Bob Jonkman bobjonkman@identi.ca

Backed @singpolyma's children's book based on #bigbuckbunny https://www.crowdsupply.com/singpolyma/big-buck-bunny-board-book

NB cc-by -> cc-by-sa

Dear Identicats:

Over the past year I've has less and less time to do my own things as political issues in Canada have been heating up.  Since Identi.ca still doesn't federate with GNUsocial and I've not had time to set up shop on Friendica, yrs been hard finding time to make the trip here to post stuff (especially since it always takes me multiple tries to get the password to open the lock). 

Canadian Politics 101
Canada uses a Westminsyer based winner-take-all "First Past The Post" electoral system, and over the years any checks and balances have been eroded to the point where we have next to none.  When there is a majority government, as we have currently with the Harper Government, it's effectively a dictatorship. Because we have a multi-party winner-take-all system, its possible to win 100% of the poswer with less than 40% of the vote. 

Our current majority has passed many dreadful laws, often bundled together in multi-hundred page omnibus bills that are rushed through parliament with little or no scrutiny.  What little oversight the Office of the Inspector general applied to CSIS (our Five-Eyes partner) was dismantled via a single line in the 2011 omni-budget that had so many other dreadful things in it, no one really seems to have twigged to this, until after Mr. Snowden stepped up. 

Most recently, in spite of masses of protests and petitions, both online and off, by Canadians from across the political spectrum-- including former Prime Ministers, the science community, the legal community and supreme court justices-- it passed Bill C-51, which effectively eviscerates our constitutionally protected civil rights found in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  

We need to make our supposed representative democracy actually representative, which we might manage by adopting one of the proportional systems that have been recommended over and over again for Canada. [Ten Canadian Commissions, Assemblies and Reports that have recommended proportional representation
http://campaign2015.fairvote.ca/reports/ ]

We do have two political parties -- both the Green Party AND our Official Opposition NDP  -- pushing for this, and chances are good we will get it (unless of course the Harper Government manages a return engagement).  I had intended to blog etc. in tandem with launching a #Pubslush crowdfunding campaign for my tantalizingly nearly finished second novel, but instead I will be marshalling what time and energy I have supporting my husband's campaign as the Green Party candidate for Kitchener-Conestoga.  If you're interested in following Bob Jonkman's campaign:
website: http://bobjonkmangpc.jonkman.ca/blogs/
Jonkman Microblogs: http://sn.jonkman.ca/bobjonkmangpc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BobJonkmanGPC
LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/bobjonkman
g+: https://plus.google.com/113149114868831721017/
and even *gasp*
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BobJonkmanGPC

Anyway, we're both still figuring out how to do this, so it's probable it may be a while before you see either of us in these parts.

Regards,
Laurel

Thanks for the update. Good luck in your campaign! #sendingGoodvibrations from the pumpiverse :)

It's not about phone theft. It's about control of information. Imagine the ability to kill switch all protesters phones at the next G20 or occupy before sending in the police. Remember it's not the user who will have control of the switch.

Paul, I'll put your account on my list of accounts to delete. Just to be clear: there are going to be no new identi.ca accounts, so once you're gone, you're gone. Let me know if you do want to stay.

I have put some time and effort into preserving important URLs on the site. In particular, notices URLs, conversation URLs, and user profile URLs. However, when you transfer to a new piece of software, a lot of stuff doesn't stay. So things like the search results page, or the user replies page, are somewhere else.

This is new software, though, and sometimes I get it wrong. If you see particular URLs not working, let me know. If you see a class of content URLs that you think can and should be redirecting, let me know that, too.

Not all user accounts were converted to the new platform. The ones that weren't will have downloads available on archive.org, and I'll try to redirect URLs there if possible.

My priorities for development are to keep this a living, active platform.  But I also want to preserve the past and keep us part of the fabric of the web. So: no intention to throw things aside.

Mail server software is unfair to people who want to play Tetris.

The Web UI is really a sample client. I think it would be interesting for someone to build a no-JavaScript Web client.

contrary to some here, I'm looking forward to the pump.io transition, wish I had time to play pre-move, I trust @evan to do the right thing

When the !NDP dropped "#socialism", they dropped socialists. I want to move on, but there's no left left. !canada !cdnpoli

bigger lies, bigger bonuses! #Winwin

Encrypt all the things: http://ur1.ca/buvqd sngpl.ma/t4MK0

I agree. "Free" is the ethical construct; "Open" is the practical method; "liberty" is the shared objective.

@glynmoody @bkuhn #OpenStandards are *crucial* also in all-FaiF world! otherwise how will people know how to write interoperable software.

It's not just about how many followers you have, it's about how many of them are worth having as followers. !identica #twitter

Yes, once we get the absolutely perfect best brand name ever, and force everyone to use it, people will finally love us. #freesoftware

So: Apple Appstore and Google Play store: F you and your creepy, privacy-violating bullshit.

I intend to make you so free you'll be eternally grateful.

@cwebber App stores are just broken package managers with the cracks plastered over with "cool"