The Enlightened Savage: Discuss: Blogs

Friday, May 30, 2008

Discuss: Blogs

Nation, this is the first of several "Discuss" posts over the next week or so... the object is quite simple: I'll write a brief introduction outlining what it is I'm looking for, and then the floor is open to you via the "comments" section.

These are generally items I'm looking for reader feed-back on, and I'd do them as a "Poll", except the Blogger poll application is too limited.

Today: Blogs

In an upcoming facelift for this site, I'll be including a "Recommended Blogs" area, listing some of my favourite Canadian political blogs. What I'm looking for from you is suggestions: What blogs do YOU recommend to people? I'm not looking for people who are my ideological match necessarily, just who write well and do good research. Suggestions?

ALSO...

Another area that will be included after the facelift is a "Best of E.S." section. What posts from the past would you like to see there? There are just about 300 to choose from...

Thanks, Nation. As I said, more of these coming soon.

Tomorrow, we "Discuss: Voter Engagement".

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: For Best of E.S. you must of course include your April post "Budget 2008 - a reaction."
I've seen a lot of blogs - this was the first post I've seen from yours, and I'm very impressed by the quality of the content.
Marnie Tunay
http://fakirscanada.googlepages.com; Jun 2, 2008, 11:22:00 p.m.

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Who Is The Enlightened Savage?

The Enlightened Savage (Joey Oberhoffner) is a 40 year-old, life-long Albertan with one foot in each of the private (small business owner) and public (provincial public service) sectors. He is a self-confessed political junkie/policy wonk, with a sometimes disturbing affinity for Montreal Smoked Meat, gadgets, and well-written television.

Joey began blogging in late 2006 under the nom de plume of "The Enlightened Savage", and rapidly became well-known as an even-handed analyst of municipal and provincial political issues. He offered in-studio commentary on CBC Radio One for Municipal Election Night 2007, did analysis for the 2010 Municipal Election and the 2011 Federal Election, and appeared in-studio on CityTV for analysis of the results on Provincial Election Night 2008.

Joey also writes at and is a founding contributor for CalgaryPolitics.com.

Hate-mail, love letters, and offers of support for his campaign to change politics for the better can be sent to amishbuggyracing (at) gmail (dot) com.

All opinions expressed on this blog are those of the author himself, and are not meant in any way to reflect the opinions of any organization for which he either works or volunteers.

Joey O's Policy Points

"This guy is obviously a raging leftist - how can he possibly call himself a conservative?"

THIS is how. Because the public policies I advocate for are conservative - and I don't have to support your chosen right-wing politician or pet issue to be allowed to use the name "conservative".

- Fixed Provincial Election Dates (I'm leaning towards the second Monday of May, every 4 years. Would VERY rarely come into contact with a late Easter, otherwise it's smooth sailing...)

- Full Disclosure of Donors and their Contribution amounts at all levels of elected office, including internal party races, BEFORE the votes are cast - we deserve to know who's funding the war chests of our would-be leaders. And none of this "numbered corporation" crap either.

- A fully funded and independent Auditor General

- Economic diversification. Even a five-year old knows it's a bad idea to carry all your eggs in one basket.

- Making Alberta's Oilsands the standard bearer for environmental sensitivity while also making them the most sought-after business opportunity for large and mid-size operators in North America.

- Getting our energy products to market and getting a global price for them by working with our neighbours, rather than throwing tantrums and accomplishing nothing.

- Promotion of eco-tourism as a way to showcase the unique character of Alberta's landscape and people and boosting local economies.

- Capping government program spending increases from year to year at the rate of inflation plus population growth.

- Making the MLA "Tax-Free Allowance" just that - an allowance. Anything that isn't spent on expenses related to their work (e.g. rent in Edmonton, vehicular or transportation costs, hospitality) should be returned to the provincial treasury, or taxed as income.

- More recorded votes and fewer in camera sessions at all levels of government. The work of our governments should be public and indexable unless there is a clear reason why it shouldn't be.

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Friday, May 30, 2008

Discuss: Blogs

1 comment: