Every summer the North Koreans hold the Arirang games, or “mass games,” where perhaps as many as 100,000 performers dance and do gymnastics to a patriotic theme. The real stars of the show may be these boys: the flashcard flippers, who with split-second precision form colorful mosaics. But this is
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on the tendency of both political decision-makers and the general public to give too much credence to secret information – and the need for citizens to scrutinize leaders all the more closely if they rely on bare declarations that we’d agree with their actions if only we knew what
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Coal Industry Waging War Against EPA
After playing the victims of an allegedly unfair, and completely fabricated, “war on coal,” the coal industry has gone on the offensive by launching their own war on federal regulators. Specifically, the group has their sights set on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Coal lobbyists, led by the American Coalition
Continue readingThings Are Good: Bicycle Commuters Save Economy $21 on Each Commute
Australian research has led to the conclusion that bicycle commuters are great for the economy! Every time a commuter chooses to ride a bicycle instead of a car or public transportation the economy benefits. With the obviousness of health benefits from riding a bicycle and the ever-increasing amount of economic
Continue readingBeyond the 140: Why I starting blogging again
Five years ago or so, I was a pretty keen blogger. Then I started working in social media and marketing and after spending my energies on the efforts of others, honestly I just couldn’t be bothered to publish my own thoughts. Also, given that I am prone to blog about
Continue readingWise Law Blog: 140 Law – Legal Headlines for Thursday, August 15, 2013
Here are the leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter for Thursday, August 15, 2013: Harassed employee’s work refusal illegal: court Bradley Manning apologizes for hurting U.S California Supreme Court refuses to stop same-sex weddings in the state U.S. prosecutors accuse two JPMorgan bankers of ‘creatively cooking books When
Continue readingWarren Kinsella: 13,105
…that’s how many followers I now have on Twitter. Just noticed. Justin Trudeau, watch out! I’m in your social media rear view mirror, pal!
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Dark Side Of Evangelicalism
While I periodically enjoy making sport of what I sometimes refer to as crazy old evangelicals (a distinction I make out of respect to the sincere and well-intentioned ones) and fundamentalists who espouse views that are an egregious insult to people’s intelligence, I am by and large a person who
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Poor Pick Up The Tab
The bill for Stephen Harper’s Wonderful World of Austerity is coming due. Nick Fillmore writes in The Tyee: The austerity program and other government cuts have had disastrous consequences for millions of Canadians. According to a July report by the Canadian Medical Association, there are staggering disparities in life expectancy
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Empire of Illusion – On Postive “Psychology”
Dealing with positive psychology and its converts can be most irksome at times because, like religion, they don’t smell the bullshit they are peddling. Let’s look at the concise way Chris Hedges sums up this toxic phenomena in his book Empire of Illusion. “There is a dark, insidious quality
Continue readingwmtc: sports without war: canada out of aghanistan, and military out of our sports
I have written a bit about the use of professional sports as a vehicle for war propaganda and militarism, such as when the Harper Government used the Olympic torch relay to promote its war in Afghanistan. My partner Allan has covered this ground more consistently, since he writes a sports blog.
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Time to re-think dam costs #nlpoli #nspoli
They call it Site C. No, it isn’t a sequel to Jurassic Park or The Lost World. Site C is a 900 megawatt hydroelectric dam project in British Columbia that BC Hydro originally estimated would cost $6.0 billion. The provincial government shielded the project from scrutiny by the provincial utilities
Continue readingBigCityLib Strikes Back: The Line 9 Reversal
The chap from Blast Furnace Canada has a carefully reasoned take on what’s at issue with the “Line 9 Reversal”–the plan to bring diluted bitumen from Alta/Sask’s tar-sands to refineries in Eastern Canada. Mind you, I disagree with his conclusion: a reluctant acceptance of the line for “energy security” reasons.
Continue readingNorthern Insight: A sad and costly police problem
Last Sunday, a large group of family, friends and associates gathered and paid tribute to Pierre Lemaitre, an officer who once was the RCMP’s senior media relations officer in British Columbia. I expected corporate media would be at the memorial — they cover biker gang remembrances don’t they? — because
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Paul McCartney Rocks Regina
*Goosebumps* I got goosebumps up the back of my head when he played Hey Jude. Crash. A music legend played in the Queen City for the first time, and seemed to love it. The crowd sure did. What perfect weather, and a perfect night! A quick cheering poll identified most
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Con Stories: Another PMO Operative Jumps Ship
They don't dare admit it of course, but there's one thing everyone who has worked in the PMO would say if they could be sure of being accepted into the Witness Protection Program: It's not easy working for Boss Harper.Read more »
Continue readingDemocratic Voting Canada: Voting systems in a nutshell
There are two different ways voters can be represented in a democracy: by person and by party. This is the main reason there are many different voting systems. Definition: Seat/Riding: A riding is a territory where voters elect one or more representatives. Each representative occupies a seat in the legislature
Continue readingWarren Kinsella: Toronto needs a mayor: a short review about a video
The scene: a Starbucks, at Yonge and St. Clair. The players: Kevin Donovan, the lead investigative reporter at the Toronto Star, and James Lockyer, the founding director of the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted. The mood: convivial, certain, but (obviously) insufficiently discreet. Key elements in the dialogue: The
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Alberta Forces Tar Sands Comedy Pitch Video for Indiegogo Off YouTube
Travel Alberta is not pleased with Andy Cobb and Mike Damanskis, two L.A.-based comedians raising funds to travel to the province’s tar sands, the world’s largest industrial project. Today, Travel Alberta filed an official complaint with YouTube, claiming the comedy duo’s crowdfunding pitch video “Welcome to Fort McMoney” was in
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: Hippies Threaten Our Coastal Wilderness-Forestry & Mining Corporations Outraged!
br />Proud to have been a longhair when it mattered!
Continue reading