As another year comes to a close and I find once again that instead of this time being one about celebrating some Christian festival or the fervour of basking in consumerism excess I reflect on the year. In past years some were terribly blue and although this year has not
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: "We’d be in shallower shit now if…"
One of my favourite Brits is actor/writer/comedian/social commentator David Mitchell. He’s been mentioned here before probably because, while I may not share his rapier wit, I do share his cynical disposition and contempt for pomposity, even while occasionally displaying touchs of that quality. In his weekly Guardian column, Mitchell takes
Continue readinggay persons of color: Thousands of children sexually abused at Dutch Roman Catholic institutions
A report, known as the Deetman Inquiry, has confirmed that “between 10,000 and 20,000” children were abused at Catholic institutions in the Netherlands over the past 65 years. This is the latest in a series of investigations and reports coming from North America and Europe which have documented widespread and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your weekend. – Bruce Anderson worries that the Cons might think they face no restriction on their ability to get away with dirty tricks. But Noah Richler suggests that the best way to fight back against the Cons’ disdain for democratic debate is to treat them
Continue readingThe Sixth Estate: Sixth Estate Flack Awards Recognize Militarization of Santa, Government Subsidies to Naval Targets
The only reason the preposterous announcement that Santa’s sleigh will be receiving an armed escort by CF-18 fighters doesn’t win the Flack Award this week is because the same announcement has been made for several years now. Why does Santa need a military escort through Canadian airspace? Is the government
Continue readingEnemies of the people: CFIA’s war on science
The folks in charge of making sure your food is safe to eat are damping down scientific research to accommodate Stephen Harper’s PR priorities. And the Canadian Food Inspection Agency isn’t above a few dirty tricks to make things happen Harper’s way. Fred Klibenge runs a reputable testing lab, which
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Candidate Profile – Martin Singh
With the NDP’s leadership contestants otherwise consisting entirely of sitting MPs or media-anointed favourites, Martin Singh has faced a tougher job getting noticed than anybody else in the field. So how has he done trying to start from that disadvantage? Strengths So far, the answer looks to be “not badly
Continue readingMind of Dan: Uganda teaser pic
So far I have taken over 2500 pictures. But the internet here is too slow for me to upload much, and you probably want me to go through the mountain of pictures and only show the ones worth showing (who needs to see 75 almost identical pictures of the shoebill?)
Continue readinggritchik: Harperland
It’s too bad nobody warned you. Oh, wait… From the Globe’s Gerald Caplan: There was never a Trudeauland or Mulroneyland or Chrétienland, but as The Globe’s Lawrence Martin has made us understand, there is already a Harperland whose nature is quite apparent. Like the American conservatives whom the Harperites so
Continue readingChronicles of a Pure Laine: Sovereignty on its death bed in Québec
The Bloc Québécois was nearly obliterated in the last federal elections. Support for the Parti Québécois keeps going down. Support for Québec independence has slipped as low as 33%, below the 40% long held as a floor. “The sovereignty movement is gravely ill and in the most unexpected places” states
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Merry Christmas, Diane Finley
Actually, the title of this post was just to get your attention. I would indeed be an unfeeling man were I to wish the minister of Human Resources and Skills Development the best of the season when so many Canadians are suffering as a result of her inept attempt to
Continue readingAnti-Racist Canada: The ARC Collective: Quebec Fascist-Watch
We have mentioned in the past that our intel in Quebec is very poor owing to language barriers, geography and not having anyone on the ground. Thankfully, a new group has started to gather and publish information on the racist scene in Quebec. Suffice it to say, what they have
Continue readingFar and Wide: State Of The Liberal Party
With the fall sitting of Parliament behind us- the first since the Conservatives won their majority- perhaps a good time to analyze where the Liberals sit, now that the election rejection dust has settled. If I could choose one word to describe the current Liberal predicament “resilient” seems appropriate, both
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The DWR Sunday Disservice presents The Tomfoolery of WLC – The Moral Argument
As WLC says – A pretty strong argument… Thanks to NSC for the interpretation. Well after a little browsing ,here is the extended smackdown WLC so richly deserves, along with more evidence of the contortions necessary to believe the bible is a moral work. Filed under: Religion Tagged: Arguments
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: It Stinks On The Hill
Justin Trudeau’sperceptive description of one of the Harper Regimes mouthpieces gotme to thinking! Out here in rural Canada we are used to theoccasional smell wafting up the hill from the nearest agriculturalenterprise but it is no big deal, a fresh breeze will come alongshortly and dissipate the odor. Over on
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Our Third World
Anyone who has been to a northern reserve knows that Attawapiskat is not an aberration. Bob Rae is right. Northern native communities are “our third world.” And it’s most revealing that the Harper government’s first response to the tragedy at Attawapiskat was, as Tim Harper wrote last week, to “send
Continue readingwmtc: from newspeak central: frederick douglass, susan b. anthony, and the anti-abortion-rights movement
Paging George Orwell: a new US anti-abortion bill is named Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act. Good story plus mostly good comments at the link, too. Thanks to James.
Continue readingwmtc: "you must fearlessly accept the challenge and aggressively spread the idea of war resistance."
Those who think that the danger of war is past are living in a fool’s paradise. We are faced today with militarism more powerful and more dangerous than that which brought on the World War. That is what the governments have accomplished! But among the peoples of the world the
Continue readingBigCityLib Strikes Back: Farber And Kurz On Section 13
Opponents of Section 13 argue that it is an assault on free speech. They claim that it targets speech that may merely offend those with thin skins. If the target of the law were merely “offensive” statements, we would wholeheartedly agree. But this is not the case. The law aims
Continue readingwmtc: report from bradley manning hearing, day one
From NCF, at Bradley Manning’s hearing: And what the day it was! Manning’s lawyer David Coombs (whose very nice wife is from TO) is a force to be reckoned with! After a half hour of grilling the Investigating Officer (not a judge) about his civilian job as a prosecutor with
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