Devin Johnston Video Podcast

The Rise of Anti-Muslim Bigotry in Mainstream Western Political Discourse

devin@devinjohnston.ca (Devin Johnston) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:53:31 +0000

This video, from The Real News Network, discusses the emergence of Western anti-Muslim bigotry within mainstream political discourse.

Jack Layton on "The Hour" with Strombo

devin@devinjohnston.ca (Devin Johnston) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 03:05:19 +0000

Hat tip to Ian Capstick for posting a video of Jack Layton's extraordinary appearance on "The Hour". In his first interview since revealing that he has prostate cancer, Layton was confident about both the NDP's prospects of forming a federal government and his prospects of beating cancer.

Layton is a true statesman and has handled this personal issue with grace and class. Canada deserves a Prime Minister like Jack Layton.

Irene Mathyssen, Beyond Politics Interview

devin@devinjohnston.ca (Devin Johnston) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:44:14 +0000

In this two-part CPAC interview, Irene Mathyssen (NDP MP, London-Fanshawe) discusses the life of an MP beyond politics.

On Brands and Hypocrisy

devin@devinjohnston.ca (Devin Johnston) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:21:34 +0000

In this video, Hank Green of the vlogbrothers discusses the overt hypocrisy of brands. He discusses how large corporations establish multiple brands in order to market products to different ideological groups, often diametrically opposed in interest to one another, yet the brands do not actually reflect the values of the corporation. Indeed, corporations in a capitalist society have only one value: make more money. In achieving this objective, marketers create the illusion of ideologies surrounding a brand identity. This constructed identity is, in fact, simply a way for the marketer to overcome our mistrust (which is well deserved) of faceless, exploitative corporations.

Rachel Pike: The science behind a climate headline

devin@devinjohnston.ca (Devin Johnston) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 20:29:32 +0000

In light of the recent controversy (dubbed "Climategate" by right-wingers and the popular media) surrounding the alleged suppression of data not supporting the theory of anthropogenic global warming by scientists at the Climactic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, it's worth remembering that the scientific community has a very robust system of accountability that prevents junk research from going unchallenged. This is why the suppression of data by a small handful of scientists, if indeed this can be proven true, does not really affect the strength of the argument for anthropogenic climate change. Thousands of independent researchers have been studying climate change for decades. The study of climate is complex and multivariate, and it is unwise to extrapolate from short-term climactic trends. Notwithstanding all of these challenges, there is widespread agreement in the scientific community that global temperature increases are strongly correlated with the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (particularly carbon dioxide).

While "climategate" may seem like an intellectual victory for right wingers, they should be careful not to wet themselves with glee prematurely.

Theme Song of the Selinger Premiership

devin@devinjohnston.ca (Devin Johnston) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 22:11:28 +0000

Greg Slinger will be the next Premier of Manitoba. After his victory speech, the Premier-designate left to the tune of The Weakerthans' "Aside" - a Winnipeg classic.

Government Video Surveillance

devin@devinjohnston.ca (Devin Johnston) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 02:25:16 +0000

I have written before about the privacy issues related to closed-circuit television (CCTV) and other forms of public and private surveillance. To re-state what I have argued before, the evidence on CCTV is that it does not prevent crimes from happening and is only rarely useful as a forensic tool. Moreover, governments are actually reducing the number of police and security personnel on payroll in order to accommodate surveillance technology in their budgets. This has the dual effect of impairing citizens' privacy rights without the counterbalancing effect of lowering crime.

In this video, Youtube user LiberalViewer (a personal favourite of mine), asks:

Given the total lack of evidence that government surveillance increases public safety, what do you think accounts for the increasing use of government surveillance in the name of public safety?

I think it's a pretty fair question, and one to which I would very much like an answer.

One New NDP Television Ad, Plus a Special Bonus

devin@devinjohnston.ca (Devin Johnston) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 03:08:34 +0000

I think that Northern BC Dipper is correct:

Considering that most people I talk to, from the non-politics followers to even local partisan hacks, are not impressed with all of these silly political games that threaten to put Canada into another election 1 year after the first, I think that these new NDP ads may strike a chord:

That said, I still prefer the ad that I proposed during the last election:

Is Using A Minotaur To Gore Detainees A Form Of Torture?

devin@devinjohnston.ca (Devin Johnston) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 19:04:11 +0000

What makes this parody via The Onion so brilliant are the lines used by the minotaur's defenders.

NDP Observes Moment of Silence for Fallen Soldiers

devin@devinjohnston.ca (Devin Johnston) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:15:49 +0000

New Democrat Member of Parliament Peter Stoffer pays tribute to Canadian veterans and soldiers at the NDP's federal convention in Halifax.