There was an interesting controversy in Waterloo this week. A city councillor, while sitting in Council listening to a delegation of residents who were concerned about a proposed development in their neighborhood, tweeted disparaging things about the d…
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Art Threat: Vancouver seeks Viaduct variations – re:Connect competition looks to obtain citizen input
It’s the site of what is arguably Vancouver’s most notable event, a bitter battle between the Non-Partisan Association and an alliance of Strathcona activists and Chinatown business people – the Georgia Street Viaduct. Built as a first phase of a planned interurban freeway system, this minute stretch of freeway reaches like a tree root from […]
Continue readingMolly'sBlog: Molly’sBlog 2011-09-18 22:13:00
PERSONAL:GROWING UP WITHOUT THE STATE:It’s been many many years since I left my old home town. 48 if I count right. I left it at precisely the right time, when I was turning 13. Enough of “being one with nature”. Time to get into some serious trouble. …
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Harper Snubs UN General Assembly–Why?
What kind of Canada has a prime minister who does not speak at the UN General Assembly? Stephen Harper’s Canada. But why? CBC journalist David Common tweeted yesterday about Harper skipping the UN this year: #UN schedule says #Canada PM Harper not speaking at this year’s General Assembly via Twitter / @davidcommon: #UN schedule says […]
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Christy Clark Dabbles in Tea Party Rhetoric
It’s one thing to lose a referendum on a regressive tax that came in on a lie, that was a tax shift from businesses to real human beings, and that removed PST exemptions on real necessities or awesome products like cloth diapers, kids shoes, food, smoke alarms, child car seats, bikes and fire extinguishers. But it’s […]
Continue readingbastard.logic: How Dare Jack Layton Make Canadians Feel Hopeful Again!
by matttbastard David J. Climenhaga, responding to National Post columnist Christie Blatchford’s now-infamous cranky, contrarian reaction to Canada’s outpouring of love and admiration for Socialist cur Taliban Jack Layton (HISSSSSSS!): [T]he offending column is far from the worst piece Blatchford has written, … Continue reading →
Politics, Re-Spun: Jack Layton’s Legacy
Jack Layton has died from cancer. I believe his legacy will inspire optimism and integrity in Canadian politics. What are your thoughts? Share the Love: Twitter del.icio.us email RSS Facebook Google Bookmarks Digg LinkedIn StumbleUpon Technorati Yahoo! Buzz April 28, 2011 — A Compendium of My Prime Minister Layton Posts (2)March 25, 2011 — Contempt, […]
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: The Great Shopping Shift
I end each day quietly lamenting how I haven’t yet succeeded in completely reforming the global economy. Certainly, it’s a tall order. I search for economic and environmental sustainability. I explore no-growth, steady-state economics to see how we can transform our society’s deranged obsession with unlimited capitalist growth into a more eco-socialist model. I don’t […]
Continue readingOn the Green Party platform.
Finally — for now, at least, until the Tories and NDP release the rest of their platforms, and the Libs release anything at all — I’m going to take a quick look at the Green Party of Ontario’s platform. It’s the shortest, and the slimmest when it com…
Continue readingOne Woman. One Blog.: Tonight in Peterborough: Chocolate, Cheese, and Activism
Via OPIRG Peterborough and others Friday, July 22 · 4:30pm – 6:30pm Sadleir House751 George St. N.Peterborough The goal of Chocolate, Cheese & Activism is to bring those interested in social justice activism together to explore issues and practices, and following from Part 2 of the series, identify ways to
Continue readingOne Woman. One Blog.: Tonight in Peterborough: Chocolate, Cheese, and Activism
Via OPIRG Peterborough and others Friday, July 22 · 4:30pm – 6:30pm Sadleir House 751 George St. N. Peterborough The goal of Chocolate, Cheese & Activism is to bring those interested in social justice activism together to explore issues and…
Continue readingeaves.ca: Social Media and Rioters
My friend Alexandra Samuel penned a piece titled “After a Loss in Vancouver, Troubling Signals of Citizen Surveillance” over at the Harvard Business Review. The piece highlights her concern with the number of people willing to engage in citizen surveillance. As she states: It’s one thing to take pictures as part of the process of […]
Continue readingOn governance: (1) Principles
How should we govern ourselves? Since Locke’s Second Treatise, the presumption has been in favour of self-government — that is, each individual adult person has the natural right to govern his or her own life. Thus government by others is, when legiti…
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Corporate Personhood Alert!
We have to spend some time this week carefully watching BC business playing good cop and bad cop. The good cop is opposing the idea of a corporate tax rate of zero, while the bad cop says that corporations should be able to vote, like real human beings. British Columbia Chamber of Commerce president John […]
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Anonymous: The Commons and the Last of the Outlaws?
The ongoing attacks on net neutrality constitute a new round of enclosures of the modern commons. If the original enclosure movements during 16th and 17th centuries in England signified the opening overture of capitalism, then the contemporary attacks on the electronic commons are certainly part of its fully formed fruition. Taking what was once common, […]
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: The Positive Women’s Network Enriches Community Fabric
I’m constantly impressed with the caliber of community cooperation in Vancouver. The Positive Women’s Network is holding a film screening fundraiser on May 26th at 7pm at Vancity Theatre. VIFF and Reel Causes are cooperating to produce the event. Every element of this event is a testament to what makes communities strong. What does the […]
Continue readingOne Woman. One Blog.: Giving Birth to Your Activist Self: Finding Your Voice as a Mother Activist
Workshop Handout for Giving Birth to Your Activist Self: Finding Your Voice as a Mother Activist International Conference on Motherhood Activism, Advocacy, Agency May 13-15, 2011 – Toronto, Ontario Presented by Sharon Aschaiek and Ann Douglas Awaken. Hear your activist…
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Leash Laws are for Chumps: The Credo of the Dog Owning Sociopath
Over the course of the last decade, I’ve allowed myself to become something of a chubby haus frau. I derive considerable pleasure in planting myself in front of the computer and not bothering to watch what I stuff in my face. Several times a year, something in my brain chemistry is rudely altered, and I […]
Continue readingOne Woman. One Blog.: Did Democracy Just Break Your Heart?
If democracy just broke your heart, this post is for you. Sometimes democracy can do that to a person. And when it happens, it feels like you’ve just been betrayed by a lover. You trusted democracy to safeguard something sacred,…
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: The Political Economy of Professional Wrestling: Capital, Unions and Spandex
Wage Labour on the Fringes For all the attention it received, to my knowledge, no one provided much of a political analysis of Darren Aronofsky’s 2008 award-winning motion picture The Wrestler. I suspect this is largely a function of the subject matter of the film: professional wrestling has been a long standing punch-line, after all. […]
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