A feminist blogger is taking serious heat for suggesting that Alfred Eisenstaedt’s famed photograph V-J Day in Times Square depicts anything but a jubilant embrace. Last week, the London-based blogger known only as “Leopard” wrote the post “The Kissing Sailor, or ‘The Selective Blindness of Rape Culture.’” Alternate post title: The Globe
Continue readingTag: history
Five of Five: Is ‘Jesus’ Wife’ papyrus fragment a forgery?
Stephen Emmel, a professor of Coptology at the University of Muenster who was on the international advisory panel that reviewed the 2006 discovery of the Gospel of Judas, said the text accurately quotes Jesus as saying “my wife.” But he questioned…
Continue readingFive of Five: Is ‘Jesus’ Wife’ papyrus fragment a forgery?
Stephen Emmel, a professor of Coptology at the University of Muenster who was on the international advisory panel that reviewed the 2006 discovery of the Gospel of Judas, said the text accurately quotes Jesus as saying “my wife.” But he questioned whether the document was authentic. “There’s something about this
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Liberal Leadership Races Through History (Part 2): An Elected King
Previously: Prologue, The 19th Century Spoiler Alert: He sees dead people…or at least, got advice from them. In 2009, delegates at the Liberal Party convention in Vancouver voted overwhelmingly to choose the party’s next leader using a one-member-one-vote system. This effectively killed the grand old leadership convention, a system the
Continue readingwmtc: let them stay: two canadians speak out in the toronto star
From the Toronto Star: I am ashamed to be a Canadian. I have been involved with the campaign to keep Kim Rivera in Canada for some time. It is obvious that most Canadians think that as a conscientious objector to the war in Iraq she should stay here rather than
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Chris Hedges Promotes Book at UofR
I attended Hedges lecture at the UofR on Thursday night, and I think most of the crowd was impressed as was I. He did get a standing ovation when done. Then he took questions. Here is some of what went on in Tweet form (reverse chronology): A south Sudanese woman
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Alberta Taliban
Priceless, irretrievable, unexplored stone markings in Alberta have been intentionally destroyed by unknown criminals using methods employed by the Taliban to erase investigation of history. Vandals with power tools, acid, and apparent historical-genocide as motive, ruined a look into Canada’s ancient past. It’s an international disgrace, and for what? For
Continue readingPaulitical Satire: Cartwheels in The Legislature
Cartwheels at Parliament! So, I was walking by Queen’s Park the other day and saw something that immediately made me nostalgic: a bunch of kids teaching another kid how to do a cartwheel. No, I’m not talking about about Hudak trying to explain his loss in KW (too soon?), it
Continue readingwmtc: cheri dinovo says: let kim stay
In this video, Provincial MP Cheri DiNovo introduces war resister Kimberly Rivera to the Ontario legislative assembly. She asks her fellow MPPs to contact the federal government on Kim’s behalf. DiNovo’s late husband was a war resister, and her short speech is very touching.
Continue readingwmtc: marxism 2012 program notes: how abortion rights were won in canada
One of the most exciting and illuminating sessions I attended at the 2012 Marxism Conference was a history of how abortion rights were won – and are threatened – in both the UK and Canada. I am honoured that some of my friends and comrades from the peace movement were
Continue readingMy journey with AIDS...and more!: For a young peoples’ video look at the history of the Tay Canal please click the link below, by which I mean…
…this one! I am so proud! Not that I had anything to do with this (and I didn’t) but because the video shows how the appreciation of Perth (Lanark County, Ontario, Canada) history is, and will continue to be, alive and well! Congratulations to everyone, particularly the young people and
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Liberal Leadership Races Through History (Part 1): The 19th Century
Previously: Prologue In the 19th Century, political parties still followed the British tradition of having caucus select their leader. At least, they followed this tradition when they felt the need to have a leader. In both the 1867 and 1872 elections, the Liberals ran sans chef. That may seem unfathomable
Continue readingPaulitical Satire: They Added WHAT to the Dictionary!?
So, every year (sometimes twice a year) the powers that be at Miriam Webster and a smattering of other dictionaries go through a process of adding new words with formal definitions into the dictionary. While each time this happens I tend to just shake my head, this year was particularly
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Liberal Leadership Races Through History: Prologue
George Brown helped found both the Liberal Party and the Globe & Mail. Brown may very well have been the first-ever “anonymous Liberal insider”. Between now and the Liberal leadership convention next spring, my intent is to draft a series of blog posts recapping Liberal leadership races throughout history. Some
Continue readingwmtc: rest in peace: jack layton after passage of historic 2008 motion on iraq war resisters
In a few days, on August 22, it will be the one-year anniversary of Jack Layton’s untimely death. I want to share one my most enduring memories of Jack. It took place in Parliament, in June of 2008, although not on the floor of the House of Commons.
Continue readingLeft Over: Dis-honouring Our Homemade Monsters
Here’s a headline from CBC online today, talking about a sticker campaign to point out the hypocrisy of naming things after history’s deviates. In this case, the target is former Lieutenant Governor of BC Joseph Trutch..someone who purposefully practiced his evil on our First Nations people, for a start…. Sticker
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: What To Expect When You’re Electing: Representative Paul Ryan
Ryan Romney.jpg With the selection of Wisconsin Republican Representative Paul Ryan has his running mate, Mitt Romney has effectively pushed his campaign into the climate change denying fringe. While Romney hasn’t been considered a friend of the environment since he began running for national office, his tendency towards flip-flopping made
Continue readingwmtc: marxism 2012 program notes: the 1965 postal workers strike
One of the best talks I attended at this year’s Marxism Conference was given by my friend Pam Johnson. I know little about Canadian labour history; my knowledge of labour struggles is mostly about the US. Learning about the 1965 postal workers strike was thrilling, both in the discovery of
Continue readingCanadian Progressive World: Harper Determined to Erase Pierre Trudeau From Public Consciousness
No doubt, Stephen Harper and the Conservatives are determined to create a Canadian nationalism that is both socially conservative and loyal to the British Empire. Their key strategy is to radically revise history and suppress certain moments that do not identify with past Conservative leaders. This penchant for naked revisionism
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