G7 Welcoming Committee Records. Uncooperative since 1997.

Did you know that last Tuesday (16th of October) was National Boss Day? I saw a sign up near the post-office advertising for employees to buy gifts for their boss in recognition of the day. I laughed thinking it must be some sort of sick joke. Then when i got back to G7 headquarters i realized that my Toronto Maple Leafs calendar was still on September (Matt Stajan was Mr. September). I flipped it over to reveal October and my initial delight (Mats Sundin is October) quickly turned to horror and disgust as i discovered that even my Leafs calendar indicated that the 16th of October is the day where we are to celebrate bosses.

What spineless, Smithers-esque toad of a lap-dog is responsible for this absurdity?

i hope derek got the flowers i sent him.

Probably the impressive experience on Propagandhi’s recent trip to Central/ South America was our opportunity to stay at Hotel Bauen in Buenos Aires. Normally staying at a hotel is about as exciting as sleeping in a hospital hallway, but the Hotel Bauen is not your normal hotel.

It is a 19-floor worker-occupied, boss-less hotel. It is part of a worker’s movement in Argentina that explicitly aims to democratize the workplace. It’s not a “project” or an “experiment”. It is part of an emerging real-life struggle against traditional top-down organizational models.

Here’s some background of the struggle courtesy of Marie Trigona, who operates as a journalist for the movement out of an office in the Bauen Hotel.

Wanna see the future? Look South, folks, look South.

I’ve seen a few films in the past couple of weeks that I thought I’d mention here …

The 11th Hour - Leonardo diCaprio, Leila Connors Petersen and Nadia Connors present An Inconvenient Truth on steroids. Although it took awhile to really get going (with a “dramatic” intro that was more of a yawner than a screamer), this film mostly lives up to the idea (well, my idea) of being everything Al Gore’s stake in the “look at me I’m a good guy now that I’m not a policy-maker” pile could have been. It takes aim at both industry and government, and more importantly at the generally-accepted human idea that we have the irrevocable right to exploit the planet as we see fit.

For such a straight-up, hammer-you-in-the-face film, it tries a little too hard to end on a positive note (fancy eco-buildings will save us!) - but I suppose they didn’t want to be held liable for mass suicides following each screening. Plus, put David Suzuki in anything and I’m happy (the soundtrack from Sigur Ros and Mogwai didn’t hurt either).

Keep reading …

As of late I’ve been listening to the Blast the Right podcast by Jack Clark after being tipped off by a post on John Krumm’s Znet blog. There’s definitely a dearth of good political podcasts out there (especially since the untimely demise of G7 radio - sniff, puke), so this is one to check out.

Several models said they were initially drawn in by American Apparel’s progressive environmental policies, sweatshop-free manufacturing, and youthful corporate identity. But their dreams of success were soon shattered.

“Before I knew it, I was squatting on the floor in this humid room with a camera pointed at my crotch,” said model Gabrielle.

Read: 14 American Apparel Models Freed In Daring Midnight Raid