Monarch caterpillars go wandering before they turn into a pupae, so though we’ve watched over a dozen monarch caterpillars grow to full size in our milkweed patch, we weren’t sure if we would see any butteflies. Finally last week we spotted this beauty, next to our lavender hyssop patch, not quite ready for flight. About
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Christy's Houseful of Chaos politics » Christy's Houseful of Chaos: a time for being non-partisan
I’ve been meaning to write about why I like being part of a group that is political but non-partisan. I know some people talk about being non-partisan as though they were talking about being multi-faith or non-denominational, like its an inclusivity issue so that everyone can be part of it.
Continue readingChristy's Houseful of Chaos politics » Christy's Houseful of Chaos: Ontario’s Minimum Wage Advisory Panel
Reading background on the minimum wage advisory panel, and I find this gem of a quote: “By establishing the Minimum Wage Advisory Panel, we’re taking steps to ensure that the setting of minimum wage is out of politicians’ hands,” said Yasir Naqvi, Ontario’s minister of labour. “This will ensure a
Continue readingChristy's Houseful of Chaos politics » Christy's Houseful of Chaos: Lego Mini-Figures for Social Justice
I’ve been talking with some other social justice type people about the need to have easily passed on facebook memes, and I decided to try doing some lego pictures. Here are a couple of the graphics I’ve been sharing on facebook and twitter. Feel free to share: For more information about
Continue readingChristy's Houseful of Chaos politics » Christy's Houseful of Chaos: Aaron Sorkin’s Commentary on Occupy Wall Street.
Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom is dealing with the topic of Occupy Wall Street, and while I loved the Occupy Movement, I’m forced to admit that Sorkin makes some pretty good points. The character Shelly Wexley is a college professor and spokesperson for the Occupy movement. She clearly knows at least
Continue readingChristy's Houseful of Chaos politics » Christy's Houseful of Chaos: deep green resistance, gender, and transgenderism
I wrote about going to a Deep Green Resistance presentation. Then after a few days I ended up hearing about the controversy around DGR’s position on transgenderism. Basically, they argue that women are an oppressed group and for people born male to attempt to invade female-only spaces they are adding
Continue readingChristy's Houseful of Chaos politics » Christy's Houseful of Chaos: For a Diversity of Tactics
I went last night to a presentation by two women from Deep Green Resistance. It was an interesting presentation focusing on the question of how we make change in our world. The two presenters critiqued the myth that if we just bring enough awareness out there we can create a
Continue readingChristy's Houseful of Chaos politics » Christy's Houseful of Chaos: children at political protests
My kids and I went to a protest recently against the closing of a municipal daycare. Though my children are not in daycare, I recognize the need for daycares and I wanted to stand in solidarity with others. The daycare is unionized and is the only local daycare open in the
Continue readingChristy's Houseful of Chaos politics » Christy's Houseful of Chaos: Review: Adventures of Unemployed Man
The Adventures of Unemployed Man is a comic book about the modern economy. How can an unemployed superhero believe in himself? How can the superheros fight against against the Just Us League who want to hoard all the wealth? Can they rescue the Everyman and revive an attitude of solidarity
Continue readingChristy's Houseful of Chaos politics » Christy's Houseful of Chaos: Sudbury’s fight against the municipal replacement for CSUMB
The Ontario Liberal government’s ended the Community Start Up and Maintenance Budget (CSUMB) as of Jan. 1, 2013. A portion of the money previously going towards CSUMB was put into municipally run programs, including a one time payment of $42 million, spread across the province to help during the ‘transition year’. The Sudbury Coalition
Continue readingChristy's Houseful of Chaos politics » Christy's Houseful of Chaos: when did everyone get so angry?
I told the lady from the pro-life organization that the article I was writing would go to a social justice oriented group of people, and she asked me to withhold her last name so no one tracks her down and harrasses her. Later the same day I had a phone call
Continue readingChristy's Houseful of Chaos politics » Christy's Houseful of Chaos: Progressive Christian response to the book: Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada
I’m reading the book The Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada. This alarming book traces the interconnectedness of mega-preachers and certain Canadian politicians. It talks about how the religious right are getting organized pouring money into the infostructure to train young people to take on government and
Continue readingChristy's Houseful of Chaos politics » Christy's Houseful of Chaos: the gift of religious music
I don’t talk much about my religious beliefs, and it isn’t just because of the complication of trying to explain how religion can matter even when I don’t necessarily believe in a Deity. It’s the sense that its not polite for a left-leaning person to speak about religion. There’s a
Continue readingChristy's Houseful of Chaos politics » Christy's Houseful of Chaos: doctors and poverty
A CBC article talks about a Toronto physician, Dr. Gary Bloch helping his patients get income support because “Treating people at low income with a higher income will have at least as big an impact on their health as any other drugs that I could prescribe them.” I wonder whether he will now be
Continue readingChristy's Houseful of Chaos politics » Christy's Houseful of Chaos: scandals and election fraud, what a week in Canadian politics!
My husband and two of my children are out watching the sky to see Venus, Mercury and Jupiter aligned and visible. I’m staying home with the sleeping two year old, so I finally have a bit of time to write. This week’s political news seems full of scandal. We’ve got
Continue readingChristy's Houseful of Chaos politics » Christy's Houseful of Chaos: #PMHarperMustResign twitterstorm
I was skeptical when I first saw the call out for people to start using the hashtag #PMHarperMustResign. Tweeting doesn’t force a person to resign. Maybe it should be #PMHarperShouldResign instead but that would make a long hashtag even longer, and someone has already started advertising the other. As I
Continue readingChristy's Houseful of Chaos politics » Christy's Houseful of Chaos: Book Review: Letters from Nuremburg
The past week I’ve been reading Letters from Nuremburg: My Father’s Narrative of a Quest for Justice by Senator Christopher J. Dodd. The introduction to the book pulled me in, for Christopher Dodd writes comparing Nuremberg to Guantanamo. Nuremberg was the triumph of choosing law instead of revenge, and Guantanamo
Continue readingChristy's Houseful of Chaos politics » Christy's Houseful of Chaos: Accountability for Social Assistance.
The Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty has made three visits to the social assistance office in the past two weeks and have come out with a partial victory. You can read about the story on their website or at the Sudbury Star, but the short story is that Brenda had been turned
Continue readingChristy's Houseful of Chaos politics » Christy's Houseful of Chaos: talking politics
I went last night to a wonderful event put on by a grassroots media collective. They wanted to encourage local writers and local activists. There was lots of good conversations. It was helpful for me as a younger person to hear the stories of activists who have been involved for multiple
Continue readingChristy's Houseful of Chaos politics » Christy's Houseful of Chaos: thoughts on life, the provincial budget and WWII stories
It finally feels like summer here. The kids and I are spending hours outside. We’ve been out and about on errands a little more than normal this past few days, so the kids have done some of their schoolwork in the car. I try to grab the little moments when
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