The current New Yorker stories by Joseph Mitchell has given me an opportunity to post something I’ve been meaning to share for ages. Last September, Jill Lepore unearthed an incredible bit of history, a piece of the American past that is alive with us today, and more dangerous than ever. (I
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wmtc: ten years ago today, the world said no to war. say no to obama’s wars, too.
Ten years ago today, my partner and I took the day off work, dressed in many layers of clothing, and joined nearly a million people in the streets of New York City. It was February 15, 2003, and the world was saying no to war. The bitter cold didn’t stop
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Bones of Kings
The discovery of Richard III’s grave is pretty awesome. Bonus, he was still inside it! It’s really hard to get the motivation to leave a grave though, it doesn’t happen very often anyway, and is entirely with assistance. And here’s another thing entirely:
Continue readingwmtc: marxism 2012 program notes: from each according to their ability: the role of socialists in disability movement
This is the final post of my notes from the 2012 Marxism Conference. This was the first Marxism conference to include a talk on disability, an exciting development full of potential. I wanted to blog about it in great detail. A friend was recording the talk, so I stopped taking
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Don’t Care About Penny Salami Slicing
There’s a bit of hand wringing going on around Facebook amongst typically the anti-Harper crowd. Normally I’d join in, because it’s worth wringing hands over practically everything our Prime Minister has going wrong in our country. One thing he’s managed to not get wrong, is ending the penny. It’s a
Continue readingmark a rayner | scribblings, squibs & sundry monkey joys: A Short History of the Death of Culture (a cartoon)
Related: Selected Media Fads Through the Ages. Alltop is doing its part too!
Continue readingEclectic Lip: Wynne-win for Canada! And, is America ready for another white male President?
I welcomed Kathleen Wynne‘s victory in the leadership race for the ruling Ontario Liberal Party this past Saturday, even though I live in faraway British Columbia. And I do mean far away — seriously, the International Space Station is ten times closer to the surface of the earth, than Vancouver
Continue readingwmtc: 25 years since morgentaler: celebrate and re-commit to action
Twenty-five years ago, the Supreme Court of Canada overturned the federal abortion law in the Morgentaler decision, making Canada one of the few countries in the world without criminal restrictions on abortion access. That historic court decision was the result of activism on the part of women and their allies,
Continue readingEclectic Lip: The Black Swan’s Thanksgiving Turkey
(originally written Nov 24, 2011. Part of Great Upload of 2013.) It came to my attention that Naseem Nicholas Taleb, who authored The Black Swan (surprisingly, not about a ballet dancer, but about financial crises) discussed other avians in his book, among them the Thanksgiving turkey. Per the Wikipedia page,
Continue readingEclectic Lip: From housing to plumbing
(originally written Mar 4, 2012. Part of Great Upload of 2013.) Readers (regular and irregular both) may know that about six years ago, I was quoted in MacLean’s saying Canadian housing was in a bubble. So after six long years of looking very wrong, I was delighted to see the
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading, children’s book edition: # 3: a war resister story of sorts
In this children’s book review, I look at a book about military war resistance and analyze its lessons and conclusions. Shot at Dawn deals with many unpleasant realities of war – including some shameful episodes in Canada’s past – with open eyes and without sugar coating. Ultimately, the author pulls
Continue readingEclectic Lip: Homer (not Simpson) and the Kaopectate Kid
The doctor diagnosed young son Leo recently with the stomach flu — which is colloquial shorthand for a condition which isn’t the flu, per se. (The most recent editor of the relevant article on the almighty Wiki agrees!) The Kaopectate Kid Our medical professional then suggested we give Leo some
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Some books for the New Year #nlpoli
Shannon Ryan’s A history of Newfoundland in the North Atlantic to 1818 is an engaging, accessible account of the English in Newfoundland from the earliest arrival through to the end of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. The publisher’s blurb: The waters off Newfoundland, in the North Atlantic, held the world’s
Continue readingwmtc: andy barrie, war resister, awarded order of canada
Congratulations to Andy Barrie, former CBC broadcaster, on being awarded the Order of Canada, the country’s highest civilian honour. This CBC story says that Barrie “left the U.S. and moved to Canada during the Vietnam War”. But if you listen to this interview, you will hear how Barry “left” and
Continue readingwmtc: a people’s history of the war of 1812
At last, this is the fourth post of the talks I attended in November and December. Allan and I organized this in Mississauga, through the Mississauga “twig” of the IS. The talk was given by our friend and comrade John Bell. The other recent talks: noah richler, u.s. war resisters,
Continue readingbastard.logic: #IdleNoMore: What Do Protesters Want?
Dr. Dawg: The other day, I got into it a bit with John Ivison, who expressed polite disdain for the allegedly “hapless” Chief Theresa Spence—and then admitted that he had no idea what her demands actually were. That’s all too typical. But not all of us who support #IdleNoMore are as informed
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading, children’s books edition: # 2
How this series works: I write about one or two older books, offer an my opinion on whether the book will be relevant and accessible to children today, and suggest a more contemporary equivalent. I also recommend two additional children’s books. * * * * Still Classic? My Side of
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Mayans, the ecological crisis and the end of the world: a little sanity please
It seems like a lot of people are going to extremes with regards to the Mayan predictions – and I mean the skeptics as well as the fanatics. Some are dismissive of the Mayans altogether, while others are taking a very literal and grossly overly simplistic view, and thinking the
Continue readingwmtc: talking radical: a history of canada through the eyes of activists
This the third of the four talks I attended semi-recently. Other recent talks: noah richler, u.s. war resisters, and the militarization of canadian culture, and from greece to chicago to toronto, workers fighting back against austerity. * * * * Scott Neigh, who writes the blog A Canadian Lefty in
Continue readingChadwick's Blog & Commentary: Lost Worlds, Lost Words
Moidered. It sounds like something from the Three Stooges. Or maybe something Tony Soprano would say.”I moidered him.” But it actually means “crazed,” according to Samuel Johnson in his famous dictionary of 1755. It’s long since left the stage of English usage. … Continue reading →
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