In case you haven’t seen it yet, the Council of Canadians’ investigation into election fraud has uncovered yet more damning evidence that the Harper GovernmentTM did not win its so-called majority government through democratic or legitimate means. The Council of Canadians today released two of the documents it intends to
Continue readingAuthor: laura k
wmtc: ontarians, what are you doing this saturday? come to queen’s park to demand a fair budget
When Dalton McGuinty appointed a banker to assess the province’s budget priorities, he got exactly what he expected: a recommendation to cut jobs and shred public services, while leaving corporate tax cuts intact. The proposed budget cuts will affect every aspect of our lives: health care, child care, education, pensions.
Continue readingwmtc: bill maher’s good (and occasionally funny) thoughts on castrophobia
Thanks to Jere.
Continue readingwmtc: digital jigsaw puzzles, this quiet blog, and the current state of my brain
The writing part of my brain appears to be on vacation. It didn’t request time off; it doesn’t have to. It’s the boss. I have a pile of topics I’d like to write about, but Writing Brain is off in the woods somewhere, recovering from academia. So what is the
Continue readingwmtc: the tale of ozzie guillen, fidel castro, free speech, and corporate welfare: a story with irony to spare
Those of you who don’t follow baseball – which I assume is most of you – might never have heard of Ozzie Guillen before this week, or maybe don’t know his name now. Guillen is a Major League Baseball manager and a former player, a guy who is often described
Continue readingwmtc: u.s. continues to target its own citizens at the border… which is 100 miles wide
This story — A Montreal university student was detained at the U.S. border, held for several hours, interrogated, had his personal belongings searched and saw his computer confiscated for more than a week. What caught the authorities’ attention? His doctoral research on Islamic studies, he says. In a case that
Continue readingwmtc: "the greatest problem is we are afraid to offend our oppressors": john carlos, tommie smith, and a lesson about resistance
This is one of the most iconic photos in sports history: the Olympics, 1968, Mexico City. As the Star Spangled Banner begins to play, gold-medal winner Tommie Smith and bronze-medal winner John Carlos, each wearing a single black glove, raise their fists in a black-power salute. Peter Norman, the silver
Continue readingwmtc: i ♥ roku
I am absolutely gaga over Roku. This was exactly the missing piece we needed. And it all started with getting rid of Rogers cable. In February, I asked for help with my movie season problem. We had been getting special treatment from Zip, but once that ended, Zip became useless
Continue readingwmtc: latest threat to internet freedom from u.s. corporatocracy: stop cispa
The US Congress and its corporate partners want the right of warrantless spying on every internet user, anywhere in the world. The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) would give corporations the right to collect information on our online activities and share it with the US government, without notifying
Continue readingwmtc: happy opening day
Red Sox! Baseball! Today! The beginning of a new baseball season is a harbinger of spring, bringing hope, renewal, and… the end of school! In a few days, I’ll be done with another term and can turn my attention back to the rest of the world, including wmtc. Also in
Continue readingwmtc: jason kenney kills dream of canadian immigration for 280,000 people
Anyone who follows Canadian immigration had to see this coming, although I admit I didn’t think they’d do it in one fell swoop. Just as they have done with refugee claimants, the Harper GovernmentTM created a backlog of immigration applicants… then they got rid of it. More than 280,000 people
Continue readingwmtc: adrienne rich, 1929-2012
How did I fail to acknowledge the passing of Adrienne Rich? She gave the world so much – in politics and in art, and by example. Recognizing my own mind in Rich’s prose was one way I realized I was a radical. From The Guardian: Adrienne Rich, who has died
Continue readingwmtc: texas anti-choice sonogram law: doonesbury cartoon and very real life
If you haven’t seen the abortion-related Doonesbury cartoons that many US newspapers refused to run, you can read them here. Go Garry Go. More importantly, if you would like to see what the Texas sonogram law means in real life to real women, you can read one woman’s heartbreaking story
Continue readingwmtc: the lessons in tpl’s struggle
With the Toronto Public Library workers back at work after a ten-day strike, here is an assessment of their settlement, from a TPL librarian (my friend and comrade) who is active in the union. The lesson is it’s better to fight than to run away when you are a city-worker
Continue readingwmtc: how to have a one-sided conversation, or, how not to ask for a favour
A reader – or at least someone who stumbled on my blog at some point – emailed me with a request. When I replied, I received this auto-reply: Your message to xxxxx was not delivered because this mailbox does not accept mail from the Gmail system. Gmail not only invades
Continue readingwmtc: predictable ontario budget: formulated by the 1% for the 1%
Ontarians, already living so close to the bone, are being told we must sacrifice even more – because corporate tax hikes cannot even be discussed. Ask the 1% for a solution and you’ll get a solution that satisfies the 1%. Ten months ago, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty appointed former TD
Continue readingwmtc: shit men say to men who say shit to women on the street
A long time ago, when I was in my early 20s, I was once venting to my mom about some ongoing street harassment. There was a construction site near my workplace, and all the women in the area were forced to run a gauntlet of catcalls and obscene chatter, every
Continue readingwmtc: question for people using blogger with custom domains
A few years ago, I used Blogger with my own domain, wmtc.ca. There was an issue with individual posts not publishing correctly. The main page, wmtc.ca, was fine. But if you clicked on a post, you still got wmtc.ca, not wmtc.ca/todayspost.html. You could get a unique URL for a post
Continue readingwmtc: things i heard at the library: an occasional series: # 4
“Oh man, you gotta read these books! These books are the best! They’re not even really books. There are pictures! And jokes! And they’re really, really funny! And they’re super easy to read! These are the best! You gotta read these books!” The books that are “not even really books”?
Continue reading