Economists use the term “utility” to describe the relative level of satisfaction or value within an economic model. The object is to increase an individual’s utility in order to improve the larger economic system. Philosophers such as John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham saw utility as a measure of happiness within a society. They believed it was society’s goal to increase the utility, or happiness, of all its citizens.
The Senate has been affectionately known as a place for “sober second thought” for longer than any of us have been alive. However, on Nov. 16, when Senators swiftly but not-so-painlessly slit the throat of Bill C-311 — the Climate Change Accountability Act — that title went straight out the window.
When The Who sang “My Generation,” in 1965, it was clear who they were singing to: that adolescent, disillusioned generation, raised in a post-Second World War era, bred under fear of the Cold War and nourished on the anti-Vietnam agenda. The delineation was clear. The connection was strong. When Roger Daltrey hissed out, “Why don’t you all just f-f-f-f . . . fade away?” you knew he was drawing a line between his generation and the old one.
If paradise awaits after this life, I hope the scenery resembles what B.C.’s lush environment looked like hundreds of years ago.
A premier who honoured democracy
I don’t think it is fair to blame Gordon Campbell for all the Liberals’ failures. The economic recession did not leave Campbell with too many options. He had to cut many funding and programs, but that does not necessarily mean that he was in favour of the cuts.
I met an 18-hour-old on Nov.13. Her name is Penelope O’Neill, and she was born at Victoria General Hospital.
I was one of Premier Gordon Campbell’s biggest fans.
Seated beside him for dinner at a 2006 provincial Liberal Party fundraiser, I asked Campbell how he managed to fire up crowds with his speeches. He told me he’d realized he wasn’t giving one speech to the thousand people in attendance — he was just talking to one person, simultaneously with each of the others.
It’s official: meat is the new bread. Between Oct. 18 and Nov. 14, KFC sold its most successful sandwich north of the border. Canadians experienced the breadless wonder of the Double Down.
The only thing that the 11 candidates running in Victoria’s by-election can all agree on is the fact that voter turn out is at an abysmal low, and that encouraging citizens to get involved is of supreme importance for Victoria’s democratic integrity.
We’ve all done it before. Lost something, that is.
We’ve all lost our car keys, the TV remote. Who among us hasn’t lost an important phone number, rocket launcher or black sock before?
This April, a man in the Queens District of New York City was stabbed several times in the chest and killed. Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax had stepped in when he saw a woman on the sidewalk being assaulted by man. After the intervention and subsequent stabbing, he collapsed on the sidewalk.
The French government views the burka, as well as many citizens, as a threat to both women’s rights and the secular nature of the country. On Sept. 14, the French senate passed a bill which would make it a fineable offence for a woman to wear the burka in public.
Time for change
1988. Wayne Gretzky was traded to the Los Angeles Kings. The Winter Olympics were held in Calgary. Microsoft released Windows 2.1. The UVic Students’ Society (UVSS) got its last operation fund increase.
Responsibility. Sustainability. Democracy. These words might bore you; I may have just lost your interest. You might think to yourself, “Other people take care of those sorts of things.” But maybe you read those words and feel a flush of passion. I’d like to think it’s the latter.
“Do you remember when the Internet first came out?”
It was a simple question, but Emily looked up from her standard position on my floor with a confused look. We were doing our usual Thursday night Grey’s Anatomy-and-tea routine.
Let us all take a moment out of our colonial society’s hustle and bustle to acknowledge the privilege and benefits many of us here in Canada, B.C., Victoria and UVic have acquired from the continued occupation of the indigenous territory that we live and study upon.
Well, the lipdub is done, and the reaction in the brief few days that the video has been online has been awesome.
I love swear words.
When I was growing up, my parents called them “jail” words, a vast category that included such innocuous syllables as “stupid” and “shut up” and “dumb-dumb” (basically anything I could potentially say when one of my little sisters stole my Ninja Turtles).
There is one big reason why I am angry with Amnesty International. It tricks people. Or, at the very least, takes advantage of unquestioning yet well-intentioned people.
On Oct. 12, 2010, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon made history by failing to earn Canada a seat on the United Nations (UN) Security Council—the first time we’ve ever been rejected by other counties in our bid to help stabilize crisis situations around the globe.
