Despite the way it may appear in some of my blog postings, I really take no particular pleasure or delight in pointing out the deficiencies and foibles of most of our politicians. Such is the weakness of my character, however, that I do exclude the brothers Ford, the mayors of
Continue readingAuthor: Lorne
Politics and its Discontents: A Disturbing Article on Cell Phone and Wi-Fi Radiation
While I have written before on the link between cellphone electromagnetic radiation and cancer, I just completed an article by Christopher Ketcham entitled Radiation From Cell Phones and WiFi Are Making People Sick — Are We All at Risk? that offers some disturbing evidence of the dangers of the wireless
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Rob Ford Continues To Make An Ass of Himself
While the title of this post might strike many as redundant, even I, despite having borne witness to a great deal of asinine behaviour over the years, was surprised to see the following headline on The Star’s website a few minutes ago: Mayor Rob Ford to Toronto: Don’t read the
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Apparently They Don’t Hold With That Readin’ Thing Either
Or that might be the easy inference to draw about Mayors Rob and Doug Ford. As reported yesterday, The Toronto Star is filing a complaint with the City of Toronto’s ethics commissioner over the lads’ embargo of The Star of all official notices and pronouncements from the mayor’s office. Today,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Toronto Star Fights Back
Because the ever-petulant Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, backed by his always doting and sycophantic executive, continues to boycott The Toronto Star on all official notices and pronouncements from his office, the paper has decided to file an official complaint with the city’s integrity commissioner. As reported in an article by
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Where In The World Is This?
What follows is a series of pictures, the link to which my son Matthew sent me. They are all pictures of the same country, the last one offering you the only real clue as to its identity. I urge you to look at each one slowly, and when you come
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Now This Really Is Funny
It is a rare occasion when I experience a good belly laugh, but the following bogus media release, reported by the CBC’s Allison Crawford, had that effect. While I doubt that the morose and ostensibly humourless Harper government will be amused, those with a degree of normalcy in their mental
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Sayed Shah Sharifi – The Toronto Star Continues Championing His Cause
Sayed Shah Sharifi, the brave Afghan interpreter, may have been betrayed by the Harper government and our contemptible Minister of Immigration, Jason Kenney, but he has the support of The Toronto Star, countless people worldwide, and the pro bono services of Lorne Waldman, one of the country’s leading immigration lawyers.
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Power of the Documentary
Although traditionally avoided as a rather staid and boring genre, the documentary has enjoyed a real resurgence in popularity over the past couple of decades, no doubt in part do to the important and provocative work by people such as Errol Morris, Michael Moore, and Velcro Ripper. A good documentary,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Power of Non-Violence
Never an advocate of violence, I have been recently thinking of the power of its opposite, non-violence or passive resistance, especially in light of the contemptible yet very casual pepper-spraying of University of California – Davis students by campus police. For me, the various pictures and stories circulating on the
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Battle of Sayed Shah Sharifi Continues
The Star continues its excellent coverage of the plight of Sayed Shah Sharifi, the brave young Afghan interpreter who has been betrayed by the Harper government, despite glowing Canadian military reports supporting his application for emigration to Canada. As his last hope after being rejected by faceless bureaucrats and abandoned
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Occupy Movement: More Wisdom From Star Readers
I wrote the other day that I normally refrain from excerpting large chunks of text from other sources, but here I go again, this time a reproduction of letters from perceptive Toronto Star readers on why we should be thankful for the Occupy Movement. I was especially struck by B
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Former Goldman Sachs Partner Pontificates on the Real Reason for Our Sorry Financial State
For those who can stomach hypocrisy, I highly recommend this video in which we are told by a wealthy banker that the true source of our troubles is socialism: Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Globe and Mail Reports on Asbestos
I have written many times on one of Canada’s biggest shames, the export of asbestos, something of grave concern to all right-thinking Canadians. It is therefore gratifying to see that, despite what I regard as the failed leadership of editor-in-chief John Stackhouse, The Globe and Mail recently devoted some resources
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Star Readers and Harper Government’s Injustice to Sayed Shah Sharifi’s
While I rarely excerpt long passages from other sources fro my blog, I am making an exception today to print the reactions of Toronto Star readers to the cruel abandonment by the Harper government of Sayed Shah Sharifi, the brave Afghan interpreter who served our troops so valiantly: I was
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Umbrella Man – A Cautionary Tale
Germane to nothing in particular, I highly recommend this six-minute documentary by Errol Morris, made for the 48th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It explores the story behind the one man seen standing under an open black umbrella on a clear and sunny Dallas day at
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Today’s Globe Editorial on Occupiers
Ever the arbiter of all things significant, it is hardly surprising that in its latest editorial, The Globe and Mail has the arrogance to assume to speak for all when it says that “the [Occupy] movement has tried everyone’s patience.” Nonetheless, it should put aside its very conservative prejudices to
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Bill O’Reilly on UC-Davis Pepper-Spraying: No Big Deal
I don’t think the following video needs any commentary on my part: Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Message From the UC -Davis Faculty of English
The following can be found on the UC – Davis website, a followup to the brave letter written by untenured Assistant Professor Nathan Brown. The faculty of the UC Davis English Department supports the Board of the Davis Faculty Association in calling for Chancellor Katehi’s immediate resignation and for “a
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Two Monday Morning Links
There are two pieces on the Occupy Toronto situation that are worth reading in today’s paper. The first is the editorial in the Toronto Star examining the possibilities for the future now that the occupiers will soon be decamping from St. James Park due to a judicial decision just handed
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