I’ve noticed a distinct reduction in my annual irritation and disgust at the holiday madness this year.* An unexpected convergence of events has brought on a pleasant state of near-apathy. First, no TV. Watching shows on Netflix or by download is blissfully free of advertising. No salespeople dressed up as
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wmtc: happy howlidays!
Love and happy holidays from all of us at chez wmtc. In 2013, raise your voice! Howl for peace, howl for justice. Howl for change.
Continue readingwmtc: talking radical: a history of canada through the eyes of activists
This the third of the four talks I attended semi-recently. Other recent talks: noah richler, u.s. war resisters, and the militarization of canadian culture, and from greece to chicago to toronto, workers fighting back against austerity. * * * * Scott Neigh, who writes the blog A Canadian Lefty in
Continue readingwmtc: happy birthday, bradley manning
Today is the third birthday that courageous military whistleblower Bradley Manning has spent in prison. By the time his court martial begins in March, he will have been imprisoned almost three years, including a full year in solitary confinement – an internationally recognized form of torture. Bradley Manning helped people
Continue readingwmtc: mr. monk and the loyal viewer
It’s a rare television show that gets me so engrossed in the characters that I actually begin to care about them. It takes great writing, great acting, and probably more than anything, great characters. I’ve just finished watching the entire series of “Monk,” which I’ve been watching end-to-end on Netflix.
Continue readingwmtc: rtod: children in pakistan are as important as children in connecticut
We’ve endured too many of these tragedies in the past few years. And each time I learn the news, I react not as a president, but as anybody else would as a parent. And that was especially true today. I know there’s not a parent in America who doesn’t feel
Continue readingwmtc: unrelenting austerity and the promise of self-reliance: a blog from greece
A friend sent me a link to this blog, written by a man from the UK, a Socialist Workers Party activist, now retired and living on the Greek island of Samos. It’s a picture from of life under extreme austerity – how people are suffering, but also how they are
Continue readingwmtc: post your slow-cooker recipes and tips here
I just bought a slow-cooker, the first one I’ve owned. Do you use one? If so, what are your favourite things to make with it? Any tips or suggestions? I know there a zillion slow-cooker recipes online, but I’d like to hear what friends and readers like. Thanks!
Continue readingwmtc: workers rising: global day of action against walmart
In the US, on the biggest shopping day of the year, Walmart workers in 47 states took action against the abusive, illegal retaliatory practices of their behemoth employer. Today, workers in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, India, Nicaragua, Zambia and South Africa will show solidarity with those US workers with a
Continue readingwmtc: fighting for democracy in the courts and in the street: #idlenomore, democracy 24/7
I no longer see TV news, but I have it on good authority that if your primary news source is CBC’s The National, you haven’t been hearing about two important developing – and exciting – stories. Idle No More is a campaign led by First Nations peoples to fight back
Continue readingwmtc: our first video: backyard play
Finally, a video of Tala and Diego! How silly am I? Now that we have video capability, I felt sad that we don’t have video of all our past dogs, the ones who are gone. And because of this, I didn’t want to take videos of these dogs! Very silly.
Continue readingwmtc: a great date
It’s 12.12.12! To all my fellow obsessives, enjoy the day!
Continue readingwmtc: more signs of life in the labour movement: non-union workers rising
Of all the reasons for hope that we’ve seen in recent times – Wisconsin, the Occupy Movement, the Quebec students’ actions, the Chicago teachers’ strike – this trend gives me the most joy and the most hope. Here are three stories of non-unionized workers organizing themselves to change conditions in
Continue readingwmtc: from greece to chicago to toronto, workers fighting back against austerity
Working my way backwards, this the second of four talks I attended that I’ll be reporting on. * * * * In November, I heard Nikos Loudos of the Socialist Workers Party in Greece (by Skype) and Canadian activist and organizer Carolyn Egan speak about the recent general strike in
Continue readingwmtc: anti-choice group advertises on… hangers. yes, hangers.
Apparently this is not a story from The Onion. From Reproductive Health Reality Check: There is a branch of anti-choice activists that will use pretty much anything as a medium for their message: newspaper ads, graphic signs displayed in front of schools, bus stop benches. You would think they would
Continue readingwmtc: international human rights day: write a letter, save a life
Join the biggest human rights event of the year. Write a letter. Save a life. Write For Rights FAQ People you can write for. Don’t: – be intimidated by the numbers of cases. – be overwhelmed, thinking you have to write 10 or 20 letters. – be cynical, thinking a
Continue readingwmtc: ten years too many: stop secret trials in canada
Today, International Human Rights Day, marks ten years since Mohamed Harkat was arrested under a so-called Security Certificate. Security Certificates allow for arrests, prosecutions, and imprisonments outside the rule of law. Those people caught in the Security Certificate trap can be detained for indefinite periods of time, including years in
Continue readingwmtc: in memoriam 832F
Tragic. Criminal. Completely unnecessary. The alpha female known as 832F is dead. She was murdered. Yellowstone National Park’s best-known wolf, beloved by many tourists and valued by scientists who tracked its movements, was shot and killed on Thursday outside the park’s boundaries, Wyoming wildlife officials reported. The wolf, known as
Continue readingwmtc: in toronto: noah richler, u.s. war resisters, and the militarization of canadian culture
Something else I resumed after quitting my crappy day-job: attending events with friends, or, socializing through activism. Few things make me happier. I have four events to blog about. * * * * Last Friday night at Innis Hall, the War Resisters Support Campaign put on “Telling Our Story: A
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