Flickr or Picasa?

A quick, non-political question for today:

What is better for hosting photos - Flickr or Picasa?

Flickr seems the more popular choice at the moment, but can it "talk" with Google-owned Blogspot as well as Google-owned Picasa can?

A little bit about... me.

I began this blog to coincide with the end of the election, hoping to catch some of the enthusiasm we witnessed during the campaign. But... I'm getting the feeling that people want a bit of a break from the election before they begin discussing policy and strategy again.

That, and people generally seem to prefer blogs where there is a more "personal" element to them (at least occasionally), so readers can feel they can get to know the author (otherwise blogs can feel slightly cold and impersonal, as mine clearly has thus far!).

So, with that said, here's a bit more about me:

Age: mid-20s
Gender: male (yeah, there's heaps of us in politics)

"Home": Vancouver, British Columbia
Currently: United Kingdom

Occupation: government

Political leanings: This is a tricky one. I've always considered myself fairly "left", in that I believe nobody in a rich, industrialized country should have to live in dire poverty. Having said that, leftist governments often spend a ridiculous amount of money trying to "fix" society, often to little or no actual benefit. So... Green!

I voted NDP up until five years ago, although I've never been a member of their party, nor have I worn them on my sleeve. And while I support the concept of unions, I don't think the NDP should be so strongly allied with big labour, and feel rather alienated from them because of this.

I certainly don't consider myself a hardcore "environmentalist", although many (or most?) people of my generation have already had the ideas of environmental conservatism hammered into them (via the hard work of Greenpeace and others). I am highly appreciative of nature, and do agree with the Greens that governments have a shameful record, and are doing little about it.

How I became a Green: I initially became enamoured with the Green Party during the 2001 British Columbian election campaign. Suddenly, out of nowhere, they captured an incredible amount of media attention, and were being positioned as if a mainstream political party. I had a look, liked what I saw, and the rest is history.

I joined the BC Greens, but because I've had a relatively transient life since I left Vancouver for Toronto to do my Masters in 2001, I (sadly) couldn't get involved, and even let my membership lapse.

However, the combinaton of the current disgust of Canadians towards the big political parties, along with the innovative views of the Greens, have reinforced my opinion that a mainstream Green Party can become a powerful part of Canadian politics, and thus my desire to get involved with the Greens again.

My Green future: It looks like I'm returning to Canada in 2008 (most likely Toronto, despite truly wanting to be back in Vancouver), and I think this would be the perfect time for me to get heavily involved in politics. I've always been a politics geek - two university degrees, and most of my (admittedly short) working life in government, including my present job here in the UK.

I've often flirted with the idea of making a career in politics (rather than in government), although I doubt I'd ever run for public office myself. I'm much more interested in policy and party strategy (you know, the slimey part of politics), so I'll see what opportunities the future holds.

Other interests/hobbies:

Soccer - I'm truly passionate about soccer (or as I prefer to call it, "football"). My primary love is Vancouver Whitecaps FC, although I'm currently a committee member of an amateur club based in west London, where I serve as photographer, co-webmaster, and occasionally with publicity/PR. The match photos that I take appear in the local community newspaper, in the club's matchday programme, and on the club's website.

Comedy - I love dark comedy. Twisted, sarcastic, ironic - the whole works. I pretty much grew up on British comedy as a kid in Canada, and am amazed by the sheer volume of quality comedy over here in England, both on TV and on radio. The CBC is simply shameful compared to the BBC in terms of comedy, especially radio. One of my "things to do before I die" is to co-write a radio comedy for the CBC. With whom has yet to be decided.

Movies - I enjoy watching cinema, especially indie or non-mainstream (not to try to sound cool, but Hollywood has been incredibly cheesy, up until a couple of years ago). I particularly like East Asian movies, and would have to say that Wong Kar-Wai is my favourite director.

Vexillology - The study of flags. I'm a big of a flag geek. I don't actually study them, but how often does a person have the chance to use the word "vexillology"? I'm not quite sure why I like flags - perhaps it's the powerful visual element to them? The symbolism? Who knows. But I've got about 15 of them. And I recall from my uni days that there's two $10 flag shops on Spadina (if memory serves right) in Toronto, so no doubt I'll be blowing future discretionary income there come May.

I know - what a dork. But I find that flags do go well with soccer.

And finally...

Favourite TV shows:
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin - BBC, 1976-1979. My all-time favourite. There has simply never been a better show about middle-aged, middle-class life. The source of my blog's title.
Great Scott!! ...television that bothers you. - Rogers Community Channel (Vancouver), 1999; Comedy Network, 2000-2003. Before Shaw bought Rogers and gutted their community TV stations, the Vancouver Community Channel produced the odd gem, this being my personal favourite. Vancouver comedian Gregg Scott would go around and try to annoy people, ever so subtley. It became a cult classic, among those who were fortunate enough to see its six episodes. The show did air briefly on the Comedy Network across Canada, but in a condensed version (to allow for ads) that didn't have quite the same "flow". Hopefully a "torrent" of the originals will eventually make their way onto the web.
The Thick of It - BBC, 2005. Hilariously dark comedy about British politics - think Yes, Minister! mixed with The Office. Rather than civil servants controlling the politicians, it is now the media and spin doctors who are in charge.

Right then. How warm and fuzzy of a personal intro was that, Greenies?

How should Greens approach potential Senate reform?

I actually like the idea of a senate - an unelected group of people who get to vote on matters of national importance, without having to worry about getting re-elected... but only after elected politicans have voted on such issues.

Unlike politicians, senate members can vote for what they truly feel is right - without worrying about protecting their "image" for some upcoming election campaign.

Neither a hypothetical benevolent dictatorship nor democracy are perfect systems. But put them together, and the "checks and balances" make such a unison as close as we can get.

The only problem I see is the appointment system. Heavily-partisan selection will likely appear as cronyism to the electorate, and will make it seem as if the upper house is simply an unelected version of the partisan lower house.

While Chretien's Liberals did appoint from other parties, perhaps he could have done more to ensure a more even spread of political stripes, in addition to just geography and gender.

But having said all this, supposedly a person's partisanship largely disappears once inside the senate. It's as if they see the upper house as some "higher" institution that must overcome the petty squabbels of parliament, and instead become more moderate and protective of all Canadians' interests.

Seeing as there's nothing in our platform about this issue, what do you think, as a Green? Should we scrap the senate? Elect a senate? Keep an appointed senate, but fix the system of appointments?

----

I forgot to credit Brian Cantin after I nicked his "don't blame me" graphic. Cheers, Brian.

Oh, and thanks to Lex Luthor over at Going Green in Alberta for pointing out that the Green Party leader is Jim Harris, and not "Jim Green". Bit of a Freudian slip!

I also plan to add all of you Green Bloggers to my links... but it will have to wait until the weekend. Work is manic at the moment!

Should the Green Party aggressively promote Proportional Representation?

First-Past-The-Post:

Conservative Party - 124
Liberal Party - 103
Bloc Quebecois - 51
New Democratic Party - 29
Green Party - 0

Proportional Representation:

Conservative Party - 112
Liberal Party - 92
Bloc Quebecois - 32
New Democratic Party - 54
Green Party - 14

In reality, if Canada adopted a PR system, it would likely be some sort of STV (single transferable vote) or hybrid PR system.

Two big questions:

1. Seeing as the PR system tends to produce more minority governments than first-past-the-post, and seeing that Canada has just elected its second minority government in the last 18 months, would Canadians be able to stomach a system that is even more likely to produce minority governments?
2. Should the Green Party aggressively promote the change to a PR system? The BC Greens rallied behind a STV system, and helped inflence the majority of British Columbians to vote for a PR system (although it wasn't adopted, due so a silly "60%" ruling). Such a strategy by the federal Greens could help get them even more publicity, and would be thoroughly supported by the NDP. But.... how much would the move be written off as a desperate attempt by a desperate party to gain power? And how hard would the "big two" and the Bloc campaign against it - seeing as they would surely lose seats?
   

Thoughts from the 2006 federal election results

• It's clear that the "Conservatives" are perceived more as an Alliance spin-off, rather than a Progressive Conservative entity, given their results across the country. The only big exceptions to this are in BC and Quebec, where Tories decreased in the former, yet gained significantly in the latter.
  

1. Had the Progressive Conservatives been the dominant half of the new Conservatives, would there have been a majority victory last night?
2. If the new Conservative leader had been a former Progressive Conservative (i.e. Peter MacKay), would Ontario and the Maritimes have warmed up to the new party more?
3. Had Harper included MacKay more prominently during the campaign, might that have taken some of the Alliance "sting" out of the new Conservatives, and appealed more to Ontario and the Maritimes?

• The difference in political culture between urban British Columbia and urban Alberta is staggering - the former clearly left/centrist, the latter staunchly right (in terms of seats elected, but obviously slightly less so in terms of popular vote).

• What sort of role will Tory John Reynolds play? He declined to run for office again, but was a key part of Harper's campaign, and is rumoured to be drafting a list for the Tory cabinet. Does Reynolds truly intend to retire soon, or has he simply relocated into the shadows?

• If there is yet another federal election within 18 months, and considering Canadians have already got the "change" they were after, would such a vote witness an all-time record for low voter turnout?

• And closer to home, how do we react to the Green result?

1. No real growth, despite receiving signifcant funding due to the 2004 result.
2. Greens seem to be popular across all sorts of social and economic divides, as Craig Cantin points out on his blog. However, results were rather poor in New Brunswick, and especially in Newfoundland and Labrador. Why was this?
   
3. Should we have expected to have done better, given this election was about "change"? Or were many people intent on "plugging their nose" and voting Tory, if only to oust the Liberals (rather than actual conservative leanings)?
4. Is Jim Harris the best person to lead this party? He helped the party become "mainstream" in 2004, yet failed to gain any signifcant improvement in 2006. Paul Martin went backwards in 2004, and remained Liberal leader. BC Green leader Adrienne Carr went backward in the recent BC provincial election, and yet is still BC Green leader. Would it be unfair to ask Harris to leave the federal Greens? Would anyone want Harris to leave? And most importantly of all, is there anyone on the horizon who could hope to do better than (or nearly as well as) Harris has done?
5. Are Greens happy with the platform? Was it too watered down? Or is it not mainstream enough? We talked much more about the economy, but are we still talking too much about ecology? Just what is the best balance, one that will appeal to a majority of "ordinary Canadians"?
6. Apparently one of the polls asked people their second choice for political party, and the Green Party had a staggeringly high figure. Just how do the Greens actually tap into this potential?
   

The first post

How bloody exciting.