A few months ago I wrote a post about Lynden Dorval, the Edmonton physics teacher who was been suspended for giving zeroes on uncompleted assignments or exams in contravention of his school’s (Poss Sheppard High School) ‘no-zero’ policy that was designed to avoid discouraging students. The public outcry of support
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Politics and its Discontents: Fact-Checkers Be Damned
It would be comforting to think that the disdain for facts apparent in the current U.S. Presidential campaign ads were confined to that country. Unfortunately, experience with the Harper propaganda machine suggests otherwise. H/t Ryan McGreal Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Sage Observation
Paul Kahnert of Markham has an uncommonly apt observation in this morning’s Star, one that I’m sure the ideologues leading us both federally and provincially will choose to ignore: Re: Canada’s idle threat, Business Aug. 25 It’s time to reverse corporate tax cuts. David Olive’s article was proof positive that
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Is Oil Our Economic Salvation?
Interesting, isn’t it, that despite the propaganda coming out of both Alberta and the Prime Minister’s Office about oil being the economic engine and saviour of Canada, that our Western friends are finding themselves experiencing some economic malaise? Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: McGuinty’s Craven Manipulations Continue
There is no evidence of a slow-down in the craven practices of Ontario’s slickster premier, Dalton McGuinty. With some uncertainty over whether his gambit to buy his way to a majority government by bribing Liz Witmer to vacate her seat to become head of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Retired Administrator Sets The Record Straight
As he tries to appear tough for the upcoming byelections, Ontario’s self-proclaimed Education Premier, Dalton McGuinty, has been indulging in the kind of demagoguery that is an affront to critical thinkers everywhere. I was therefore pleased to read this article by Tom Roden, a retired vice-principal, attempting to puncture some
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: McGuiny Brings Out The Worst In Me
I readily admit to being a bit childish today. Contempt of premier brings out the worst in me. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Eugenics in Alberta
Given the province’s rather fanatical conviction that its tarsands projects should be subject to little or no oversight, it might be useful to bear in mind another kind of fanaticism it embraced between 1928 and 1972: eugenics. Between 1929 and 1972, 4785 cases [for sterilizations] were presented to the board,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Ward, I’m Worried About The Beaver
In this complicated world filled with dire threats ranging from rapidly-escalating climatic disasters to unprecedented rates of marital discord to street (and theatre) violence that leaves everyone feeling more vulnerable than ever, I’m sure many Americans pine for the halcyon days of tranquility and simplicity epitomized by that classic family
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Dalton McGuinty and the Ornge Scandal
As I recently observed in a post, Ontario’s Premier Dalton McGuinty has refused to testify before the legislative committee investigating the Ornge air ambulance scandal. Rather than try to help ferret out the wrongdoing that has cost Ontario taxpayers untold millions, enriched the accounts of high-placed Ornge executives, and engendered
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: How The Right Deforms Our Attitudes
I have long believed it is not so much the ‘genius’ of the extreme right as it is their financial backing that makes them powerful propagandists. Their domination of the media and their captivation of politicians’ ears give them advantages very difficult to surmount. Read letters to the editor throughout
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Attitudes Toward The Poor
“The more wealth you have, the more focused on your own self and your own needs you become, and the less attuned to the needs of other people you also become.” So says social psychologist Paul Piff in response to a study Chronicle of Philanthropy report on charitable giving, discussed
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: We Have A Responsibility
As we go about our daily lives, the majority of us, I suspect, share a hierarchy of concerns ranging in priority from the health and well-being of our loved ones, to ourselves, and to our fellow humans. It is probably the latter than many of us pay only lip service
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Harper’s Lack of Vision and Corporate Timidity
Canada is cursed with a Prime Minister who pretends to be an economist, one apparently intent on returning us to an era when the country was primarily a hewer of wood and drawer of water thanks to his enthusiastic endorsement of a shortsighted prosperity achieved through oil and gas exports.
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: That Man Behind the Curtain
While I strongly believe in being critical of unions when their behaviour warrants it, I am steadfast in my belief that they serve a vital role for the working person, which, essentially, is all of us, at least until retirement. I therefore must disagree with those who claim that the
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Unfettered Capitalism Redux
Ah yes, the joys of the marketplace. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Truth In Nature
A Facebook friend just put this photo up with the caption: This reminds me of Mr. McGuinty: Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: One May Smile And Smile And Be A Villain
The above title, a quotation from my favorite Shakespearean play, Hamlet, is, I suppose, something of a truism in today’s age of cynical politics. Yet it was the line that immediately occurred to me as I read this story from today’s Star that reveals Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty’s refusal to
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Irish President Rips Into American Extreme Right
I’m happy to make this video my first post since ending my technological hiatus. Enjoy. You can read the accompanying story here. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Time for a Hiatus
Time for a late-summer technology hiatus. See you soon. Recommend this Post
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