A brief lesson in semantics according to Western discourse. . . . Here we have an Egyptian protestor in Tahrir Square, or a “noble, freedom-fighter committed to the cause of democracy, freedom and the people.” Here we have a Wall Street Protestor or “a lazy, misguided, troublemaker, who has no
Continue readingAuthor: kirbycairo
kirbycairo: The Subtlety of Modern Protest. . . . .
A lot of criticism has been directed at the ‘Occupy Movement’ because of a supposed lack of focus. And indeed the goals of these protesters seem to be vague and unclear. But the lack of focus is not, I believe, a result of an absence of difficulties facing society, but rather I
Continue readingkirbycairo: What is our Future?
It seems that there are daily more reasons to dispair. We are so fragile and even the luckiest among us are compelled, at one time or another, to watch someone we love die and we must see them put securely and irreparably into the cold earth. The great institutions into which we
Continue readingkirbycairo: Some more thoughts one Democracy. . . .
Democracy is almost always a tricky matter. The most difficult aspect of democracy is that it is not, as one often imagines it is supposed to be, a process wherein we have a meaningful debate about policy and legislation and the outcome reflects the mo…
Continue readingkirbycairo: What I Remember on Remembrance Day, The Unpopular Recall. . . . .
I honestly believe that Remembrance Day (or Veteran’s Day as it was in the States when I grew up) does a significant and and lasting disservice to veterans of all wars and to our nations in general, at least in its modern incarnation. One would have to…
Continue readingkirbycairo: Don’t Let them Tell you. . . . . .
You have to give credit to the rightwing to one thing at least – the way that they have convinced so many people that our society is broke and we can’t afford pensions for the elderly or living wages for the mass of working people. And they have manage…
Continue readingkirbycairo: Freight Train, Freight Train, Going so fast. . . . .
I am certainly not a constitutional expert, but you don’t have to be an engineer to see a freight train coming your way. And I suspect that a freight train in the form of whole slew of legal problems and possibly a constitutional crisis is headed in th…
Continue readingkirbycairo: Whither Greece?
Anyone who has been a close observer of democracy knows that Western countries have only ever been committed to democratic principles to the degree to which they support and strengthen Western (generally capitalist) interests. Western countries love to…
Continue readingkirbycairo: Whither the Arts?
Though I am closing in on fifty, by today’s standards I know that I am not old. But of course, like many people in this age, the degree to which many aspects of society have changed, can make me feel rather older than my years. And it is not just the c…
Continue readingkirbycairo: The Looming Crisis. . . . .
Every instinct I have suggests to me that we are entering a time of a crisis of capital similar in form, if not content, to the crisis that gripped it in the nineteen thirties. Just as the depression in the thirties was brought on in part by the o…
Continue readingkirbycairo: Letter to Rob F***king Ford. . . . .
Hello Mayor Rob F***King Ford,Yesterday you released a statement concerning the incident in which a great Canadian comedian attempted to have you take part in a time honoured tradition in Canadian Television. In your statement you said you called…
Continue readingkirbycairo: Abusive Behaviour and the Mayor of Toronto. . . . .
Can anyone out there seriously say that they are surprised by Robert Ford’s abuse of the hardworking 911 operators? After all, we knew what kind of man Mr. Ford was before he was elected to be Mayor of Toronto. Ford is a self-absorbed, bully of a man w…
Continue readingkirbycairo: NDP Blogging site goes Offline. . . .
I was very sorry to see the NDP Bloggers site go off line. It seems odd that at a time when the NDP has never been stronger, their primary online voice has been silenced. If I were a conspiracy minded person I would say that insiders at the NDP, such a…
Continue readingkirbycairo: Karzai’s Rejection and Geo-Politics. . . . .
Well the chances of a war between the US and Pakistan are probably considerably less than zero percent. However, those ridiculously long odd do nothing to dampen the supreme irony and humor in the recent revelation of Afghanistan’s President Karzai tha…
Continue readingkirbycairo: Rowland Hill and the Modern Struggle. . . . .
I bet you have never heard of Rowland Hill. Like so many important reformers, Mr. Hill has faded into partial obscurity and only those interested in 19th century English history will have run into his name. But it is a prestigious name and one worth kn…
Continue readingkirbycairo: Chinese Toddlers and Keeping Hope Alive. . .
All my life people close to me have tried to buoy my spirits and convince me that human society isn’t really that bad. And I have always tried, to borrow a phrase from Mr. Jackson, to keep hope alive. After all, I recognize that I have been very lucky …
Continue readingkirbycairo: How you gonna keep ’em down on the farm?
We know for certain that the Conservative crime bill will not reduce crime. We know for certain that it will cost billions of dollars. In every culturally similar context, efforts to reduce crime by putting more people in prison, even where that system…
Continue readingkirbycairo: Our Casino Economy. . .
Today, in response to a question, the interim leader of the NDP vaguely floated the idea of capping the salaries of CEOs in private corporations. Needless to say, rightwingers jumped on the idea and branded it some kind of crazy communist notion. It is…
Continue readingkirbycairo: Feeling that Absence. . . . .
Though it seems as though my father died only yesterday, it has been over a year now. I guess it has taken me a while to really understand why his death has been so devastating for me. I understand the grieving process as explained by so-call…
Continue readingkirbycairo: Just a Thought. . . .
A Sunday morning thought from my favorite writer.”It is indeed time that a stand was made against the pedantic and prosaic tyranny of orthography.” &…
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