A brief preamble: The old social contract, the last social contract, has clearly broken down. That was the New Deal, which was a compromise between the business elite and the 99%, which lasted between the late 1930s until the 1970s. The business elite, with increased global powers, decided in the
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Compromise or Collapse
The elite always do the same thing. They have repeated the same failed patterns for millennia. They never learn. They could be wealthy and powerful, virtually in perpetuity, or at least, for a very long time – if they were willing to compromise. They are not. Instead, they fall into
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Lauren Dobson-Hughes discusses how we’re paying the price for the failure of governments to protect their citizens from the collective action problem of a pandemic. And Shawn Moen points out how COVID-19 has exposed many people to multiple underlying crises which need
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Government and Corporations Care About Your Privacy: That’s Why They Support the Bi-Partisan Global Fascist Coup
Western governments and their criminal friends in big tech pretend to care about citizen’s privacy, while secretly destroying it. But privacy is a misnomer and a red herring. The central issue is whether the people should be spied upon by their government and its big business allies. That is the
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Freedom of Speech vs Censorship
With the disgraceful behaviour of the Intercept, first censoring the venerable Glenn Greenwald, then attacking and slandering him after he resigned, over his refusal to abide by censorship at the Intercept; and the further disgraceful behaviour of the once-venerable Naomi Klein, who stooped to attacking and slandering Glenn Greenwald for
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Trump And His Bootlickers
Donald Trump refuses to admit that he lost the election. His refusal shows itself every day in so many ways. Richard Wolffe suggests that we count the ways: 1. The Founding Myth Of Election Night “This is a fraud on the American public,” he said. “This is an embarrassment to our
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Doug Ford buys Ontario.
Listening to premier Doug Ford blow on about his Buy Ontario pitch brings back memories. After all I go back to the days when the province used to promote doing home renovation jobs in winter “When men and materials are available.” But Doug’s objective is to compete with president-elect Joe
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The DWR Sunday Religious Disservice – Spoiler Alert
My question is, how do I get as well connected as that darn brown cow? She’s clearly in the know. 🙂
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Guest Post by Cam Westhead: COVID-19 public health advice – armchair epidemiologists need not apply
By Cam Westhead One of the first things I learned in nursing school was not to panic during times of crisis. Medical professionals are trained to act like a duck – appearing calm on top of the water but paddling like mad underneath. Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena
Continue readingA BCer in Ottawa: Eating in lockdown: Fried vs baked chicken thigh sammies
I’ve written about chicken sammies a bit lately, and I did finally get around to trying Popeye’s new fancy chicken sandwich after some customer service foul-ups — more on that soon. But after behaving myself this week, for the weekend I wanted to try making at home versions but with
Continue readingIn This Corner: Time isn’t on Time’s side
Back in the day, whatever that means, everybody subscribed to magazines. At various times when I was a kid we subscribed to Reader’s Digest, Life, Look, Newsweek, Chatelaine, Macleans, Sports Illustrated, MAD magazine (that was me), Saturday Evening Post … the list goes on. Today, finding a magazine subscriber is
Continue readingwmtc: art in our new home
When we were in Salt Spring Island, we went to the Saturday Market, and I instantly fell in love with this man’s work. Salt Spring artist Lorne Tippett uses wine-barrel stays to create a hanging frame, and carves the designs from reclaimed wood. We splurged and bought one. It’s not
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Canadian corporate greed on display in Mexico mining dispute
One of the open pits at the Los Filos gold mine near Carrizalillo, Mexico. Photo supplied by the Ejido of Carrizalillo. As gold prices soar to record levels, the Los Filos gold mine in Mexico, one of the country’s largest, has sat idle since early September after its owner, Vancouver-based
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: Give It to Us Straighter, Dr. Henry
We’re reader supported. Get our newsletter free. Give It to Us Straighter, Dr. Henry When students stop listening the teacher is to blame. Here’s what we need to be told. Crawford Kilian 19 Nov Read more… The post Give It to Us Straighter, Dr. Henry first appeared on richardhughes.ca.
Continue readingRecreating Eden: Saturday Photo: What to Do on a Dark Winter Day
Elena Ferrante’s top 40 books by female authors What to do these long, dark days when you may be in semi-lockdown: Elena Ferrante’s top 40 novels by women (from The Guardian.) I’ve read 13, how about you? Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Fourth Estate) The Blind Assassin by Margaret
Continue readingwmtc: cooking with cookie!
We had a bit of excitement last week, and I realized I shared it only on Facebook. I’m sure wmtc readers want an answer to the burning question, What is Cookie up to now? This is what she’s up to! She Who Cannot Be Contained must have put her paws
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On cultured ignorance
Evan Radford’s report on the insufficient public response to soaring COVID-19 case loads in rural Saskatchewan surely reflects the polling (PDF) showing a higher proportion of social irresponsibility than in any other province. But it’s worth noting how that in turn can be traced to years of anti-science propaganda from
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Linda McQuaig discusses how the calamitous effect of COVID-19 shows the dangers of putting care in the hands of the corporate sector. And Christopher Reynolds reports on Jagmeet Singh’s call to end the for-profit ownership of long-term care homes by the federal government.
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: For Quite Awhile
Yesterday, Doug Ford imposed lockdowns in Toronto and Peel — the suburbs west of Toronto. It took him a long time to get there. Bruce Arthur writes: This has been a goldfish government, swimming from day to day, changing strategies on the fly while trying to keep businesses open and
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Pandemic Profiteers.
As a young man, I was trained by two different grocery chains in management of large grocery stores. Later in life, traveling around the world, I would often visit grocery stores, not to see what was different but to admire what was the same. From Hamburg to Kyoto, I could
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