Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Matthew Desmond writes about the large number of economic and social benefits from paying workers a living wage. And Stephanie Akin reports on the significance of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez walking the talk when it comes to her own staff. – Andrew MacLeod discusses the
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Accidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on how the choice of Scott Moe and other right-wing leaders to ally themselves with white supremacists and nativists (as seen most recently through yellow vest and United We Roll events) is as politically flawed as it is morally objectionable. For further reading…– Adam Hunter reported on Moe’s initial
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Andrew Scheer and the Hate Fest On the Hill
It was an ugly spectacle, hundreds of trucks rolling into downtown Ottawa, heading for Parliament Hill.Disrupting traffic, spewing foul fumes in every direction.And deafening those unlucky enough to be caught in their path.Read more »
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Matt Bruenig offers up a set of proposals to help American families toward economic security. And Andrew Jackson has some suggestions to boost Canada’s middle class: (T)op-line statistics suggest that ordinary middle-class households are seeing little or no increase in their incomes
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Luke Savage comments on the need for progressive leaders to stand up to the interests of the uber-wealthy, rather than promising them that nothing will be done which could possible improve the position of the public. And Eric Levitz offers a reminder that
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Paul Krugman duly mocks Donald Trump’s attempt to turn any discussion of social investment into a threat of “socialism”: Some progressive U.S. politicians now describe themselves as socialists, and a significant number of voters, including a majority of voters under 30, say
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Ellen Page Takes On The Anti-Gay Bigots
It's hard to believe that it has been four years already, since the Canadian actress and producer Ellen Page came out at a gay right's conference in Las Vegas. And delivered a powerful anti-bullying message.Because for people like me who had to fight bullies before I fought Cons, it was
Continue readingwmtc: jackie robinson: "i owe more to canadians than they’ll ever know."
Let me set the scene. The year is 1946. The United States is deeply segregated. The birth of the civil rights movement that would begin as African-American soldiers returned home to Jim Crow, after fighting for democracy abroad, is still a good 10 years away. Newlyweds Jackie and Rachel Robinson
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Justin Trudeau’s Stirring And Scary Town Hall in Regina
I was flipping through the TV channels last night, on my way to watch the CBC News, when I came across a live broadcast of Justin Trudeau's town hall in Regina. And I couldn't stop watching it.Not just because it was riveting TV. Trudeau in enemy territory, holding off the hostile
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Things We Would Like To Forget
One of the benefits of receiving the print edition of the Toronto Star seven days a week is the Sunday edition. While not necessarily replete with news, the Sunday paper frequently embraces the opportunity to explore issues in depth. Today, Mitch Potter looks at an aspect of Canada’s bigoted past,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Alex Hemingway and David Macdonald point out the appalling wealth gap between British Columbia’s privileged few and most of the population. – ProPublica reports that the IRS is being used to exacerbate the similar gap in the U.S. by focusing its limited
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Avi Lewis contrasts the real crises which demand our attention against the manufactured ones which are instead promoted by far too many of our political leaders: Even for those of us who have not yet experienced personal loss and trauma from climate catastrophe,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your weekend reading. – Chris Dillow discusses the connection between the failure to understand the role of luck in producing unequal outcomes, and the perpetuation of policies which exacerbate inequalities: As Ed Smith writes in his lovely book, Luck: “randomness is routinely misinterpreted as skill.” Why do
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Noah Smith writes that for all the recognition of poverty and precarity in the U.S., it may be home to even more material insecurity than normally presumed: Imagine a 55-year-old single woman with diabetes working a part-time job making close to minimum wage.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Andrea Germanos discusses the problems with relying on the charity of the uber-wealthy rather than stable and sustainable public revenues to meet the needs of the people with the least. – Dan Fumano reports on the City of Vancouver’s call for a shift
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Trish Garner comments on the need to acknowledge the humanity of people living in poverty – which leads to the inescapable need to use readily-available resources to ensure a reasonable standard of living. And Arindrajit Dube studies the effect of an increased minimum
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Roger Eatwell writes that the rise of anti-immigrant sentiment can be traced back largely to the sense that elite-dominated governments have failed to take care of citizens generally, while David Leonhardt likewise notes that inequality can all too easily lead to easily-exploitable resentment.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Gary Younge discusses how regardless of the outcome of the U.S.’ midterm elections, democracy is on the defensive against a Republican attack on voting rights. Janet Reitman goes into detail about the consequences of the U.S.’ law enforcement system failing to do
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Bigot Bromance of Tommy Robinson and Ezra Levant
Two weeks ago I wrote about the bigot bromance between Tommy Robinson and Ezra Levant.And how Levant got so carried away with his slobbering love for Britain's most notorious hate monger, he triggered an investigation by the British police. Well at a bigot rally the other day to celebrate his release
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