My MMP proposal could well help the dismal turnout by giving voters an extra kick at the can, one for MP and one for list.
When the numbers are all in and the disparity established, list-candidates would be selected from ridings most adversely affected by “first past the post”.

These members would be the choice of the people, not party HQ.
How the List-members are then deployed would be up to the party, I’m ok with that.

“”of the people, for the people, by the people…”

I freely admit to a visceral dislike for kiss-up/kick-down head-office attitudes. Anyone who has worked for a juggernaut will know exactly what I mean.

It would be a sorry mess for politicians and police as the middle-class kids returned to their homes and dormitories, leaving the OCCUPY war-room to nutters.

As it has unfolded, kudos to regular policing and a loud raspberry to riot-squads.

WE LOST OUR WAY
By Dan P. Davison

In ancient times of glory, an era hardly known
The race and people flourished, Atlantis’ power was shown
They spanned the super-consciousness, with ease abundance grew
But in this state of opulence, it was gathered for a few

Those who were chosen stewards, forgot to understand,
We’re all Divinely-Human, with one Grace in each hand,
All are blessed in union, the balanced right to live,
The need to name who prospers, was never ours to give.

The Sovereign Soul of everyone, who draws a breath on earth,
Must always be empowered; no one can state their worth,
The need for Power and Influence, soon took some to the top,
To justify corruption; “Power-Over”, not “Power-Of”.

Although great minds and science, allowed the poor and weak,
To be accused of uselessness, and not allowed to speak
One day a Child was crying, in hunger, cold alone,
And Mother Earth decided, the end must now be shown.

And as this child was crying, the earth convulsed in pain,
The rich and poor all vanished, to start the world again,
A few were spared like magic, to love and live in joy,
Small hamlets were made Heaven, which no one could destroy.

Each breath of each and all, denotes the Sovereign Soul,
The God and Human consciousness, a right which is the whole,
Of all without a question, what human can decide?
The lies and arrogance of some had caused this great divide.

We read about Great Nations, and glorious empires built,
And now we imitate this past, to grow, to thrive, to wilt,
The Mayans, ancient China, great Empires touched the land,
In each and every dynasty, their ashes joined the sand.

The rise and fall of Britain, and African States of Reign,
The Romans and the Byzantine, they all succumbed the same,
Today we face this self-same time, in global history,
We blame the poor and weak, and worthless they should be.

“They must have something wrong with them, for God to hate them too”,
We medicate our conscience, consumption gets us through.
“We all are created equal” is just a worthless phrase
If any have possessions, we elevate with praise.

My friend, let’s face the music, the party now must end,
WE LOST OUR WAY yet once again, our love can only mend,
The meek are those who know themselves, are honest with their hearts,
And can’t find wrong in anyone, that’s how the new world starts.

We have but just a little time, to stop and look inside,
If malice, hate, entitlement has drugged our minds with pride,
It’s best we take a second look, at a child most filled with pain,
And join that heart with passion; it’s time to stop the blame.

We likely passed the tipping point, adjustments will abound,
Mother Earth has kindly questioned, “Where can great love be found”?
A Child will lead them gently, to a butterfly or frog,
WE LOST OUR WAY as adults, our pride has caused the fog.

Today its right to listen, be grateful for each thing,
And celebrate all humankind, and let the nations sing,
And now a Moral Explosion will break away the pain,
And then a few bring back anew, a Heaven once again.

By Dan P. Davison November 7, 2011

Every time the gap between haves and have-nots is measured, it’s wider and deeper.
Yet Canadians installed a neocon-lite conservative majority government in May.

How many OCCUPIERS and others on slim-to-none budgets voted them in, deluded that the Harper Govt™ would play its heart out for them?

Yes, it’s going to be a sobering four years, buckle up. They’re already skating past criminal charges under the Elections Act, they’re lining up to cover our nation with unnecessary prisons,and we surely haven’t heard the last of Don Antonio Clementi and the G20 porkbarreling in his riding. Or maybe we have. When media back off on such practices we’ll be none the wiser.
My only footnote is to lay the blame right on the doorstep of the Liberals, who thought it would win by plugging in the darling of its academic elite, who well before the election had picked up the record for poorest attendance in parliament.

“History will show democracy to be a twentieth-century experiment which didn’t work”

I think I made that one up many years ago.

…….”A googol is the large number 10 to power 100, that is, the digit 1 followed by 100 zeros: 10,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000,­000
The term was coined in 1938[1] by 9-year-old Milton Sirotta (1929–1981), nephew of American mathematician Edward Kasner. Kasner popularized the concept in his book Mathematics and the Imagination (1940).

Other names for googol include ten duotrigintillion on the short scale, ten thousand sexdecillion on the long scale, or ten sexdecilliard on the Peletier long scale.

A googol has no particular significance in mathematics, but is useful when comparing with other very large quantities such as the number of subatomic particles in the visible universe or the number of chess game moves possible hypothetically. Edward Kasner used it to illustrate the difference between an unimaginably large number and infinity, and in this role it is sometimes used in teaching mathematics…….. ”

Once again, I’d bet the farm that this could be demonstrated only by a powerful computer.

Why on earth, or in the cosmos, would we ever need to ” illustrate the difference between an unimaginably large number and infinity”, even in mathematics?

Doesn’t that fall into a similar area-code as the Flat Earth Society, which is cult-members only?
I have no problem with either camp provided their deliberations and “findings” are funded entirely by their supporters.

And by extension, I have concerns about numerous agencies in Canada who enjoy tax-exemptions while they match many of the criteria of cults.

“Follow the funeral on Twitter”…..

My repeated observation of countless people I’ll never meet, weeping copiously in public for someone they’ve never met is a curious phenomenon, and the Layton funeral is no exception.

The funeralapalooza spectrum is wide and deep and embraces Diefenbaker, Trudeau, Princess Diana, Elvis and countless lesser expired celebs.
The glaring exception today is that whatever else they were, not one of the above was an iconic and respected socialist.

I’m surprised and concerned that the Layton family accepted the PM’s offer of a state funeral, and suspicious of motive. Perhaps not Harper himself, but the “right-wing creeps” referred to above. His administration is infested with them.

I can see this largesse as a Trojan horse which may come back to haunt Jack and Olivia’s party.

There is also the sad reality of about 1600 people in Toronto each year, many with no kinfolk, being given Social Security funerals.

I somehow suspect that if Jack was involved in the manoeuvring, the half-million taxpayer dollars offered by the PMO would be wrestled into a bequest to help bury Toronto’s poorest.

That would be Jack. That’s what he was good at.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/844092–funeral-homes-subsidizing-services-for-the-poor

Sincerity is a beautiful word which has lost much meaning in our walmartised world but for Jack Layton, like Jim Reed, it was the only way to fly.

Jack kept his political hat on till the very end, reflected in his last letter to Canadians and his beloved party, captured nicely by a cbc report yesterday…… his MPs are inexperienced sailors on board a ship much larger then their comfort-zone. The cargo is the wishes of the Canadian citizen and turbulent seas are not far ahead.

Their navigaton-skills will need to expand rapidly.

As Jack said so often…… “let’s get to work!”