This post – like its subject – is old but still relevant.Over the summer I read Life, Keith Richards’ memoirs. When I blogged about it here, I was loving it, but the book didn’t turn out to be as fascinating and excellent as that post implies. The best…
Continue readingTag: history
wmtc: howard zinn on not predicting the future
There is a tendency to think that what we see in the present moment will continue. We forget how often we have been astonished by the sudden crumbling of institutions, by extraordinary changes in people’s thoughts, by unexpected eruptions of rebellion …
Continue readingwmtc: next weekend in toronto: conference on war resisters in north america
If you’re interested in the issue of war resistance and the history of war resisters in both Canada and the US, you’ll want to be at the Steelworkers Hall in Toronto next weekend, September 23 and 24. A major conference is taking place, organized by Hi…
Continue readingwmtc: this just in: racism in the u.s. now less obvious
Landmark Civil Rights Act Made Racism Slightly Less Overt (Season 1: Ep 3 on IFC)
Continue readingwmtc: 9.11.11: an anti-remembrance
Ten years on. Ten years of Islamophobia, endless war, the open rationalization of torture and massacre. Ten years of surveillance, insidiously creeping police state, witch hunts, shredding of personal freedoms. Nine years of torture, medical experiment…
Continue readingwmtc: you can look it up
“Can anyone on Capital [sic] Hill read?” demanded a sign held by a protester at one of the first Tea Party rallies, back in February of 2009.”If so read the ConstitutionAs Americans we do not have the right:To a houseTo a carTo an educationAmericans …
Continue readingwmtc: "we work to buy things that are built to die so that we must work to buy more things that will break"
Two weeks ago, my coffee maker broke. It was a electric percolator (I wrote about my preference for it here), made by Cuisinart. It’s the third such percolator I’ve had in a six-year span. One day they just stop working.I purchased this particular coff…
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Much Ado About The Wrong Thing – Canadian Forces DisIntegration
As a political scientist and somewhat of a historian I prefer our system of government based on a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. I also appreciate the role that our historical links to the United Kingdom play in our multicultural …
Continue readingwmtc: heroic white people, "i am not a racist," and other thoughts on some old news
I recently read a few unrelated items that dealt with racism, equality and civil rights in the US, which raised some thoughts I want to share. This time I’m purposely burying the lede, putting the easy stuff up front.In this essay and review, author an…
Continue readingThe Happy Wanderer: Debt Deal History
There is a lot of history on the debt ceiling in the united states. In fact for many decades the debt ceiling increased tremendously without the need of any compromise on spending. In fact JFK increased has the debt ceiling&nbs…
Continue readingwmtc: "the marriage vow": more racist myths about american slavery
Earlier this year, I blogged about a dangerous, racist myth about US history: that the southern states seceded from the union not because of slavery but because of “state’s rights”. This is a lie. Historical record leaves no doubt: there was only one r…
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Summer Lies
Do you remember sitting on the couch in the house off Broadway the summer that everything seemed so unreal, the day you told me you were falling in love with me? It was stiflingly hot; the air did not move … Continue reading →
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: cradle of gold, story of re-discovery of machu picchu
One hundred years ago, this week – July 7, 1911, to be exact – an American man named Hiram Bingham found the ruins of an ancient ceremonial city, mostly overgrown with Peruvian jungle. Some indigenous families were living on the site, tending small sub…
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Canada Again
What Canadians Need to Know About Canada Canada is a country the world can be proud of. This is despite our numerous shortcomings and mistakes over our 144 years of history as a nation of many co-operative nations. Not everyone in the world is impressed with Canada, some because they don’t know the first thing […]
wmtc: report on war resisters fundraising dinner from u.s. peace activist bruce beyer
This past week, the Toronto chapter of the War Resisters Support Campaign hosted a fundraising dinner at the United Steelworkers Hall. These dinners, which we hold four times a year, are informal gatherings of friends and supporters, with music, campai…
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: On the Hydraulic Thesis
The Hydraulic Thesis is related to the interplay between the rise of states in certain societies and the production of large scale irrigation and other ‘hydraulic’ systems that increase per area food production. Historically we see there is a loose tem…
Continue readingImpolitical: 70 years ago today
For the history buffs out there, this is one of Churchill’s very memorable speeches selected in Brad DeLong’s liveblog of today in World War II: “Winston Churchill Liveblogs World War II: June 22, 1941.””We have but one aim and one single, irrevocable …
Continue readingExponential Book: Hi, I am Jack, and I am a recovering socialist
Canadian New Democratic Party (NDP) held in Vancouver its fiftieth national congress since its foundation. It is presently Canada’s official opposition in the House of Commons, and arguably one of strongest (nominally still) socialist political forma…
Continue reading350 or bust: Take Time To Renew Your Spirit
There are so many societies in which the elite made decisions that were good for themselves in the short run and ruined themselves and societies in the long run…. Similarly, in the United States at present, the policies being pursued by too many weal…
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Battlefield Earth
Vancouver is Canada’s latest battlefield. I don’t think Regina’s population would easily riot, not even over the Riders. We’ve come to accept losing the Grey Cup pretty well, and when we won, the party didn’t get out of hand. Sure, the Regina Riot is famous, but that was a bunch of out-of-towners pent up and […]