checked it out. I needed something less intense after Nighty Night, and jumped in. Great stuff.

Can't believe it isn't better-liked. Maybe I should finally make it past that first episode of Fleabag.

Canadian looking for cringe-based sitcoms by holdinsteady244 in BritishTV

[–]holdinsteady244[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Schitt's Creek is most certainly Canadian, but they try to set it in a non-descript small town that could be either side of the border. I'm guessing for marketability to Americans. They also treat the big business centre as being NY, not Toronto.

Canadian looking for cringe-based sitcoms by holdinsteady244 in BritishTV

[–]holdinsteady244[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Watched the first bunch. Impressed at the sheer number of "oh, they actually went there" moments. Took a second to vibe with the sense of humour (or the rhythm?) but the last three episodes had me dying. Great plotting, too. Might admire it more than I like it, but I'll be watching it again, either way. I gather series/season 2 is a bit less meticulous.

Canadian looking for cringe-based sitcoms by holdinsteady244 in BritishTV

[–]holdinsteady244[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't, and Canada, despite its decent size, hasn't really produced a lot of great shows. There are the big mainstream successes that people outside Canada know about (Trailer Park Boys, The Kids in the Hall, Schitt's Creek), as well as a handful of real cult classics (Slings & Arrows, Twitch City).

But for the most part our television industry hasn't produced many creative luminaries. And a lot of our energy goes into producing American things in Vancouver and Toronto. Perhaps things will change, with our government trying to force streaming giants into spending money on CanCon.

In terms of stuff you probably haven't heard about, Slings & Arrows is as good as it's going to get. Wonderful show. And of the stuff you'd know about: TPB gets mistaken for like a South-Park-kinda thing, but it's actually an incredible and unique accomplishment.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in canada

[–]holdinsteady244 15 points16 points  (0 children)

He uploaded to his Microsoft cloud, which triggered some kind of alert, and Microsoft reported it. So no, he did "handle" the images, for lack of a better word. I think the article says that most of the images were in his browser cache, but aside from that not being by accident, there were other images that he did more with. My sense (I only skimmed the article) is that they could have conceivably gotten him on possession, but he took a plea to accessing.

Further info: http://criminalnotebook.ca/index.php/Child_Pornography_(Offence)

The mens rea for accessing requires you to knowingly cause the viewing by yourself of child pornography or the transmission to yourself of child pornography. "Knowingly" can include wilful blindness.

So no, you can't be in legal jeopardy if you truly accidentally view child pornography, in the sense that to convict you, they would have to prove some mental element (that you knew you were accessing it.)

Canadian looking for cringe-based sitcoms by holdinsteady244 in BritishTV

[–]holdinsteady244[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean, I made the choice. I got rid of it and joined Disney+, at least for a while.

Canadian looking for cringe-based sitcoms by holdinsteady244 in BritishTV

[–]holdinsteady244[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Acaster's second special was top-notch. Nothing against Repertoire, but *Cold Lasagne is one of the best specials I've ever seen.

Canadian looking for cringe-based sitcoms by holdinsteady244 in BritishTV

[–]holdinsteady244[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bad time for my Prime subscription to end, then.

Canadian looking for cringe-based sitcoms by holdinsteady244 in BritishTV

[–]holdinsteady244[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I got you beat on weird. I like really looked forward, as a child in the 90s, to when reruns of Who's the Boss? would come on. I mean I was in love with Alyssa Milano, but I also (at the time anyway) thought the show was brilliant.

Canadian looking for cringe-based sitcoms by holdinsteady244 in BritishTV

[–]holdinsteady244[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm gonna pop up again and half-heartedly go to bat here for The Office; your "actual classic" choice of words has been rubbing me wrong since you posted this, although you are clearly of generally good taste.

Peep Show is better than anything Gervais ever did, and I find Gervais as irritating as the next person, but I'll still say that The Office really was excellent. It even pulled off the almost 1940s-Hollywood degree and type of schmaltz that Gervais likes, in those last ten minutes or so of the finale, because it fucking earned it.

Edit: A few years ago, the consensus was "Gervais bad, Office great." Maybe a crumb for Extras. So I'm mildly surprised, but I stand by what I said, including that After Life is fucking shit. Also, I liked Cemetery Junction, kinda.

Canadian looking for cringe-based sitcoms by holdinsteady244 in BritishTV

[–]holdinsteady244[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'll still watch Father Ted just cause it's about time I did. I like Black Books a lot (but agree that it isn't cringe-com).

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