I haven’t had time yet to deal with a piece of nonsense from last week on Canadian Atheist. The arguments put forward by the Monarchist League of Canada are entirely secular. You might or might not find them more persuasive than the arguments put forward by republicans, but this is
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: What Big Telecom is really afraid of
Canada’s Big Three telecom giants are sounding increasingly desperate these days – they’re running expensive ads, that you paid for, invoking the bogeyman of foreign investment in growing new Canadian telecom start-ups. Big Telecom’s high-profile and misleading PR campaign is designed to convince the government to do a u-turn on
Continue readingTerahertz: BC Secularists who aren’t white men
Inspired by similar lists of diverse secular thinkers, I thought I’d put out there a compilation of some rising secularists – both thinkers and activists – who break the mould in British Columbia. My criteria: Alive Does not identify as white (i.e. Caucasian/European) and male Is either an active atheist/skeptic/humanist
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Kids, Don’t Try This At Home
The multi-talented Pat Robertson offers two solutions to what I am sure is a common household problem: Recommend this Post
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Media Facilitation 101 #nlpoli
The Thursday morning post of Liberal leadership campaign videos included a technical note that explained why the videos in it didn’t fit with the formatting here at SRBP. The reason for the problem – as the post noted – is that the people who posted the videos at youtube put
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: The Internet Insider from OpenMedia.ca | It’s Big Telecom vs Canadians
Hello! Here’s Arielle with your update! Arielle gives you the low-down on Big Telecom’s efforts to restrict your choice in this week’s Internet Insider. It’s shaping up to be Big Telecom vs. Canadians. We’re hoping our new Industry Minister James Moore sides with us. Speak out against Big Telecom’s stranglehold
Continue readingMorton's Musings: AMICUS HOURLY RATES
Ontario v. Criminal Lawyers’ Association ofOntario (O.N.C.A., April 19, 2011)(34317) “In three cases arising in the context of criminal proceedings in Ontario, trial judges appointed amici curiae to assist the accused, who had discharged counsel of their choice. The judges did so in order to maintain the orderly conduct of the trials or to avoid
Continue readingQueer-liberal: Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird blasts ‘hateful’ Russian anti-gay law
I’m very glad to see John Baird taking a very strong stand in opposition to Russia’s odious, hateful, new anti-gay laws. “As concerned as we are about the Olympics, that’s nothing. That’s two, three, four weeks for the athletes and participants and the visitors,” Baird said in a telephone interview
Continue readingRecreating Eden: Eat Better, Pay More, Have a Clearer Conscience
Haven’t seen any one day work stoppages here by fast food workers, but I’ve been very interested to see the press that this sort of protest has been getting in the US. The federal minimum wage in the US is $7.40 an hour, considerably below thatn the $10.15 Quebec legislates.
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Great, Just Great. Global Warming Might Make Cops (And Maybe You) Even More Trigger Happy.
A new study chronicles the link between warming and violence of all sorts at all levels from individuals to entire nations. And that goes for cops too. The Syrian conflict [triggered in part by severe drought] is just one recent example of the connection between climate and conflict, a field
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Stopping Light or Stopping Time?
I don’t get it but apparently German scientists managed to stop, or I suppose “arrest”, light for one full minute. In light speed, that’s about 18-million kilometres. While light normally travels at just under 300 million metres per second in a vacuum, physicists managed to slow it down to just
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: That Cold Lake Bitumen Spill – It Just Keeps Rollin’ Along
The 10-week old Cold Lake bitumen spill is expected to stop – basically whenever it stops itself. The company, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., says there’s nothing it can do to staunch the leak other than collect whatever bitumen it can from the surface and haul out the dead animals. On
Continue readingTrashy's World: Some of the PCPO MPPs are being just plain ol’ scumbags today…
Like this guy, for example: I’m pretty sure that no one has been convicted of an offence. I guess Mr. Bob Bailey MPP doesn’t really care about stuff like “charges” and “due process”. (1) Trashy, Ottawa, Ontario
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: Cobble Hill-Cowichan Bay Gravel Pit Proposal Has Residents Up in Arms
Richard Hughes Political Blogger Few things get residents worked up more than hearing that a gravel pit is destined to commence operations in their neighbourhood. In the Cowichan Valley like so many areas the feuds sometimes have gone on for decades. This summer residents attention soared as they became aware
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: A Look at How Extremists Have the Republican Party in a Death Grip
Two prominent Democrats have decided to dig into the rotting corpse of the Republican movement to get a look at what lurks inside. Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg and political strategist James Carville have announced what they plan to do about that pressing problem: namely, “The Republican Party Project,” which will
Continue readingStephen Harper’s private army
It is known as the Canadian Special Forces Command, or CANSOFCOM. It commands a secret army, comprised of four units: the Joint Task Force-2 (JTF2), the Canadian Special Operations Regiment (CSOR), the Canadian Joint Incident Response Unit—Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CJIRU-CBRN), and the 427 Special Operations Aviation Squadron (427
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: August 1: Norbert criticizes the CBC…
but loses it. It’s funny, really. Norbert has a magnificent vocabulary that is an echo of nineteenth century rural life. CBC editors, he suggests are “nervous nellies” and “sourpusses”. Boy. And they talk about Shakespeare. The CBC, it seems, is also superficial, with minimal research. He even compares it to
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Russia Grants Snowden Temporary Asylum
Edward Snowden gets to leave Moscow airport, finally. The Russkies have given Snowden a one-year temporary asylum to their country. Anatoly Kucherena, Snowden’s Russian lawyer, told the media he handed Snowden asylum papers Thursday and that Snowden’s whereabouts would be kept secret for reasons of security. Snowden would choose his
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Bystanders to Calamity
Once while visiting remote Rivers Inlet I took shelter an old logging cabin that was apparently undergoing renovation. The inner walls had been stripped bare to reveal newspapers that had once formed the cabin’s insulation. They were old copies of the Vancouver Sun from the 30’s. As I waited for
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Break From The Grimness
The last few days, with all of its bad news, have left me feeling just a little depleted, so I offer the following both as a change of pace and to lighten the mood. Enjoy: Recommend this Post
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