Gaining Confidence?

You might expect the leader of Canada's Green party to write little more than a book on how the government has failed on the issue of climate change. After all, the misconception that the Greens build their platform solely off one specific niche issue does persist today, as is evinced by dismal election results.

But in Losing Confidence: Power, Politics, and the Crisis in Canadian Democracy, Elizabeth May inadvertently quashes that assumption. Her book conveys considerable knowledge of the mechanics of the Canadian political system in drawing attention to the dangerous path Canada is headed down.

Although her message is hardly alarmist, she does spell out in concise and accessible prose a number of signs that the quality of our democracy is in sharp decline: the lack of respect among parliamentarians, the prevalence of blindly partisan attack ads, the shrinkage of Canadian media, declining political literacy and voter turnout, and others. At times, the opening and closing of each chapter reminds me of essay structure we learned back in grade twelve; in other words, May opens the odd chapter telling the reader something she already made crystal clear on the previous page. To her favour though, this structure does make it easy to read each chapter in isolation from the others. What this comes down to, as far as I'm concerned, is accessibility at the slight expense of style.

To May's credit though, her arguments about the decline of transparent democracy in favour of partisanship and buzz-language supersede stylistic concerns a bit. If Canadians have become the victims of the silver-tongued partisans, clarity is a priority first and foremost. She draws on the knowledge of politicians, officials, insiders, and columnists from all political persuasions to make a strong case for the crisis in democracy, one that holds in store praise and blame for members of all different federal parties.

I hope that, given the accessibility of this book, more people will read it, and, if not take Elizabeth May more seriously as a politician, at least become more aware of some of the issues at stake in democracy. The 40.1% of Canadians who did not vote in the previous election could have made a significant difference in the way in which government has been run for the past two years. Losing Confidence is on to something, and though its writer may never be prime minister, her message has the potential to open Canadians' eyes to the political world we live in.

Team Alcide: True Blood 3.8, "Night on the Sun"

At risk of giving something away here, I have to say that this episode began and ended with Sookie screaming. Overall, Sookie was very loud this episode. What we have here is an interesting turning point in her character development; she's louder and badder than ever before. As this third season continues to ratchet up the violence, with the many "stakings" and twisted sex scenes portrayed, our favourite characters change accordingly.

As I've made clear, the most obvious change in character can be seen in Sookie here. Although the series opened with her beating up the Rattrays with a chain (if you remember), that scene shies in comparison with her recent skirmishes with Lorena and Debbie. Consider: "You wouldn't know love if it kicked you in the FANGS!" and "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, BITCH!"

Sookie is, of course, quickly becoming more and more aware of her own powers, and there can be little doubt that awareness is spurring her development into something bold and bad. Towards the end of the season, I think the person she's becoming will land her in some new conflicts and possibly force her to take a step back and look at what she's becoming.

Still, the ultimate ego boost is inevitable. Important people, like Russell, want her. As he says to Bill, "I'll trade you the red one for the blonde one."

Speaking of the red one, Jessica too is becoming quite a violent young lady, as Bill schools her in blurry vampire martial arts and trains her to sink her fangs into a few werewolves. At one point, she reflects that the person she's become will never deserve someone as good-natured as Hoyt.

"Who...?" seems to be the recurring theme these last few episodes. Who are the characters becoming?

Who is the British lady in Sookie's dream?

Who are the Norrises?

Who is Jesus, really, and who for that matter, is Lafayette?

Who will Arlene's baby turn out to be? Will her anxieties turn out to be a source of more comic relief, or is there something more sinister about the fact that Drew Marshall is the father?

The exception to these Why questions is Where did Alcide go, driving off in his contracting truck like that? Doubtless he'll be back, at least in time for the seasons's finale, but for those who see him as a potential alternative to Bill (who is bland) and Eric (who seems to find more at stake with his relationship with Talbot than Sookie...), that isn't soon enough.