This article from The Edmonton Journal offers an interesting explanation of why ‘black guns’ are growing in popularity amongst gun ‘hobbyists’. Were I a conspiracy-minded individual (which, of course, I am not), I might wonder about the relationship between two of the major industries discussed within. Recommend this Post
Continue readingAuthor: Lorne
Politics and its Discontents: Amen!
H/t Stephen Lautens Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Police Overreaction?
Or justifiable force? You decide. Interesting, though, the number of police that swarm the man recording the incident on his cellphone, beginning at around 5:20 of the video. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Another Salvo Against Teachers
Just came back from a rather tiring two-hour plus bike ride against a head wind. Because I am too tired to write a lengthy post, and as a follow-up to yesterday’s entry, for those interested in what is going on with teacher contract negotiations in Ontario, may I recommend Martin
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Tim Hudak’s Anti-Unionism
Never an original or deep thinker, young Tim Hudak, whose recent decision to rely on demagoguery in place of reason by condemning unions as the reason for the poor economy in Ontario, has provoked a spirited response from Star readers, some of whose letters you can peruse here. Recommend this
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Is This Really Negotiating?
While I have sometimes been critical of my former union, The Ontario Secondary Teachers Federation, both in this blog and my other one, I have always been a supporter and advocate of unions. I was particularly surprised and pleased that yesterday, in contrast to the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Del Maestro Is Close To Getting His Wish
Earlier this week Mr. Del Mastro, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and MP for Peterborough, complained about an Elections Canada investigation into his 2008 campaign, saying he’s frustrated he has no way to present his side of the story. Now, the opportunity appears to be close at hand.
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Looking for Democracy
I am sure that like me, many despair over the state of democracy in Canada. Not only is it under continuous assault by a federal government that has repeatedly and consistently shown its contempt for the concept, but it also suffers from widespread citizen disengagement. Probably the two are inextricably
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Ethical Transgression Be Damned
One of the few journalists today holding the Harper regime to public account, Lawrence Martin, has a very interesting assessment of yesterday’s minimalist cabinet shuffle, and offers a rather damning indictment of the Conservatives’ ethical myopia at ipolitics.ca. The piece also offers the reader a sharp contrast to the Harper
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Glacial Pace Of Change At The TDSB
Regarded by some as a master of platitudes, Toronto District School Board Director Chris Spence says that things are getting better. As outlined in The Star’s investigative series, the board, in the thrall of Jimmy Hazel’s Maintenance and Construction Skilled Trades Council, which forms the backbone of the TDSB’s facilities
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: If It Walks Like A Duck….
Strange about Dean Del Maestro. Says he’s innocent but…. H/t Brandon Laraby Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Just How Much Fear Does Harper Inspire?
We know about the loathing part, but July 10 will answer the title question. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Chief Blair’s Poodle Speaks
First, bullets flew through the Eaton Centre food court. Then, two weeks later, on a sun-filled patio in Little Italy. On Sunday, a man was shot while hundreds watched a fireworks display in the city’s east end. Just 24 hours before that, a stray bullet grazed a toddler’s leg in
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Asbestos Redux
Canada continues to be an outlier amongst Western nations as the sole exporter of death, aka asbestos, a topic that I have written about many times on this blog. The federal government continues to perpetuate the lie that the highly carcinogenic substance is safe if handled properly, despite the fact
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: More on The Harper Betrayal of All of Us
I wrote a recent brief post on the Trans Pacific Partnership that Canada recently signed onto, the price of admission being the surrender of much of our sovereignty over the environment, working conditions, etc. A new article published in The Nation paints a grim portrayal indeed of the future we
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Harper Refuses To Release Taxpayer-Funded Study On Pensions
The conclusion the cynic would draw (that’s me) is that the report suggests no need for the changes Harper has made in the OAS. H/t Brandon Laraby Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Source of Young Tim Hudak’s Inspiration
I recently wrote a brief post on young Mr. Hudak’s simple-minded and dysfunctional ‘vision’ for returning Ontario to its former industrial glory: gut the unions, a policy which, if ever enacted, would be disastrous for the men and women who currently enjoy workplace benefits, decent wages, and protection from arbitrary
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: On Austerity and Hippos
I often think that governments, especially our current federal one, hold the people they ‘serve’ in absolute contempt, regarding us as little more than Pavlovian creatures who will respond in a predictable and desired way if we are given just the right stimulus. Tell us the economic apocalypse is fast
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: On Harper Ideology and Young Hudak’s ‘Vision’
Two reading recommendations for Monday morning: The Star has a good editorial suggesting that the Harper government’s efforts to find a buyer for the Experimental Lakes Area in Kenora is just a sham, an empty public relations exercise. As the editorial points out, the reseach facility has been making key
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: My Name Is Tim – Hear Me Roar
To what I suspect is the surprise of few, young Tim Hudak, to whom I have made the occasional reference in this blog, continues to underwhelm as the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party. His latest ‘policy’, perhaps hatched at the supper table with wife Deborah, to make Ontario more
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