They don’t play in Italy; former Prime Minister or not if you get convicted you are going down. Hard. Reuters breaks the news that “A Milan court sentenced Italian former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi on Monday to seven years in prison after convicting him of paying for sex with a
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Berlusconi Now Officially a Sex Offender
Sylvio Berlusconi has been sentenced to 7-years in prison for paying for sex with an underage prostitute. He’s also banned for life from holding public office. Sly, you old dog, sounds like they’ve got you this time. Berlusconi’s lawyer is of course filing an appeal. When your client is 76,
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Shouldn’t America Be Bombing Somebody? China? Russia? No, I Suppose Not.
America does not abide insubordination and the defiant often find themselves on the receiving end of U.S. firepower. Washington is practically seething over the ease by which fugitive Edward Snowden keeps eluding America’s grasp. First he made it to Hong Kong. When American authorities tried to move on Snowden there,
Continue readingBigCityLib Strikes Back: Dear Tim Hortons,
You don’t know how to make iced coffee. You say you do. It’s on your menu. But you don’t. Because it isn’t iced coffee that comes out of your taps. Rather, it is room temperature coffee–probably stuff you forgot to dump down the sink–into which you plop a glob of
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: June 24: What’s to say?
“Seismic testing not new in N.B.” That’s a “read it while it’s hot” front-page story in today’s TandT. And it flunks Journalism 101. 1. Nobody has ever said seismic is new. That is not what the demonstrations are about.2. The story is entirely based on an interview with one man who has
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Is This "Two Strikes" for Calgary?
Sorry, Calgary, but when once-a-century floods begin turning up once-a-decade (or even less) you need to realize that either climate change is very real and here to stay or that God just really hates you. Okay, or both. Calgary is, of course, Canada’s oil town which I suppose lends a
Continue readingLeft Over: One Dime Short and a Day Late…BC Ferries Sucks
BC Ferries refuses woman 10 cents short on ferry fare Company spokesperson says the rules are the rules CBC News Posted: Jun 24, 2013 8:46 AM PT Last Updated: Jun 24, 2013 8:45 AM PT Was there no one in the line – up to give/loan this woman
Continue readingWarren Kinsella: The 2013 Alberta flood: I am puzzled, as usual
In researching tomorrow’s Sun column, I came across a number of photographs of Alberta Premier Alison Redford, Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper touring my flooded hometown. A question arose: why is Harper wearing a military flight jacket? Is such a thing allowed? Was he channeling
Continue readingCanadian Dimension Feed: Reinventing Progressive Politics
We are so accustomed to the connection between political parties and democracy that to question the relationship between the two might seem absurd. But for those who recognize the multiple crises faced by humanity — the destruction of our environment, climate change, the ravages of unfettered finance capital, the undeniable
Continue readingCanadian Dimension | Articles: Reinventing Progressive Politics
We are so accustomed to the connection between political parties and democracy that to question the relationship between the two might seem absurd. But for those who recognize the multiple crises faced by humanity — the destruction of our environment, climate change, the ravages of unfettered finance capital, the undeniable
Continue readingWarren Kinsella: The clash of cultures
Specifically, that of (a) a nameless turtle, Chrysemys picta marginata methinks, and (b) Roxy, Canada’s best-loved political dog. Wish I had filmed this encounter up by the cabin; it was pretty funny. It ended with me sliding the turtle into a safe, marshy spot – and Roxy retreating, looking quite relieved.
Continue readingThe Adventures of Diva Rachel: La St-Jean souillée par les séparatistes
La chroniqueuse dans Le Devoir pose une question intéressante: À qui appartient la Saint-Jean-Baptiste? La fête rebaptisée «la Saint-Jean» a une connotation sociopolitique très particulière au Québec depuis les années 70. On est loin du 24 juin 1880, date historique à laquelle est chantée pour la première fois le «Ô
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Canadian Infrastructure Not Ready for Climate Change. Calgary Gets Two Once-a-Century Floods in 8 Years.
Decades of neglect have left Canadian infrastructure vulnerable to severe weather events of the sort now ravaging southern Alberta. The World Council on Disaster Management kicked off its annual conference this morning in Toronto, itself the scene or recent heavy flooding. “How prepared are we? One way of answering that
Continue readingThings Are Good: Plants Which Clean the Air
Ever wanted to have really fresh air in your place? This TED Talk by Kamal Meattle provides some insight into which plants you should have in your home and what element the clean in the air. I’m going to try this out in my home.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Chris Lehmann discusses the destructive impetus behind the ever-present austerity scolds: In their new book The Body Economic: Why Austerity Kills, Stuckler and Basu show distressingly consistent increases in such key public-health indicators as suicides, heart disease, alcoholism and HIV infection in societies
Continue readingWise Law Blog: 140 Law – Legal Headlines for Monday, June 24, 2013
Here are the leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter for Monday, June 24, 2013: Beware the perils of using unpaid interns – Canadian HR Reporter (blog) Justice at a heavy price – A mom’s story of fighting CAS “shaken baby syndrome” accusations – The Telegram “Lawyers eye NSA
Continue readingwmtc: my journey to palestinian solidarity and the myth of the self-hating jew, part 2
Part 1 here. For a while I had been reluctant to write this story, because it seemed so baggy and shapeless. The best essays are crisp, with a clearly defined turning point and an easily identifiable ah-ha moment. This story has none of those that I can see. A clear
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Harper’s homeboy, Hudak.
Ontario television viewers saw a new attack advertisement the other day. It looked like another attack advertisement by the Conservatives. And it was. It was just not by the federal Conservatives but by our Conservative Lights in Ontario. Even so, why does it not work the same? The Ontario Conservatives
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Penny Wise and Pound Foolish
Senator Colin Kenny has written an important op-ed in this morning’s Toronto Star. The central thrust of the piece is that the Harper government’s approach to foreign aid is sheer folly. Kenny writes: That Harper would pull CIDA out of some of the poorest countries in the world — like
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The Age of Unreason – On Junk Thought
I’ve almost finished Susan Jacoby’s book titled the Age of American Unreason. There are a few passages that wanted to make me stand up and cheer and qualified themselves as sharing material on the blog. Of course, I can never find them when I want to do the actual
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