While the following video may seem tame by the standards of brutality set by the police last year in Toronto during the G20 Summit, it is heartening to see mainstream coverage of unwarranted police actions on Wall Street during the ongoing Occupy Wall …
Continue readingAuthor: Lorne
Politics and its Discontents: Star Article on Shark Finning
Having written previously on the inhumane and ecologically disastrous practice of shark-finning, I was pleased to discover in my morning read of The Toronto Star an article about the practice in China, which has the greatest appetite for shark-fin soup…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: And You Wonder Why People Have Contempt For Politicians?
Watch/listen to this to find out one of the reasons:Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: More From Chris Hedges On The Occupy Wall Street Protest
‘Stirring’ and ‘inspiring’ are the most apt adjectives to describe Chris Hedges’ latest piece on the occupation of Wall Street. It is a call to commitment and action, a reminder that sitting on the sidelines and doing nothing is tantamount to complici…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: An Avaaz Asbestos Petition To Premier Charest
Canada’s ongoing and unconscionable export of asbestos to developing countries continues to be a source of moral outrage to millions, not just in Canada but throughout much of the world. I have written many posts on the subject, always recognizing tha…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Velcro Ripper On The Occupy Wall Street Movement
A young black man named Hero, who had just been released from jail after being arrested at the September 24th march, shared his experience with me, “Someone pushed a little red button and the police turned into adrenaline packed zombies. I found myself…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: TruthDig For A Different Kind Of Truth
I recently wrote a couple of blog posts on Warren Buffett and the need for higher taxation of the very wealthy, an idea that is gaining currency in a number of countries, including France and Spain, the latter actually recently imposing a new tax on th…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Guardian Writes About The Occupy Wall Street Movement
For those interested, there is a thoughtful article on the implications of the Occupy Wall Street Protest found, not in an American newspaper, but in The Guardian. Entitled Occupy Wall Street rediscovers the radical imagination, it provides both the c…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Chris Hedges On The Wall Street Occupation
Chris Hedges, whose purity of vision and integrity I deeply admire, has an interview posted in a series of parts on You Tube regarding the Occupy Wall Street Protest and why he is part of it. Below is the first part of that interview:Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Occupy Wall Street Protest
The Occupy Wall Street Protest, now in its 12th day, has received very little coverage in the mainstream press, for reasons that seem too obvious to state. As usual, The Real News Network informs us where corporate media fears to tread. The following…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Goldman Sachs Rules The World
At least it does according to trader Alessio Rastani who, in an interview with the BBC, confesses that he dreams of recessions, [and]sees Goldman ruling the world. Remember this interview the next time someone tells you that business knows best, and t…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: One More Thought For Today.
A few weeks ago, I wrote a post on education, lamenting the fact that like just about everything else, it has become a commodity, measured almost exclusively by its ability to lead to a good-paying job. Last evening, while watching the local news, I o…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Will That Be One Smirk Or Two?
Watching the news last night, I was reminded once more of how personally repugnant my decision to vote for the McGuinty government is. I cited the reasons for my shift in yesterday’s post, and although from my perspective there is no reasonable altern…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: As Usual, The CBC Is Under Attack By The Right-Wing
I have written before about how I feel that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has, in many ways, sold out to the Conservative Government. Undoubtedly not having understood the sad history of appeasement, they have pursued that profitless course, tr…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Sometimes You Just Have To Hold Your Nose
I always try to be completely honest in everything that I write for this blog. If I see reason for praise, I acknowledge it, sadly a rare occurrence. Most commonly I am extremely critical of the issues and people that I write about. One of most freq…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Fair Taxation
Democratic Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren speaks on the topic of fair taxation:Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Increased Taxation Of The Rich In Spain
Having written previously on the logic and desirability of increasing taxation on the wealthy, I was heartened to learn that Spain recently increased its rate for those with real estate assets (excluding their principal residences), stocks and bank hol…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Fair Game – The Things Politicians Do While We Sleep
I rarely watch films today, preferring some of the edgier fare offered by cable television series such as Justified, Nurse Jackie, Trueblood and Breaking Bad. Nonetheless, with my son visiting last evening, we sat down to watch Fair Game, a 2010 film …
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: VIDEO: Police in London, Ont., use Taser on 17-year-old boy
Watch this video and decide if the tasering was warranted:Undoubtedly, the SIU will find nothing wrong here.Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: What Is A Hero?
Having completed at my wife’s urgent behest the always onerous task of vacuuming, I sat down a short time ago to peruse The Toronto Star. In it there is another story about Anthony Marco, the Hamilton-area NDP candidate running in Tim Hudak’s riding. …
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