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Accidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links

Apr

18

2018

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Ann Pettifor discusses the trend toward financialization which has led to regular economic disasters – and suggests the public is well aware it’s getting left behind in the policy choices which have created it. – ScienceDaily takes note of the strong connection between education levels and longevity. – ...

Accidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links

Apr

10

2018

This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Matthew Yglesias examines the direct effects of social programs, and finds there’s every reason to invest more in them: Mercury emissions (mostly from coal plants) end up in the water, where they end up in fish, from whence they end up in the bloodstreams of children and ...

Susan on the Soapbox: The Attack on Gay-Straight Alliances Continues

Apr

8

2018

Last week the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) brought a court application challenging the constitutionality of changes to the School Act which are intended to support the establishment of gay-straight alliances (GSAs) in Alberta schools. Just to get our bearings, the JCCF is a non-profit legal organization run by John Carpay. Mr Carpay is ...

Accidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links

Apr

3

2018

This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Amy Remeikis reports on new research showing how educational inequality translates into an even wider economic gap. – Hannah Johnston and Chris Land-Kazlauskas examine (PDF) the gig economy and the need for workers to be able to organize around it. But Rebecca Moss discusses another of Donald ...

The Progressive Economics Forum: Ten proposals from the 2018 Alberta Alternative Budget

Mar

21

2018

The 2018 Alberta Alternative Budget (AAB) was released yesterday—it can be downloaded here. An opinion piece I wrote about the AAB appeared yesterday in both the Calgary Herald and the Edmonton Journal. Inspired by the Alternative Federal Budget exercise, this year’s AAB was drafted by a working group consisting of individuals from the non-profit sector, ...

Dead Wild Roses: What is Marxism?

Mar

7

2018

In case you were unfamiliar. 🙂

We Pivot: “Defend Lives, Reform Laws.”

Mar

2

2018

We need artists, geniuses, radicals and random brilliance to disarm society and its pathologies. Normal doesn’t work anymore. “Some of the negative comments claim what we did was insensitive, but if you think that this is crossing the line and … [Read more]

Saskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Amarillo Police Shoot the “Good Guy With A Gun”

Feb

26

2018

This is pretty much how you could imagine things would go wrong if you were caught disarming a crazed gunman before or as police arrive on the scene. Garces and Blackburn are working with the city to ensure the medical bills are paid, but Garces hopes for one other item: More education for officers on ...

Dead Wild Roses: Form is Harder than Formalism – The Wasteland that is the 5 Paragraph Essay.

Feb

22

2018

I’ve written more than my fair share of five paragraph essays. Graded a few in my time as well. It would be nice if we could spend the time and teach people different ways of grappling with thoughts and ideas in their writing. The online Aeon Magazine has some surprisingly good and thoughtful articles, ...

Accidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links

Feb

21

2018

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Rick Smith writes about the Filthy Five loopholes taking the most money out of Canada’s public coffers for the least benefit to anybody but the wealthy. And Ed Finn reminds us to follow the money in figuring out who stands to gain from unconscionable policy choices. – Douglas ...

The Progressive Economics Forum: Panel discussion at federal NDP policy convention

Feb

18

2018

Yesterday I spoke on a panel discussion on economic inequality, along with Andrew Jackson and Armine Yalnizyan. We were guests at the federal NDP’s policy convention in Ottawa. The panel was moderated by Guy Caron. Topics covered included the minimum wage, basic income, affordable housing, the future of jobs, gender budgeting, poverty among seniors, Canadian ...

Accidental Deliberations: New column day

Feb

1

2018

Here, expanding on this post as to how the promises which won Scott Moe the Saskatchewan Party’s leadership will leave him with some difficult decisions to make in a hurry. For further reading…– Tammy Robert’s coverage of the leadership campaign features this gem about Moe’s substance-free campaign: Moe’s campaign is unbelievably thin gruel from a ...

Accidental Deliberations: On stopping the cuts

Jan

28

2018

I’m less surprised than some by Scott Moe’s ascent to the Saskatchewan Party’s leadership in an extremely close, four-way leadership race. But it will particularly be worth keeping an eye on one aspect of the campaign which looks to have been crucial in propelling him into the Premier’s office. Unlike the other last two candidates ...

We Pivot: White Men Need Intersectionality Expertise, Oluo 6/18

Jan

19

2018

Intersectionality needs to become the most understood word as we wind down this decade. I’ve been thinking that for a few years now, but chapter 5 of Ijeoma Oluo’s So You Want to Talk About Race deeply reinforces that. My … [Read more]

Scripturient: Does poetry make things happen in 2018?

Jan

18

2018

I was thinking about how little poets seem to matter to modern political administrations. Maybe to modern society as a whole. Their light has, it seems, been waning for several decades as our collective attention shifts. I was thinking about what an odd, awkward fit it would be for a poet to be invited to ...

We Pivot: The Racism-Power Intersection, Day 3/18

Jan

16

2018

Let’s get into chapter 2 of Ijeoma Oluo’s So You Want to Talk About Race! It’s been hard in recent year to talk about reverse racism, which I don’t believe exists. Racism is prejudice based on race, but there’s always … [Read more]

Accidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links

Jan

13

2018

Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Marty Warren highlights why Tim Hortons workers – and other people facing precarious and low-paying work – need union representation to ensure their interests are respected. And Christo Aivalis writes that the current discussion of minimum wage pairs fairness issues about distribution of wealth with the economic importance ...

Accidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links

Jan

9

2018

This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Tom Parkin writes that job numbers inflated by part-time employment shouldn’t distract us from the consumer debt and wage stagnation which are living more and more people with precarious financial situations. Ben Leubsdorf reports on the recognition by members of the American Economic Association that upper-income and ...

Accidental Deliberations: Leadership 2018 Links

Dec

24

2017

The latest from the Saskatchewan NDP leadership campaign. – Devin Tasa reported on the Nipawin debate, while the Estevan Mercury covered Ryan Meili’s visit. Adam Hunter reported on Trent Wotherspoon’s mistaken province-wide television ad. And Alex MacPherson and D.C. Fraser’s notebook continues to offer some coverage, including the latest on the candidates’ fund-raising totals. – ...

Susan on the Soapbox: When They Go Low: the Kenney by-election debate

Dec

11

2017

On Sunday afternoon Mr and Ms Soapbox were jammed into an overheated community hall listening to five politicians explain why they were the best choice to represent the good citizens of Calgary-Lougheed in the by-election triggered when Dave Rodney stepped down to give UCP leader Jason Kenney a seat in the Legislature. The media characterized ...

Dead Wild Roses: Water Hammer – Now you know the Engineering Behind the Problem

Dec

11

2017

I’m glad youtube exists for videos like this one. It allows me to make more reasonable calls to my plumber because stuff like “pipe make bad noise” just seems silly. 🙂 Filed under: Education Tagged: Engineering, Science, The Moar You Know

Accidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links

Dec

4

2017

Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Murray Dobbin writes that corporate power is the greatest threat to our health and well-being – and reminds us that government focused on the public interest is a necessary counterweight: The revelations of the Paradise Papers, the earlier Panama Papers and numerous articles in the western mainstream and ...

The Progressive Economics Forum: Ten considerations for the next Alberta budget

Nov

29

2017

On November 17, the working group of the Alberta Alternative Budget (AAB) sponsored a one-day workshop at the University of Alberta. The event’s main purpose was to discuss recent developments in Alberta public policy, as well as expectations for the upcoming Alberta budget. Twenty speakers presented in total. In light of what was discussed at ...

Accidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links

Nov

23

2017

This and that for your Thursday reading. – Karl Nerenberg writes about Bill Morneau’s conflicts of interest – with particular attention to the NDP’s justified criticism of legislation aimed at privatizing pension management to benefit forms like Morneau’s. And Brent Patterson discusses a push back against the Manitoba PCs’ plan to privatize public services through ...

Susan on the Soapbox: The UCP Vote on the GSA Bill: Free Vote or Rubber Stamp?

Nov

19

2017

It started innocently enough… The NDP government introduced Bill 24, an act to prohibit teachers from informing parents their kids had joined a gay-straight alliance (GSA) unless the kids consented. (Note: The Bill does not change a teacher’s general obligation to notify parents if there’s a risk a student might harm him/herself or others.) All ...