Have you ever heard of the island of Saipan? It is an American territory in the pacific, where I had never heard of it until an email arrived from Walt Goodridge, who offered me two ebooks to review. One tells the story of a Chinese woman working in textile factories in Saipan.
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Christy's Houseful of Chaos politics » Christy's Houseful of Chaos: the complicated problem of sweatshops
Have you ever heard of the island of Saipan? It is an American territory in the pacific, which as a Canadian I had never heard of it until an email arrived from Walt Goodridge, who offered me two ebooks to review. One tells the story of a Chinese woman working in textile
Continue readingChadwick's Blog & Commentary: The Secret Teachings of All Ages
“When confronted with a problem involving the use of the reasoning faculties, individuals of strong intellect keep their poise, and seek to reach a solution by obtaining facts bearing upon the question. Those of immature mentality, on the other hand, … Continue reading →
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: In Ottawa, An Evening with David Suzuki and Jeff Rubin: The ECO Tour
(Edited) by Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive | Jan. 26, 2013: The Eco Tour comes to Ottawa! Join award-winning geneticist and broadcaster David Suzuki and award-winning, bestselling author and economist Jeff Rubin for an evening of discussion of how to create a truly sustainable future. The finer details: What: An Evening with David Suzuki
Continue readingChadwick's Blog & Commentary: Another Zen tale
Carrying on in the tradition of my last post, here’s another of the stories from Paul Reps’ book, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones. Before I repeat it, consider the story of Diogenes, the Greek philosopher and founder of the school of … Continue reading →
Continue readingChadwick's Blog & Commentary: A Zen story
There are all sorts of great stories, great tales of wisdom and enlightenment, to be found in Zen Buddhism. They often have that sort of eternal depth and universal meaning to our lives, regardless of your personal beliefs. The one … Continue reading →
Continue readingChadwick's Blog & Commentary: 10,000 words too many
Been working the last two-and-a-half months on my latest book for Municipal World. A bit of a challenge, actually – trying to combine marketing, branding, advertising, public relations and communications topics into one coherent yet succinct package has been difficult. … Continue reading →
Continue readingChadwick's Blog & Commentary: Scaramouche
He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad. That has to rank among the best opening lines in a novel, up there with Dickens’ “It was the best of times…” opening in … Continue reading →
Continue readingAnother Step to Take: is there such a thing as a neutral education system?
I love it when similar or related ideas appear in several parts of my life at once. There’s been a number of things that come together to make me think again about education and the question of whether an education system can be neutral. I write about this as someone
Continue readingChadwick's Blog & Commentary: Albert and the Lion
A recent comment on Facebook – “You just can’t resist poking the bear…”* made me remember a poem by Marriott Edgar that I enjoyed as a child in the 1950s: Albert and the Lion. I actually first heard it orally … Continue reading →
Continue readingChadwick's Blog & Commentary: Propaganda, PR and Spin
What is propaganda? The word gets thrown around easily by people who obviously mean “anything we dislike or don’t agree with.” It’s a pejorative often used by a small group to describe anything official that any level of government puts … Continue reading →
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: S.E.C.R.E.T: Canada’s Answer to Fifty Shades of Grey
by Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive, Feb. 6, 2013: Last year, a still-unpublished erotic Canadian novel created quite a stir at the prestigious Frankfurt Book Fair. The Toronto Star speculated that the novel, written under the pseudonym L. Marie Adeline, was Canada’s answer to British author E.L James’ blockbuster Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. That the writer was
Continue readingAnother Step to Take: blogging about blogging
“Writers deserve to get paid for their work” says a popular blogger in defense of putting her blog behind a paywall. The arguments and comments made by her fans and detractors alike fascinate me because they touch on several important issues such as what work is and what we use
Continue readingChadwick's Blog & Commentary: Forgery!
Forgery. It’s something that one normally associates with criminals; passing counterfeit bills, scammers, online pirates, people selling fake relics or fake ID. It’s something I would not normally associate with religion. But it’s a significant problem in the book millions … Continue reading →
Continue readingChadwick's Blog & Commentary: Another day on the job in Paradise… chapter one
Mayor Ralph “Bosco” Hearne, whistling softly “Everything’s Up to Date in Kansas City” under his breath, gazed at the wood-and-polished-brass, 19th-century front doors of town hall and nodded slightly in approval. He stopped whistling, paused, and breathed out a gentle … Continue reading →
Continue readingChadwick's Blog & Commentary: Not the expected blog post, I’m afraid
Sorry to disappoint those readers who expected this to be a blog post on ukuleles, tequila or our beautiful Mexican Sister City, Zihuatanejo (“Zee-hwa” for those in the know). I refer, of course, to comments in the recent parody video, in … Continue reading →
Continue readingChadwick's Blog & Commentary: Foolish words that still resonate
Foolosopher. What a wonderful word. Not much in use these days, but it ought to be. It is a portmanteau word, first used in English way back in 1549*, according to my copy of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary. It … Continue reading →
Continue readingArt Threat: If Dr. Seuss books were titled according to their subtexts
While I might be more likely to pick up a book entitled The Psychological Implications of Holiday-Motivated Materialism, I’m not so sure about a five-year-old. You can check out all eight tweaked titles at War On Idiocy, who have also posted this fine little cultural jamming gem. Via Kottke.
Continue readingAnother Step to Take: Cast of Stones: Book Review & Author Interview
A Cast of Stones by Patrick W. Carr is a strangely dark story. I saw it advertised as a “Epic Medieval Saga Fantasy” and that it was published by Bethany House, a Christian publisher, and I got curious. What does Christian medieval fantasy look like? So I signed up for the book tour
Continue readingAnother Step to Take: my thoughts on Paved With Good Intentions: Canada’s development NGOs from idealism to imperialism
I’m getting ready to return the book Paved With Good Intentions: Canada’s development NGOs from idealism to imperialism by Kikolas Barry-Shaw and Dru Oja Jay back to the friend who lent it to me, but I want to make a few notes about ideas I found interesting. I know a different friend who
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