Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Doug Cuthand writes that falsely pretending we’re “back to normal” in the midst of a pandemic does nothing but put people at needless risk. CBC Radio talks to experts about what we should be doing with vaccine passports, and finds that if any
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The Disaffected Lib Mk. II: Why Does a Trucker Need Body Armour and Guns?
So much for peaceful protest. RCMP have arrested members of a “core group” at the Coutts border crossing after finding rifles, handguns, ammunition, body armour and high capacity magazines in their vehicles. RCMP say a large farm tractor and a semi truck attempted to ram a police vehicle on
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib Mk. II: A "Darwinian Sensibility"
With Covid restrictions falling like autumn leaves, what awaits? New York Times columnist, Charles M. Blow, reminds us that Covid-19, in one or more variants, is here to stay. As Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House’s chief medical adviser, said last month: “If you look at the history of
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib Mk. II: The Age of "Collective Helplessness"
We live in a time of existential challenges. The climate breakdown, resource exhaustion and depletion, the strains of overpopulation, the rise of tribalism accompanying the decline of democracy, the list goes on. Back in my undergrad days I became interested in fatalism, societies that have learned to accept grave
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib Mk. II: A Basket Just Full of Tools
If prime minister Trudeau or premier Ford or Mayor Watson want to clear miscreant truckers who have beset the city of Ottawa for much too long there’s no shortage of tools at their disposal. Two I’ve already mentioned, the Riot Act, s. 67 of the Criminal Code. Mr. Watson
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Robin McKie and Michael Savage write about the warnings of UK scientists that the reckless elimination of public health protections will lead to far more preventable deaths. Alanna Smith reports on a letter from public health experts recognizing the dangers of the
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: A Few Thoughts On The "Freedom Convoy" Protests
I’m not going to spend a great deal of time reviewing the chronology and activities of this “protest” – it’s all been documented to death in the media. What I want to do today is consider what this event really is/was about. As with the “Yellow Vest Convoy” a
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Gary Mason writes about the combination of fatigue and outrage which is producing a particularly toxic mix for anybody attempting to limit the damage caused by COVID-19. Phil Tank laments the sense that protecting people from avoidable infection and death has become controversial,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Musical interlude
The Avener feat. Ane Brun – To Let Myself Go
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib Mk. II: The Grand Experiment Begins
Why do I feel like a lab rat? Why don’t you? After two years of Covid 19, we’re about to be left to our own devices. Those of us who are all vaxxed-up (Covid, influenza, pneumonia) should weather the virus with a good chance of survival. After all, it’s
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Elian Peltier reports that Denmark’s message that the COVID pandemic is over has predictably given rise to a new – and particularly dangerous – wave as people abandon even the most elementary care to avoid community transmission. And Brittany Gervais reports on the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Evening Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Zak Vescera reports on leaked information showing that Saskatchewan’s COVID hospitalization rate has reached a record high just as Scott Moe decided to starve the public of information about the toll being taken by an ongoing pandemic. Meredith Wadman discusses the growing
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – David Climenhaga writes about the need to investigate the U.S. funding which seems to have built the #FluTruxKlan’s profile, while Saba Aziz discusses how the cross-border extremist ties have only become tighter as Ottawa has been occupied. Arwa Mahdawi discusses how the threat
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib Mk. II: The Issue That Refuses to Go Away – Rights versus Responsibilities
It goes to the heart of the trucker protest in Ottawa and elsewhere. The truckers accept no responsibility for the misery they’re inflicting on those unfortunate enough to live anywhere near them. They assert their rights as sacrosanct, screw everyone else. It’s becoming a norm in many nations. Thomas Friedman
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib Mk. II: Pushing Earth’s Oceans Over the Edge.
It’s one of the most important stories of this year but it’s largely been overlooked. A report released one week ago by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) warned that our oceans have permanently entered a state of extreme heat. Today the story made it to CBC’s
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib Mk. II: Barbarians at the Gate – Canada’s Gate.
Canadians are becoming fearful of our next door neighbour, the disunited state of America. An Angus Reid poll finds that nearly 70 per cent of us believe that democracy in the US, such as that is, cannot survive another Trump presidency. And we’re worried about what that means for Canada.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Evening Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Sarath Peiris discusses the foolishness of prioritizing the self-indulgence of the grossly uninformed over the protection of the vulnerable. For those looking for a thoughtful discussion of how to avoid recklessly gambling with public health, Andre Picard discusses how protections could be removed responsibly. And Yasmine
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib Mk. II: What Two Millennia of Chinese Dynasties
Wars, revolutions and assassinations can trigger regime change but climate events destroy societies. A paper, published in the journal Nature, traced major volcanic events over two millennia that had global impacts. The timing matched major upheavals from ancient Egypt to dynastic China. What stunned [Joseph Manning, a Yale Egyptologist],
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