The other day over at Trapped in a Whirlpool, blogger Kev wrote a post entitled Irrelevant by Choice. In it, he lamented the failure ofParliamentary-backbenchers to do the job they were entrusted with, the representation of their constituents. He wro…
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Politics and its Discontents: One of Nature’s Hidden Affronts
I assume this requires no commentary from me: H/t janfromthebruce Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: From The Salamander
Lately, I guess as a response to the rhetoric that comes pouring forth every year as Remembrance Day approaches, I have made several critical posts directed against those who find it so easy to don the mantle of patriotism while paying only lip serv…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: And Another Thing ….
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Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: When It Comes To Our Veterans
… the Canadian government knows that talk is cheap. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: But Would They Be So Enthusiastic
… if they knew anything about their northern neigbour? You decide: Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: After Cutting Through The Sanctimonious Rhetoric
…it is apparent that, like most governments, the Harper regime has been quite content to recruit, exploit and ultimately abandon those who, in good faith, joined the armed forces to support a ‘muscular adventurism’ that has both tarnished and dimi…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Canadians: Dear Leader Requires Your Uncritical Attention
To absorb and spread this message. Watch, learn, and heed: Ignore the ugly rumours spread by enemies of the state that Dear Leader advocated this policy in 2008. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: As The Republicans Desperately Seek A New Political Religion
…they would be well-advised to read what, in my view (and I know many would disagree) is one of the greatest American novels ever written, John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath, the story of dispossessed Mid-West farmers seeking a new life in California. …
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A New Threat To Seniors
I think we are all aware, at least on an intellectual level, that the gift of a relatively long life comes at a cost: physical and sometimes cognitive diminishment, myriad aches and pains, both physical and emotional, and susceptibility to scams and …
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: On Rembrance Day
After reading a fine piece in today’s Star entitled Politics shapes how we commemorate Canada’s wars, by journalist Jamie Swift and history professor Ian McKay, I couldn’t help but think back over my time in the classroom, and how I dealt with the su…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Food Banks: The Art of Enabling
Few rational people would deny the contemporary need for food banks. Begun in Canada largely as a temporary anodyne to recession-induced job losses in the 1980’s, they have grown in size and scope, becoming a seemingly permanent fixture on our socio-economic landscape. The annual study by Food Banks Canada reports
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Thomas Friedman on What Being Pro-Life Should Really Mean
Still convalescing from food-poisoning, I realized today that my re-entry into regular blogging will likely be slower than I had anticipated. Nonetheless, as the situation has permitted, I have been spending some time getting caught up in my newspaper reading, and would like to recommend a fine piece by Thomas
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Rick Salutin on Universities
Back from a two-week vacation and almost another week recovering from what I suspect was a food-borne illness acquired from a chicken sandwich I bought in the Rome airport, today’s post will be brief, its purpose to direct you to Rick Salutin’s latest column. Entitled Universities are not job-training factories,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Time For Another Blogging Break
My Internet connection will be rather sporadic for the next little while as I take another break from blogging. See you soon! Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Thomas Walkom: Harper’s Strategy Behind The Foreign Workers Program
Yesterday, over at Northern Reflections, Owen Gray wrote a post entitled A Lost Generation, a reflection on the discouraging prospects our young people face in establishing themselves in gainful employment, and the fact that their plight does not seem to be a factor in the Harper regime’s decision-making. I left
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: An Update on Tim DeChristopher
About a year ago I wrote a post on Tim DeChristopher, a brave young activist who was sentenced to two years in prison for disrupting an oil and gas auction. In an act of civil disobedience, he submitted winning bids on land in Utah with no intention of paying for
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Young Tim Speaks Again
But of course, he is singing the same tune as always: tax cuts will lead us to prosperity. What’s next? Did I hear someone say monorail? Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Lying Politicians
Given the level of odium in which the public holds politicians, the title of this post probably seems redundant. However, it is also appropriate given an article written by Lawrence Martin yesterday and a not-so-surprising revelation made in today’s Toronto Star. First, Martin’s article, published yesterday in iPolitics, posits that
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Pick On Someone Your Own Size, Premier McGuinty
Much rhetoric has been uttered of late about the need for everyone to ‘share the pain’ as Ontario’s McGuinty government attacks the provincial deficit in a manner that many think is counterproductive, stripping away teachers collective bargaining rights being but one example. However one may feel about such moves, those
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