by Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive, Feb. 4, 2013: “We’ve to acknowledge that Australia has a Black history”, an Aboriginal leader said last week as he “reflected on pain, and hope, of Australia Day”. Steve Widders is asking indigenous people in Australia not to forget a painful colonial past dominated by oppression,
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Another 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 readingThe Canadian Progressive: Fractured Land: A Dene warrior battles Big Oil and neo-colonialism
by Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive, Feb 1, 2013: This is the trailer of Fractured Land a film that tells the story of Caleb Behn, a young Dene warrior from northeastern British Columbia, “taking on Big Oil and Gas to protect his ancestral land and people from the ravages of neocolonialism.” I met Behn
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Foundation Skills Assessment: Another Dirty Trick
By Rachel Goodine The FSAs, or Foundation Skills Assessment tests, administered annually in British Columbia since 2000 to students in grades 4 and 7, are once again under way. They began on January 14 and will continue until February 22, 2013. In the meantime, the debate is on. For many,
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: A Pinterest is Worth 1,000 Blogs
OK, maybe not, but let’s try this. I’ve been trying to figure out how Pinterest could complement this website. We’ve kicked it around and ended up speechless. Which is appropriate. See below. I was asking the wrong question. And since I slid into Pinterest this week I can see that
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: How Millennials Can Improve Everyone’s Job Satisfaction
Quack. It’s 9am, do you know where your millennial employees are? No? No worries. It’s all good. They’re not factory chickens. People who study characteristics of different generations have some incredibly important things to say about how different groups work. Organizations, however, are typically run by older people with their
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: How Us Settlers Can Be In Solidarity With #IdleNoMore
Twitter / suzhawkins: As settlers… #idlenomore …. York University’s Suzanne Hawkins is my hero today for showing us all this amazing poster that succinctly describes how us non-indigenous settler folk can stand alongside with the world’s indigenous people seeking redress for generations of racism and discrimination. Solidarity matters! Dialogue matters!
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Politics, Re-Spun Catches Up with Art for Impact, and Ou(x)po
On December 3, 2012, Politics, Re-Spun’s Kevin Harding spoke with Natalie Gan and Andrew Hawryshkewich about Art for Impact and its ninth show, Ou(x)po, which took place on December 8, 2012 at the Russian Hall. Catch up on Art for Impact and their shows on the podcast, with some Rage Against the
Continue readingAnother Step to Take: responsibility, the ability to accept criticism and pit bulls.
I’ve written about some of the questions around bullying, and whether individuals need to grow thicker skins or be treated gentler, and about boundaries and people’s different abilities to accept criticism. In all of these there are questions of what is normal acceptable behavior, what to do when different people’s behaviors cross those lines (is
Continue readingChadwick's Blog & Commentary: And on the video scene… bargains!
December is always a good month for movie buffs, and for anyone who wants to buy TV series on DVD (no commercials!). Lots of places have before- and after-Xmas sales that make DVD shopping more interesting this month. In particular, … Continue reading →
Continue readingCanadian Dimension Feed: Reviving Alternative Media in an Age of Precarity
After graduating from both university and community college, completing five internships, writing furious freelance pieces and part-timing at a few magazines, I realized there wasn’t much of a future out there for aspiring and critical young writers. It was a difficult and bitter realization, but one that thousands of others
Continue readingAnother Step to Take: Thoughts on a City Council Meeting
I went yesterday to a city council meeting. I was there with just over 30 people to watch the passing of a motion to have our city council request that the provincial government reverse the cuts to the Community Start Up and Maintenance Benefit. So the part I was there
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Racism and the Walking Dead
Interesting article over at alter.net on the contexts and subtext of the TV show The Walking Dead. I suggest you read it. As I was linking running I came across the comments section of a different article by the same author. The exchange that will be reproduced here is instructive
Continue readingAnother Step to Take: Personal Responsibility in the Age of Unlimited Choices
Have you ever heard of “cafeteria religion”? The term refers to the idea of people treating religion like a buffet table where they can pick and choose what parts they want rather than accept someone else’s menu. It is an idea I’ve had trouble with for a while. On one
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: “Female Characters Are Still Sidelined, Stereotyped, and Sexualized in Popular Entertainment Content”
If you think popular media is still chauvinist or even misogynist, but you didn’t know about the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, you should look into them. I found out about their latest research study, Gender Roles & Occupations: A Look at Character Attributes and Job-Related Aspirations in Film and Television, and was not […]
Continue readingCanadian Dimension Feed: Ron Hawkins—Reflecting on Rock’n’Roll Politics
Adam Davidson-Harden talked with the talented Toronto-based musician and artist Ron Hawkins in Toronto. You can read Ron’s bio and find out about his solo music and that of his earlier bands Lowest of the Low and Ron Hawkins and the Rusty Nails at www.ronhawkins. com. His latest solo album
Continue readingAnother Step to Take: Adventures of Baylard Bear and the portrayal of adoption.
I was sent a copy of The Adventures of Baylard Bear by Lucinda Sue Crosby and while the story has its cute moments it has some huge problems. Since I use books to explore life and the questions I have about life, I felt it worthwhile to go ahead and write up
Continue readingAnother Step to Take: Reasons to NOT Support Operation Christmas Child
It is that time of year, where people are talking about getting together shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. While I think it is great to try to give extra joy to others, I want to write to urge people not to support this program. Why? Let me count the reasons.
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Racial Divide Ruining America
America is a politically divided country, racial groups have picked sides and aren’t making things any better. On January 1st the country is set to suffer a 5% cut to its economic output mostly as a result of the fiscal cliff that has loomed ever since Democrats and Republicans failed
Continue readingFive of Five: "Calgary Muslims to campaign against controversial film"
A local Muslim organization is speaking out against a controversial anti-Muslim film. The group will be out this weekend, going door to door in a campaign to enable Calgarians to understand why the film has offended so many. It’s good that they’re trying to communicate about the Muslim communities view
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