I’ve found it extremely nauseating to engage in my favourite pastime of reading newspapers these past few days. Their cheerleading for Drummonds all too predictable evisceration of Ontario’s civil society has been and continues to be relentless. Why given the amount of ink dedicated to this neoliberal blueprint for enriching
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: CBC: Online spying bill has an Orwellian feel
Without your efforts at spreading the word about this invasive new online spying bill, it would have likely sailed smoothly through the House of Commons. Your voices are echoing through the halls of Parliament—let’s keep up the charge. Email your MP about online spying here: http://openmedia.ca/mp Article by Terry Milewski
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: EI Shrank by 100,000 in 2011
Statistics Canada reported today that the number of Canadians receiving Employment Insurance rose by 4,230 in December, a month in which unemployment rose by 6,100. The proportion of unemployed workers receiving benefits remained below 39% (i.e. 544,720 beneficiaries out of 1.4 million unemployed). Although December saw relatively little change in
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: We Have The Fraser Institute, They Have the Heartland Institute
Adding the word ‘institute’ into one’s ‘think-tank’, a measure devised to give the patina of legitimacy to what is frequently simply a right-wing propaganda machine, is nothing new, given their ubiquity on both sides of the border, the Fraser Institute and the Macdonald Laurier Institute in Canada, the American Enterprise
Continue readingPeace, order and good government, eh?: A time to speak up, a time to shut up
Someone should remind the Syrian charge d’affairs that Syria was invited to participate in the O’Connor Inquiry that examined the details surrounding the rendition and detention of Maher Arar. At the time the Syrians had nothing to say on the subject. They should probably keep it that way. And that’s
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: So What Does Larry Miller Think of Jason Kenney’s Hitler-Like Move?
‘Walking past the hundreds of stately Somali refugees lined up outside the gates of the UN High Commission for Refugees here in Nairobi — men in tidy shirts and slacks, women in baby blue, fuchsia or copper chadors — the pasty face of Jason Kenney floats into my mind. Later,
Continue readingWise Law Blog: 140 Law – Legal Headlines for Friday, February 17, 2012
Here are the leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter for Friday, February 17, 2012: Rick Vaive did not drink and drive, former Leaf teammate testifies Vancouver Stanley Cup rioter gets 17 months in jail Anti-abortion “personhood” bill clears Oklahoma senate (Steve Olafson/Reuters) Supreme Court to rule on Quebec
Continue readingBigCityLib Strikes Back: Return Of The Psychic Hairdresser
Reading this, you have to figure that Michelle Muntean is still on the payroll: OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper had already made the decision to kick a controversial cyber crime bill to committee even before Opposition howled because he sensed a public backlash was rolling his way, QMI Agency
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Susan Riley brilliantly slams the message that austerity is necessary for everybody but those who already have the most: Is anyone else getting tired of being lectured about austerity by wealthy consultants in expensive suits who charge $1,500 a day for their advice
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Sharing Sacrifice
I wrote yesterday that Premier Dalton McGuinty now faces the difficult task of getting Ontarians to accept the notice of shared sacrifice. This morning, Susan Riley reminds her readers of how the system is tilted in exactly the opposite direction. On the subject of the Harper government’s plan to “save”
Continue readingmark a rayner | scribblings, squibs & sundry monkey joys: Torpor, Ennui, the End of the Universe
That kid just bummed me out. Alltop would love a new bike.
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Inflation and Drummond
Statistics Canada reported today that consumer prices jumped in January (by 0.4% or 0.5% seasonally-adjusted), offsetting the drop in December. As a result, the annual inflation rate is now 2.5% and the Bank of Canada’s core inflation rate is 2.1%. Monetary Policy Both measures are well within the central bank’s
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The DWR Friday Classic Music Interlude – Mahler Symphony No.2 ‘Auferstehung’
Hey, do you have 90 minutes? I hope so, Mahler’s Second Symphony demands your time. The work in its finished form has five movements: Allegro maestoso Musically, the first movement – written in C minor – though passing through a number of different moods, often resembles a funeral march,
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Tutu Targets Tar Sands
Archbishop Desmond Tutu and seven other Nobel laureates have written British prime minister David Cameron warning that Athabasca Tar Sands bitumen “threatens the health of the planet.” The group is urging the UK to support European moves to classify Athabasca bitumen as highly polluting. Last November, the Guardian revealed that
Continue readingwmtc: dear leadnow: i’m not sure i want to cooperate
Like many Canadian activists, I am currently being bombarded with emails from Leadnow and Avaaz, pushing their “Cooperate for Canada” campaign. We are being urged to join the political party of our choice, then to encourage the parties to “cooperate” in the next election, in order to defeat the Conservatives.
Continue reading350 or bust: Chasing Water: Examining The Human Toll On A River
Chasing Water, follows photojournalist Peter McBride and writer John Waterman (great name, I know!) as they set out to document the flow of the Colorado River from source to sea. A Colorado native, McBride hails from a ranching family that depends on the Colorado for irrigation, and this is the
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: A timely new story on police and internet
For Vic Toews or the Conservative government and the furore they’ve caused with Bill C-30, the “internet snooping” bill, as I prefer to call it, not the “lawful access” bill, or the law to get child pornographers off the internet bill, or whatever ridiculous name Vic Toews tries to come
Continue readingC. Olsen’s Replacement….Wags’ Tongues Are A Wigglin’
. And if they are right, I reckon it really is, as I suggested tongue-in-cheek last night…. The Boessenkool Effect. To wit: BillTieleman@BillTieleman Following Could Sara MacIntyre – ex-Stephen Harper press secretary – be next Tory into Christy Clark’s office, replacing Chris Olsen? # bcpoli 6RETWEETS 6:31 PM – 16
Continue readingTrashy's World: Another “can someone explain to me?”
This time, why did 8 OCDSB Trustees vote against instructing staff to clarify what is meant by religious accommodation? Religious Practice in Schools “MOTION A” FAILED ON A VOTE OF 8-4 A. THAT staff be directed to prepare a report for the May 2012 Strategic Planning and Priorities Committee meeting
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