They call it the War on Christmas, but in reality it is just an opportunity for a few people to get apoplectic, or is it apocalyptic, about the fact that some people acknowledge that many holidays are celebrated at this time of year. Proponents of the theory like to claim
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THE FIFTH COLUMN: Towards a Green Social Democratic Economy
Background/Context Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit.[1][2][3][4] Characteristics central to capitalism include private property, capital accumulation, wage labor, voluntary exchange, a price system and competitive markets.[5][6] In a capitalist market economy, decision-making and investments are
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: The Truth About the Kanata Lakes Golf Course Development Proposal
Many of you probably see the opposition to replacing the Kanata Lakes golf course with housing as just a NIMBY response of a bunch of privileged entitled suburbanites living in their low density paradise. After all golf courses are not usually considered environmentally friendly and there is a real need
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Federal Election 2019 Reflections
The big surprise of the election has to be the Bloc Québécois resurgence, although I am sure they probably saw it coming even if the rest of us didn’t. This certainly makes leader Yves-François Blanchet’s position secure. The other surprise was the late campaign resurgence of the New Democratic Party
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: On Inequality, Democracy and Taxing the Rich – A Modest Proposal
No doubt many raised in our capitalist society, where inequality rules and excessive incomes and wealth are seen as a right (and where even the NDP only proposes a measly 1% tax on excessive wealth), will consider this proposal to be radical but it is actually quit a modest proposal.
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Guns – What Are They Good For
War The Wikipedia section on the history of guns makes it clear that the history of guns and war are clearly intertwined, guns being developed primarily as a means to kill people in warfare. Indeed even with the advent of weapons of mass destruction, the infamous WMDs, guns are still
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: On Free Trade
Even among left wing parties and progressive politicians trade is worshipped as the saviour of the world, but perhaps we should ask ourselves Is Trade Evil ? After we do that we can consider the question of free trade and free trade agreements. We need to seriously look at the
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Can We, Should We, Will We Live Forever Online
When typing for this blog I have often wished I could just think my thoughts at the computer and have them type out on the screen. This, no doubt, has much to do with the fact I am a one finger hunt and peck typist (having been streamed into drafting
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Metric for Americans
American exceptionalism often means things like calling football soccer while the rest of the world calls it football . Yes, us northern neighbours do the same thing but it’s still wrong. My biggest peeve about American exceptionalism is the fact they cannot get their political colours correct. Every American election
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: On Television
Definitions: 1 A system for converting visual images (with sound) into electrical signals, transmitting them by radio or other means, and displaying them electronically on a screen. 2 A device with a screen for receiving television signals. Source: OED https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/television Television (TV), sometimes shortened to tele or telly, is a
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Primitive vs Civilized Societies
As someone born in 1950 and raised and educated in a Eurocentric culture I learned early that civilized societies are intellectually, socially, and technologically superior to primitive societies. This despite the fact that the indigenous peoples of this land I was born on have for centuries had their own distinct
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: On Gender Identity
I was born in 1950 at a time when spouses were specifically excluded from rape laws and homosexuality was illegal. Homosexuality was only whispered about in “polite company” and people with a gender identity or gender expression that differed from their assigned sex did not exist, and by that I
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Is American Democracy Fucked ?
So is the American political system completely dysfunctional. I suppose the easy answer is to say they elected Trump so case closed, but of course it is much more complicated than that. What advanced developed democracy cannot manage to keep it’s government functioning. The obvious answer should be “none” but
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Christmas – Whose Holiday is it Anyway
It is time for the annual discussions about the “War on Christmas” and putting “Christ Back in Christmas”, but whose holiday is it anyway. The Christians claim it as theirs because, well, it has “Christ” in the name and celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. But yet they chose the
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: On the Justice System, Presumption of Innocence & the Me Too Movement
Me Too Movement The Me Too movement (or #MeToo movement), with many local and international alternatives, is a movement against sexual harassment and sexual assault.[1][2][3] #MeToo spread virally in October 2017 as a hashtag used on social media in an attempt to demonstrate the widespread prevalence of sexual assault and
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: THE FIFTH COLUMN 2018-10-13 19:17:00
On Democracy What a better way to restart The Fifth Column than by a treatise on how to make our democracy actually democratic. Hopefully this will be the first posting in a newly regenerated Fifth Column. I write this at a time when there are so many examples of democracy
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Unable to “View in Google Earth” GPS tracks opened in Garmin BaseCamp or Mapsource – Solution
When I first installed Garmin MapSource (and later BaseCamp) I could open GPS tracks (gpx files) in it and select “View in Google Earth” and Google Earth would open and I would be able to see the tracks in Goggle Earth. Like many of you, as my recent online research
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Backroad Mapbooks Ontario GPS Map Version 5 Now Available With My Greenbelt Trail Maps Included
Backroad Mapbooks now has Version 5 of their Ontario GPS Map available. Actually it has been available since the fall but I only checked for updates at the start of the Spring biking season. I am very impressed with the Backroad Mapbooks product, as I state in my review on
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Backroad Mapbooks Ontario GPS Map Version 5 Now Available With My Greenbelt Trail Maps Included
Backroad Mapbooks now has Version 5 of their Ontario GPS Map available. Actually it has been available since the fall but I only checked for updates at the start of the Spring biking season. I am very impressed with the Backroad Mapbooks product, as I state in my review on
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